NCJ Number
171229
Journal
Corrections Management Quarterly Volume: 1 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1997) Pages: 26-35
Date Published
1997
Length
10 pages
Annotation
In 1991 the Vermont Department of Corrections embarked on a radical restructuring, based in large measure on taking a business reinvention approach to corrections; in doing so, the department engaged in market research.
Abstract
The market research was designed to determine whether its new approach and new services were compatible with, in John Doble's phrase, "the boundaries of political permission." The department determined that it had many "customers," including the public; victims; their families; their neighbors; criminal justice personnel and agencies; politicians in all branches of government; government agencies; community treatment vendors; victims' advocacy networks; and offenders, their friends, and their families. Surveys of customers found that generally they did not think the Department of Corrections (DOC) was doing a good job. The surveys found that corrections customers want offenders to accept responsibility, acknowledge guilt, pay full restitution, and commit to no recidivism. To the extent that this does not happen, the public wants punishment for the offender. From corrections the public wants safety from violent predators, accountability for the offense, repair of the damage done, education and treatment for safe release, and more involvement in justice. In an effort to provide the product that customers want, the DOC embarked on a redesign of its model. It involved a comprehensive restructuring of current correctional services that consisted of providing judges and prosecutors with a range of correctional programs targeted to types of offenders and types of crime. Two kinds of sentencing tracks were devised, each intended to address a different sentencing purpose: risk management and repairing damage. Within each track are four levels of punishment sanction, each with increasing restrictiveness and consequences for noncompliance or violation. This article describes each of the four levels. Within each service track and sanction level is a set of programs, each with services that target different offender groups. 3 figures, 12 references, and 4 suggested readings