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Welcome to Vermont
The Vermont Board
Norah Quinn
Norah Quinn is a Corrections Services
Specialist. at the Northeast Regional Correctional Facility in St. Johnsbury,
Vermont. Norah has worked for the Vermont Department of Corrections
for the past 15 years. Norah began her career at the Northeast
Regional Correctional Facility in 1992 as a Temporary Correctional Officer and
through the years has held various positions within the Department such as Work
Crew Supervisor and Community Correctional Officer.
Norah has been involved with the Vermont
chapter of the NEECD for three years and is currently the State Chair and on the Constitution and
Bylaws committee.
Herb Sinkinson
Herb is the Department of Corrections, Community Resource
Coordinator for Northwest Vermont. He does statewide program development,
training for trainers, volunteer management and quality assurance in several
justice programs. Herb started and developed the Reparative Probation program in
Chittenden County in 1995. In 1996 the program won the
American Probation and Parole Association's
President's Award.
Herb is trained in Mediation and Victim Offender Dialogue. He
has presented at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, American Society of
Criminology and the University of Minnesota. He is a founder and current
Vice-President of a non-profit that produces an
annual theater event with four
hundred volunteers and over six thousand patrons.
Alan Cormier
Al Cormier is a Corrections Program Supervisor at the
St.
Johnsbury Probation and Parole Office in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. He has been
in his current position for the past 2 years and is a 13 year employee with the
Vermont Department of Corrections. Al is responsible for the supervision of 7
Probation Officers, 5 Community Corrections Officers, the Community Work Crew
program and several risk reduction programs. Al was honored by Vermont Gov.
James Douglas this past year for his
outstanding performance and contributions to the Vermont Department of
Corrections.
He has been a member of the NECCD since 1999 and was the
recipient of 18th annual Angelo R. Musto Award in 2005. Al serves on the
Executive Board as the organizations Recording Secretary and is also a member of
the Program Committee.
Jennifer Sprafke
Jennifer Sprafke is the Training Coordinator for the
Prison Rape Elimination Act, which is a
part of the Vermont Department of Corrections. She has held this position since
November 2006. Jennifer has been with the Department since 2000 and
has been a Training Coordinator, Caseworker and Correctional Officer
for the Vermont Department of Corrections.
Jennifer has been a member of the NECCD since 2004, on
the Vermont Board for the NECCD since June 2005 and was the recipient of 20th
annual Angelo R. Musto Award in 2007. She is currently the
Chairperson for the Membership/Registration Committee designs the webpage
for NECCD. If you have any questions or comments about the webpage or
becoming a member of NECCD you may contact her at
jsprafke@doc.state.vt.us
Miriam Popper
Miriam Popper is the Offender Re-entry Housing Specialist
in Burlington VT, serving all of Chittenden County. She has held this position
at the Burlington Housing Authority
since February 2006. She graduated from Skidmore College in 2005 with a degree
in Government and Law and Society.
Miriam has been a
member of NECCD since the fall of 2006. She is currently a member of the
membership committee and is designing a newsletter for members of NECCD.
Shawna Lapierre
Shawna Lapierre is the coordinator of the Winooski Offender
Reentry Program, which is a division of the
Winooski Police Department and the
Community Justice Center.
She has been heading this program since September 2005. Prior to this position,
Shawna was an AmeriCorps Victim Advocate for the NH Department of Corrections.
Shawna has been a member of the NECCD since 2005 and on
the Vermont Board of NECCD since September 2006. She is currently the
Chairperson for the Awards and Scholarship Committee.
Heather Simons
The Vermont Department Of Corrections
The operating philosophy of the Vermont Department of
Corrections.
Vision, Mission, Values
and Principles
Vision
To be valued by the citizens of Vermont as a partner in prevention, research,
control and treatment of criminal behavior.
Mission
In partnership with the community, we support safe communities by providing
leadership in crime prevention, repairing the harm done, addressing the needs of
crime victims, ensuring offender accountability for criminal acts and managing
the risk posed by offenders.
This is accomplished through a commitment to quality services and continuous
improvement while respecting diversity, legal rights, human dignity and
productivity.
Values
Responsibility, Commitment, Integrity, Judgment, Creativity, Enthusiasm,
Compassion
Principles
We believe:
That people can change.
That community participation and support are essential for the successful
delivery of correctional services.
In the inherent worth and dignity of all individuals.
In treating people with respect and dignity.
In teamwork and the process of continuous improvement.
In professional self-improvement.
In the placement of offenders in the least restrictive environment consistent
with public safety and offense severity.
In fairness throughout decision making.
In respect for the liberty interests, rights and entitlements of the individual.
In individual empowerment.
In non-violent conflict resolution.
In maintaining a safe and secure environment.
In the value of individual, cultural and racial diversity.
