Summary
The Vermont Department of Corrections is an American executive agency of the state of Vermont. According to the organization’s website, it has its own values, principles, mission, and vision. The vision statement communicates that the agency aims to “be valued by the citizens of Vermont as a partner in prevention, research, management, and intervention of criminal behavior” (Vermont Department of Corrections, n.d., para. 1). However, a sociology student at the University of Vermont and Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform’s intern named Julia Maisto believes that the Vermont Department of Corrections did not do enough. This journal assignment overviews her commentary on the issue and answers two questions. These: what are some ways the Vermont Department of Corrections could have gathered accurate data? and what effect did their omission of data have on the surrounding community?
Accurate Data and the Ways to Gather It
Facts and Figures reports are documents that are compiled by the Vermont Department of Corrections presenting data on each fiscal year. As per Commentary (2016), the fiscal year (FY) 2014 report contains more than 200 pages of information and statistics on various subjects. Among them are the number of persons linked to Corrections (currently incarcerated and the population over time), public safety, offender health and safety, budgetary matters, programs, and results. Then there is the report for FY 2015, which is only 32 pages long and does not comprise elements of interest to both the public and researchers.
There are many statistical indicators omitted from the Fact and Figures FY 2015 document. However, it is evident that the Vermont Department of Corrections is capable of gathering accurate data. Most of it tends to be obtained from correctional administrators, which run such programs as National Prisoner Statistics program, National Corrections Reporting program, and Justice Expenditures and Employment Extracts (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2021). In addition to that, the Department of Defense provides information on specific inmate populations, and it is available upon request. Moreover, according to Bureau of Justice Statistics (2021), the Vermont Department of Corrections could have utilized data from national surveys of prison and jail inmates. These are broad in scope and collect the personal and criminal backgrounds of offenders. All of it is contained in the 2014 document but is not available in its 2015 version (Commentary, 2016). Such data should not remain unpublished as it reveals both the strengths and weaknesses of the system and is essential for public knowledge.
Effect of Data Omission on the Community
The 2015 report notes that it has been synthesized to include only the information critical to the department’s activities. Commentary (2016) states that it makes no mention of the intention to go back to more extensive Facts and Figures from previous years, which is alarming. Granted, employee resources continuously vary, and such statistical analysis compilation is not an easy task; however, it cannot be ignored (Jasanoff, 2017). The information provided in these statistics had consequences not only for those directly related to Corrections facilities but for every person in the state. The omission of data by the Vermont Department of Corrections meant that taxpayers could not have engaged in the legislative process, which they have the legal right to do. Timely data are needed to identify social problems and find effective solutions, which is particularly important considering how high the human costs are in the field of criminal justice.
References
Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2021). Corrections. Web.
Commentary (2016). Julia Maisto: Corrections must report facts and figures. VTDigger. Web.
Jasanoff, S. (2017). Virtual, visible, and actionable: Data assemblages and the sightlines of justice. Big Data & Society, 4(2), 1-13. Web.
Vermont Department of Corrections. (n.d.). About us. Web.