WILLIAMSVILLE — The decision to release 200 nonviolent offenders from prison as a cost-saving measure has a lot of people concerned. I'm not one of them.
I've been in two of Vermont's prisons, where I've taught writing and literature, and I serve on a reparative board at Brattleboro's Community Justice Center, working with nonviolent offenders. From what I've witnessed, it's a no-brainer: putting nonviolent offenders in jail is expensive and ineffective; while restorative justice costs little - and works.
The decision to release low-level offenders early is in response to the Challenges for Change initiative, combined with bursting prisons and hard economic times. The population of Vermont has grown only 10 percent in the past 20 years, and violent crime in that same period has dropped by 30 percent.
But during these same years, Vermont's prison population has swelled by 166 percent, and the cost of incarceration has skyrocketed by 300 percent. In these 20 years, Vermont has created more prison beds and filled them, even sending some offenders out of state.
But hard economic times have placed the policies of jailing low-level offenders under scrutiny.
What's clear is that keeping people in jail is very expensive. What's also become evident is that Vermont has a highly successful means of dealing with non-violent offenders - one that's alternative, cheaper and more effective - called restorative justice, administered through local Community Justice Centers and independent reparative boards.
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As Rob Hoffman, secretary of Vermont's Agency of Human Resources, says, “The data on reparative boards is the equivalent of a home run.”
Not only does Vermont's restorative justice program save money, it works: offenders who go through our programs are less likely to re-offend than people sent to jail.
As Hoffman noted when he addressed a convention of community justice volunteers recently, “Human service needs provided at the local level are more personal and more nimble.” Offenders who complete the reparative process connect with their communities; as a result, our communities become more inclusive - and safer.
Community justice is local justice. It aims to repair the harm done by a nonviolent offender in the community where the offense has taken place.
Ideally, the process includes the victim, who has a chance to let the offender know how he or she has been affected by the crime. The process relies on trained volunteers with some administrative support.
Community Justice Centers also provide circles of support and accountability (COSA) for people newly released from prison.
Prison is primarily punishment through boredom. There is not sufficient programming to teach inmates how to negotiate successfully on the outside once their sentence is up. They are likely to leave prison with the same insufficient life skills that landed them there in the first place.
COSAs help bridge the gap. Comprised of citizen volunteers, COSAs start meeting with offenders while they're still inside; they help arrange housing and employment, and they provide support in negotiating life on the outside. They meet weekly, holding ex-offenders accountable for their civic behavior while helping them re-enter civil life.
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So, I'm pleased that this year's state budget includes increased funding for Vermont's Community Justice Centers. This is in keeping with Challenges for Change, which specifically tasks the secretary of human services, the commissioner of education, and the administrative judge to develop a plan to reduce the number of people who enter the corrections system, decrease the recidivism rate, improve community safety, and reduce the corrections budget.
The challenge of community justice is that is relies on volunteers. About 40 volunteers staff Brattleboro Community Justice Center's six reparative boards. Currently, there is one COSA. The organization can always use more volunteers. It's interesting and rewarding community service.
In an era of great wealth, it was easy to shell out the bucks to send people to jail, just as it was easy to squander our money on junk at big-box stores.
But the silver lining of hard times may be a return to frugality and to greater value for the long lasting and the local. Community justice is just that: citizen volunteers working with victims and offenders to create safe and just communities for us all.