Found 11 matches.
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Vermont - Act 153 (H. 95) - Re: jurisdiction over delinquency proceedings
Tags: Vermont | Brain and Adolescent Development | General System Reform | Institutional Conditions | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Act 153 of 2016 relates to jurisdiction over delinquency proceedings by the Family Division of the Superior Court. Among other things, it requires DOC to house offenders under 25 in a separate facility, sets a timetable for raising the age eventually to 18 for all initial filings including felonies (except the "Big 12") into family court, and expands "youthful offender" status available to youth 12-21.
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Vermont - Act 153 (H. 95) - Summary
Tags: Vermont | Brain and Adolescent Development | General System Reform | Institutional Conditions | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Act 153 requires DOC to house offenders under 25 in a separate facility, sets a timetable for raising the age eventually to 18 for initial filings including most felonies and moving them into family court; expands "youthful offender" status available to youth 12-21.
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Ban on Anti-Gay 'Therapy' Hailed as Step Against Hatred
Tags: Vermont | LGBTQ Youth | Media
In May 2016, Vermont became the fifth state to outlaw conversion therapy, a practice aimed at changing a person’s sexual or gender identity.
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Vermont Engages in Cost-Benefit Analysis of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Practices, Criminal Consensus Cost-Benefit Working Group Final Report
Tags: Vermont | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Evidence-Based Practices | Legislation | Reports
The Vermont legislature charged the Criminal Consensus Cost-Benefit Working Group with developing a criminal and juvenile justice cost-benefit model for the state. The goal of the model is to provide policymakers with information needed to weigh the costs and benefits of various programs and to evaluate those policies with the greatest net social benefit. Specifically, the model will be used to estimate costs related to arrest, prosecution, defense, adjudication, and corrections of adults and youth, as well as the cost of victimization. A report submitted by the working group in April 2014 recommends that the state “reinvigorate” its commitment to evidence-based programs, study staff costs further (as having the greatest potential to generate cost savings), and provide the results of their study to criminal and juvenile justice agencies in the state, along with technical assistance for those agencies to evaluate opportunity costs. S.B. 1/Act No. 0061, signed into law and effective June 3, 2013.
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Vermont Engages in Cost-Benefit Analysis of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Practices, S.B. 1
Tags: Vermont | Fiscal Issues and Funding | Legislation
The Vermont legislature charged the Criminal Consensus Cost-Benefit Working Group with developing a criminal and juvenile justice cost-benefit model for the state. The goal of the model is to provide policymakers with information needed to weigh the costs and benefits of various programs and to evaluate those policies with the greatest net social benefit. Specifically, the model will be used to estimate costs related to arrest, prosecution, defense, adjudication, and corrections of adults and youth, as well as the cost of victimization. A report submitted by the working group in April 2014 recommends that the state “reinvigorate” its commitment to evidence-based programs, study staff costs further (as having the greatest potential to generate cost savings), and provide the results of their study to criminal and juvenile justice agencies in the state, along with technical assistance for those agencies to evaluate opportunity costs. S.B. 1/Act No. 0061, signed into law and effective June 3, 2013.
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Vermont Revises Delinquency Proceedings to Expand Options for Youth, H.B. 751
Tags: Vermont | Community-Based Alternatives and Supervision | Juvenile Defense and Court Process | Legislation
Vermont revised its laws governing delinquency proceedings in order to create more consistency in proceedings and to expand options available through the family court to help reduce the number of older youth who are processed in adult court. The legislation extends the maximum age that a youth can remain under juvenile probation to 18-and-a-half. Additionally, the law mandates that all youth referred to the delinquency docket have the opportunity to participate in a standard screening/assessment. The identified risk level must then be provided to the prosecutor, who may use it to help decide whether to send the youth to court or to a diversion program. Lastly, the law allows the court to refer youth who plead guilty to delinquency offenses directly to a community-based alternative—bypassing several hearings and probation—where victim restoration and the youth’s skills and needs are addressed. H.B. 751/Act No. 159, signed into law May 17, 2012; effective July 1, 2012.
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Vermont Youth Convicted as Adults Before Age 21 May Have Records Sealed, S.B. 58
Tags: Vermont | Youth in the Adult System | Legislation
Vermont law allows youth convicted as adults for crimes committed before they were 21 years old to petition to have their records sealed. Previously, the law allowed such record-sealing only if the conviction occurred for offenses committed prior to age 18. The law additionally closes a loophole that forced a youth to be charged in adult court if 18 or older, despite having committed the offense prior to age 18. Such cases must now be initially filed in juvenile court.
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Vermont Increases Access to Mental Health Services for Detained Youth, H.B. 65
Tags: Vermont | Detention | Institutional Conditions | Mental Health and Substance Abuse | Legislation
Through the 2010 Budget Adjustment Act, the Vermont Department for Children and Families “repurposed” Vermont’s one juvenile detention facility to become a “residential treatment facility that provides in-patient psychiatric, mental health, and substance abuse services in a secure setting for adolescents who have been adjudicated or charged with a delinquency or criminal act.” By making this change, the department is now able to draw down Medicaid funding for youth placed at the facility; such funding is usually prohibited for incarcerated youth. All youth placed at the detention center are screened for treatment needs shortly after admission and may gain access to services even if they do not qualify for longer-term placement there.
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Vermont Creates Juvenile Jurisdiction Policy and Operations Coordinating Council, Vermont, H. 615
Tags: Vermont | General System Reform | Legislation
Creates a council to plan and develop steps to better address age-appropriate responses to older youth within the juvenile justice system. The council must develop implementation plans for three options: 1) maintaining the current jurisdiction statute, 2) changing the initial court of jurisdiction to the family court in all misdemeanor proceedings, and 3) changing the initial court of jurisdiction to the family court in all juvenile proceedings. Each option must also include a plan for continuing jurisdiction of the family court in delinquency proceedings until age 22.
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Report on Conditions at Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center, Vermont Protection and Advocacy, December 2006
Tags: Vermont | Detention | Institutional Conditions | Reports
Between 2007 and 2011, Vermont’s Woodside Juvenile Rehabilitation Center’s Detention Unit improved its conditions of confinement and services to youth, including provision of adequate heat and air conditioning, cleaning services, special education services, mental health treatment, and case management coordination, as well as decreases in the use of seclusion and restraint. Additionally, Woodside currently shares copies of all use-of-force reports with Vermont’s federally authorized Protection and Advocacy organization. The facility implemented the changes after five years of advocacy efforts to improve conditions at the facility.
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Vermont Increases Restrictions on Removing Youth from Their Homes, Vermont, H.B. 515
Tags: Vermont | Deinstitutionalization | Detention | Legislation
Requires the court after a detention hearing make written findings on whether reasonable efforts were made to prevent the child from being removed from his/her home.