State and Legislative News: Fall 2024
In June 2024, the legislature passed Act 180, which requires the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to expand restorative justice work, specifically pre-charge diversion programs, while DOC will stop funding these programs. Our current pre-charge work is now funded by DOC, so we are collaborating with other agencies and the AGO to figure out how best to serve the people in southern Windsor and northern Windham counties.
Act 11 (passed in 2023) now allows for Community Justice Centers to work on domestic violence cases after filing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a member of the Vermont Network on Domestic Violence and the AGO. We got the first MOU approved in Vermont by the AGO to do a pilot intervention with the Women’s Freedom Center and the Taking Responsibility Domestic Violence Accountability Program for men.
The Vermont DOC will restructure the number of centers across the state, tying next year’s funding to the location of Probation and Parole Offices, as well as state prisons. We are close to both of these in Springfield, so we hope to continue growing our pioneering group work in SSCF, and when men are released, to better help them reintegrate into their community.
