Community Justice Center Advisory Board (CAB)

Burlington Community Justice Center (BCJC) Community Advisory Board May 8, 3:30-5:00 200 Church St, Burlington, VT 05401 The Burlington CJC uses restorative practices and community values to foster healing, accountability, and repair for people impacted by, and responsible for, harm, conflict and crime in our community. Attendees: Rachel, Ken, Phil, Randall, Sparks ​ Note-taker: CB 1. Updates Changes to city staffing & org structure: CEDO is merging with Business and Workforce Development. More details to come from the Mayor’s office. Act 180/AGO funding: AGO has confirmed a 3% COLA increase for FY26 grants. Additional funding may come pending Act 180 amendments. ●​ Governor’s Office has not weighed in on budget changes re pre-charge. ●​ Public Safety Commissioner Jen Morrison: Public Safety in Vermont Requires Rebalancing Priorities | Office of Governor Phil Scott Pre-charge centralization: AGO and town manager meeting planned to discuss phased implementation over 2–3 years. ●​ Rachel may attend if another representative from BTV is unavailable. ●​ Identify needed FTEs through a draft org chart. 2. Discussion - CAB Review Bylaws last updated in 2016; currently out of compliance. Major update needed, especially with regionalization in mind. Current role in CAB bylaws: ●​ Hiring/firing the Director ●​ Supporting and advising the Director ●​ Shaping policy and priorities ●​ Approving COSA applications (no longer required by DOC)  ●​ Representing the community and ensuring diverse input Reflections: ●​ Ken: Need for meaningful advisory input. Suggested listening sessions during regionalization planning. Approval of COSA applications no longer relevant. ●​ Phil: The importance of two-way communication with the public; increasing public understanding of CAB and CJC work. ●​ Randall: Advisory body most needed, could be worthwhile to improve communication between CAB and community w/out it being an express function of the role. ●​ Sparks: Is this group meeting the needs of advising the director? What does the BCJC Director need from a CAB? Other towns are awaiting Burlington to take lead on proposals of governance model, community input, staffing, etc.. Main goals of a draft include: ●​ Ensuring equitable representation ●​ Avoiding Burlington dominance ●​ Maintaining strong ties between CJC and local PDs ●​ Preserving existing staff where possible ●​ Vetting and accountability for staff Ideas: ●​ Interest in a self-governing board (e.g., with its own chair and committees), rather than one solely managed by the BCJC Director. Montpelier CAB is a model where volunteers run meetings independently. ●​ Past BTV CABs had 1 person from every ward, but also addressed more localized concerns like noise/graffiti. What could that look like in a regionalized model, especially when some CJCs currently represent multiple cities already? ●​ Embedding a CJC staff member w/in each municipal office ●​ Sending survey to other towns to help draft CAB proposal Concerns: ●​ DOC is no longer funding community referrals; future funding may need to come from municipal partners. Community referrals and staffing decisions may require local investment. ●​ Need to ensure board operations are not overly burdensome on the BCJC Director as the system expands-- Data/Coms/Ops Specialist could support CAB and community liaising. Next Meeting: ​ Scheduled for July 3rd but moving to Tuesday, July 10th. Rachel to send out new Outlook invite and copy Tim (BSD).