A scathing report by a group of women’s advocates describes worms in shower stalls, an insufficient number of toilets and an inadequate number of jobs available for inmates at the South Burlington prison.
Among the complaints: “There are worms in the shower.”
The report also cited inadequate heat and hot water at times.
The report was issued by eight women who represent various organizations that work with female inmates. The report comes six months after the state moved the female inmates from a prison with too much space in St. Albans to one with not enough in South Burlington.
Gov. Peter Shumlin, responding to the report Tuesday, said some of the information was inaccurate or outdated and the other issues are being addressed.
State officials admitted, though, that there are larvae from sewere flies in the showers, a problem that has plagued the prison for years.
The issue of insects is not new for this building and does occur in other buildings in our system,” Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito told legislators in an e-mail response to the report.
Pallito said the state Buildings Department has a system for cleaning the shower drains and has ramped that schedule up. Plans are in the works to remove old tile and resurface those areas, he said.
“Is it a perfect facility? No,” said Susan Bartlett, the governor’s special assistant for Corrections issues and a leading driver of moving the women to South Burlington. “The work on the maintenance issues is ongoing.”
Bartlett said the state will replace the spotty heating system in the summer, but it didn’t make sense to do so in the winter. She said plans are also in place to give up two jail cells to make room for more toilets.
The report raises a broad spectrum of issues that the authors say were generated by the move to South Burlington, where there is less space for programs, jobs and facilities.
Alongside the physical issues with the facility, the report cites a lack of work for the women. The St. Albans facility offered 80 full-time jobs and 31 training positions, the report said, while at South Burlington the 145 women have access to just 30 jobs.
The work that is available lacks the long-term educational benefits of the work in St. Albans, the report said.
“Six months into the transition, there are disturbing signs that we’re not only falling short of the Governor’s vision, but are on track to erode a decade’s worth of progress in our work with incarcerated women,” the report states. “ Immediate steps must be taken to ensure the health, safety and human dignity of Vermont’s incarcerated women.
Bartlett responded that the women are being offered work on outside crews that they were not offered at St. Albans.
Clearly miffed at the report, Bartlett said, “I felt like we’ve been working with these groups in good faith. I didn’t feel like there were a lot of suggestions that they were trying to be helpful with.”
The report was the work of Susan Onderwyzer of the Lund Family Center, Dolly Fleming of Mercy Connections, Wendy Love of the Vermont Commission on Women, Karen Tronsgard-Scott of the Vermont Network Against Domestic Violence, Tiffany Bluemle of Vermont Works for Women,
and Marybeth Redmond and Sarah Bartlett of writinginsideVT.
