Vermont Department of Corrections' Four-Step Process for Effective Policy Development

Hosted by the National Reentry Resource Center, with funding support from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance



In order to cultivate system-wide buy in, correctional agencies must effectively communicate policies and directives to stakeholders, staff, and people returning to communities after incarceration. Effective policies set expectations for staff, affirm the administration’s role, and are grounded in evidence-based principles.

In this webinar, presenters discuss the four steps involved in the Vermont Department of Corrections’ policy-development process: identifying and approving the concept, drafting the policy, gathering comments from staff and the public, and finalizing the policy. Presenters also use Vermont’s recent case-management directive as a case study and discuss how the policy-development process can be applied to recidivism-reduction efforts.

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Presenters:

• Sarah Truckle, Senior Policy and Implementation Analyst, Vermont DOC
• Connie Schütz, Project Director, Recidivism Reduction, Vermont DOC

Moderator:

• Andrea Lee, Policy Analyst, The Council of State Governments Justice Center