Vermont has been selected as one of five states to participate in a national prison research program.
The Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, chose Vermont as part of its Prison Research and Innovation Initiative. The program will gather data that can help policy makers make correctional facilities more “humane, safe and rehabilitative.”
Vermont will by joined in the study by Colorado, Delaware, Iowa and Missouri.
Jim Baker, interim commissioner for the Department of Corrections, said the opportunity comes at a “critical juncture” for the state’s corrections system.
A report from Seven Days in December found widespread drug and sexual abuse by guards at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, a scandal that ultimately resulted in Mike Touchette stepping down from his role as Commissioner of the Department of Corrections, and an investigation of the department being launched by the Agency of Human Services.
DOC officials said the state actually applied for the grant long before the Seven Days story broke, but noted that the timing of the grant’s implementation ended up being a good fit.
“There have been changes that we’ve talked about trying to move forward for a long time,” said Judy Henkin, Deputy Commissioner of the DOC. “Unfortunately, change doesn’t happen overnight.”
Eligibility in the project was contingent on three items: any state applying for the research had to have support from government leadership, support from leadership at a publicly operated prison that had at least a 300-person capacity, and an academic research partner.
Vermont satisfied those requirements in Gov. Phil Scott, Superintendent Mike Lyon at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, and researchers at the University of Vermont: Kathy Fox, a professor of sociology, and Abigail Crocker, a research assistant/professor of statistics.
“[This] is a great opportunity for Vermont to work on prison reform efforts, benefiting from a learning community of experts across the country,” Crocker said. “Grounding the process in data and research will ensure that we understand the impact of our efforts and ensure the changes we make are moving us in a positive direction.”
Southern State, the state’s largest prison, has also faced numerous leadership changes over the past several years due to allegations against ex-superintendent Edward Adams, who held the top job from 2016 until 2018, though the nature of the allegations against him remains unknown.
Henkin said the primary reason the state chose SSCF for the project was its size. She said many of the state’s prisons weren’t large enough to meet the requirements of the grant, but the population and layout of Southern State was a very good fit.
As per the initiative, the DOC will receive a $100,000 grant to hire a researcher to work on-site at SSCF, while another $100,000 grant will go to UVM for research, planning and data collection. Henkin was unsure what the research will entail, but said she expected it would include things like surveys on the prison’s climate, use of overtime and absenteeism among staff, and rates of disciplinary actions taken against inmates.
“This is something that’s been kind of a progressive idea in corrections for a while,” Henkin said. “Especially with the new, European style of prison management being so different. This was already in the brain of our last commissioner, so when this opportunity came, it just looked like the right time.”
“Governor Scott has tasked the Agency of Human Services and the Department of Corrections to do a comprehensive review of the culture in our facilities and evaluate the impact it has on those that live and work there every day,” Baker said in a statement. “This grant … will serve as a critical tool in making data-driven, trauma-informed policy decisions and assist in transforming the corrections environment.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont DOC chosen for national prison research program.