That victims have the right to have an active role in determining how their
needs can best be met.
That offenders are responsible, to the extent possible, to repair harm done to
victims and the community.
To visit the Vermont Department of Corrections home page click
here.
Community Justice Centers Restorative Reentry Programs Basics
PROGRAM GOALS: People who have committed serious and violent offenses who
are released from jail will reintegrate into the community by making amends,
becoming self-sufficient, and learning to hold themselves accountable. Victims
and communities will be safer as program participants are supported and held
accountable to:
 | be successful as non-criminal citizens |
| learn skills, work, and earn a living |
| be self-sufficient |
| be responsible parents |
| learn ways to meet social and recreational needs that are not tied to
violence, criminal behavior, or addictions |
| identify and overcome (with programs, education, support, etc.) barriers
such as addiction, criminal thinking, mental health issues, educational
limitations, skill deficits, etc. |
| learn about the effects on others of his/her offensive actions |
| learn about his/her obligations and responsibilities to the specific
victims and as a member of the community |
| make amends and work his/her way back into the good graces of the
community |
PROGRAM OVERVIEW: Community volunteers and professionals will work together
to engage program participants in facilitated and informal dialogue over a
period of time to enhance victim and community safety and reduce recidivism.
| Planning for reentry begins while participant is incarcerated |
| Department of Correction’s role in reentry planning, support, and
control is augmented by collaboration with community panel and the justice
center’s coordination of services |
| Community panels form a long-term relationship with participants through
regular meetings to achieve program goals |
| Program staff and volunteers consistently emphasize a social contract
with participants noting obligation to repair harm of past offenses and
expectations for present and future pro-social behavior and benefits of
positive actions and relationships. |
PROGRAM BENEFITS:
Victim/Survivors and others affected by offense will have the opportunity
to:
| give offenders information about how they have been affected |
| ask questions of offenders |
| ask for what they need from offender and community |
| be compensated through offender’s efforts at making amends |
| be supported by community |
| have an increased sense of security |
Community members will:
| know what is going on |
| have ongoing structured conversations with offender through organized
panels |
| have a voice in setting standards and expectations for offender behavior
in the community |
| provide an intentional relationship between offender and community that
balances support with expectations for responsible living |
People who have offended will:
| receive financial and personal assistance to obtain housing and
employment |
| learn about themselves and others |
| have people with whom they can talk things through |
| have an opportunity to contribute in a positive way |
Spotlight on Offender Reentry
In 2004, seven Community Justice Centers from around the
state were sub-granted monies through the Department of Corrections from the
Serious and Violent Offenders Reentry Initiative grant to create Offender
Reentry Programs to assist people returning to their respective communities from
the state prison system. Community Justice Centers are powered by community
volunteers who are interested in improving the quality of life in their
communities. They provide an array of services and run several programs,
including Reparative Boards, Youth Programs, Conflict Mediation, Victim Services
and Community Dialogues and Education. The
Barre,
Brattleboro,
Burlington,
Montpelier,
Newport, St. Johnsbury and
Winooski
Community Justice Centers decided to add Offender Reentry Programs to their list
of services. These programs are based on the restorative justice principle that
the community should be involved in the re-entry and re-integration process of
anyone returning to their community. Each offender has a panel of community
members and volunteers to help them with the reintegration process. Although
each Program is run differently, they all have the goal of keeping the community
safe by helping returning offenders transition back into the community. They
help them reintegrate, as well as give back to the communities they have harms.
The Burlington Offender Reentry Program had the opportunity to sub-contract with
local agencies to offer even more necessary services to the offenders
re-entering into their community. This sub-contracting created an Offender
Re-entry Employment specialist working with
VABIR (Vermont Association of Business, Industry and Rehabilitation) and
Vocational Rehabilitation, an
Offender Re-entry Substance Abuse case manager working with
Howard Center for Human Services, and
an Offender Re-entry Housing Specialist working with
Burlington Housing Authority.
The Housing Specialist position is especially unique because it was created
within the housing authority structure, being one of the only programs of its
sort run out of a housing authority in the country. This program has helped to
create many more opportunities for ex-offenders to access housing subsidies than
are available to them in other parts of the country. In Vermont, offenders
cannot be released onto supervision unless they have a residence that is
approved by their PO, so those offenders without any outside support to obtain
housing could remain in prison until they max out their sentence. The housing
specialist will start working with those individuals before they are eligible
for release. The housing specialist will determine the housing needs and
abilities of the offender and work with private landlords (and occasionally
public housing) to find an apartment for the offender to be released to.
Sometimes the offenders have money that they have saved up from working in
prison, sometimes they have monetary help from family members, and sometimes
they are eligible for transitional housing money from the department of
corrections for first months rent and security deposit. Housing will be
coordinated by the housing specialist and ready for the offender as they are
released from prison.
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