The Vermont Family Survival Guide: What to Do When Someone You Love Goes to Prison

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Internal links: Vermont inmate search, Vermont reentry resources, send money, letters and photos, visitation, How Prison Works hub

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The Vermont Family Survival Guide: What to Do When Someone You Love Goes to Prison

Nobody hands you a manual the day this happens. One day your son, your husband, your daughter, your father is a phone call away. The next, they are an ID number inside the Vermont Department of Corrections, a system unlike most others, because Vermont has no county jails, runs everything through one state agency, and leans heavily on furlough to move people back into the community.

I am going to walk you through it the way someone who has lived inside a system like this would explain it to you. No jargon, no false comfort. What is true, and what to do about it. We will cover where your person is, how to find them, the first weeks, money, staying connected, and how and when they might come home under Vermont's parole and furlough rules.

First, Understand Vermont Has One Unified System

Most of these guides start by separating county jail from state prison. Vermont is different, and this is the first thing to understand.

Vermont runs a unified correctional system. The Vermont Department of Corrections, the VDOC, handles everything: people awaiting trial, people serving short sentences, people serving long sentences, probation, parole, and furlough supervision. There are no county jails holding people for the long term. Everyone in state custody is held in one of Vermont's six correctional facilities, which mix pretrial detainees and sentenced people. So whether your person was just arrested and is being held before trial, or has been sentenced to years, they are in the same state system.

Two systems still sit outside the VDOC. Federal prison, run by the Bureau of Prisons, is separate and searched at bop.gov. ICE immigration detention is its own system, searched through the ICE detainee locator. And there is one more Vermont wrinkle: the state has at times contracted to house some Vermont inmates in out-of-state prisons, so your person could be held in another state under a Vermont contract. The VDOC keeps specific information for families of people housed out of state, so ask about it if that happens.

How to Actually Find Them in the Vermont System

The official, free tool is the VDOC offender locator on the Vermont Department of Corrections website. You search by name or alias and can see your person's ID number, location, charges, and sentence information. Because the system is unified, the same locator covers pretrial detainees and sentenced people. You can also register with VINELink, the victim and family notification service, to get automated updates on custody status.

Write down your person's ID number, because nearly everything depends on it. The search is free, so skip the lookalike sites that charge fees. If you cannot find your person, you can call the VDOC or the specific facility for help confirming custody status.

The First Weeks: Intake and Where Your Person Lands

Your person does not necessarily stay where they first arrive. Vermont's six facilities are spread across the state: Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, Marble Valley Regional in Rutland, the Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury, Northern State in Newport, Northwest State in Swanton, and Southern State in Springfield. Your person is assessed and classified before being assigned, and because pretrial and sentenced people share the system, where they land depends on their status, security level, and needs.

One key fact for families of women: the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington is Vermont's facility for women, so women in state custody are generally held there. During intake and classification, contact is limited and visiting is usually restricted until your person is settled and you are approved. If they seem hard to reach for a stretch, that is the process, not a crisis. Check the locator to confirm the facility, since it determines visiting and travel, and Vermont is a small state so most facilities are within a few hours' drive.

Money: How to Put Funds on Their Account in Vermont

Your person needs money on their account for the basics, hygiene, and commissary. Vermont uses JailATM, the platform tied to its contracted communications vendor, for deposits, and also accepts deposits by mail using a deposit coupon and a money order. The VDOC provides sample deposit coupons and instructions, and a self-addressed envelope process, so follow the form exactly to make sure the money reaches the right account. Confirm the current deposit options and any fees on the VDOC family page before sending.

The usual warning everywhere: scammers target prison families constantly. Use only the official JailATM and mail deposit process. Never send money through a stranger, a cash app handle, or anyone who contacts you out of the blue claiming they can get it there faster, or claiming they can buy your person an early release. No one can.

Staying Connected: Phone, Tablets, and Mail

This is what holds a family together, so set up each channel deliberately.

Phone. Vermont's phone service runs through ICSolutions, also called ICS. Your person makes outgoing calls to approved numbers and cannot receive incoming calls, so set up a prepaid account and get your number on the approved list. One practical tip Vermont itself flags: ICSolutions calls are sometimes mistaken for robocalls and blocked by phone carriers, so if calls are not coming through, check with your carrier. As of recent years, federal caps have pushed per-call costs down from the old punishing rates.

Tablets and messaging. Vermont has distributed ICS tablets to all facilities, which support email, messaging, and virtual visits. You set up an account through the vendor, and Vermont also sells Gold Passes through JailATM that give your person a block of uninterrupted tablet time. Set up your account, buy what you need, and your person reads messages and uses features on the tablet, all subject to review.

Mail. Send letters and photos to your person at their specific facility, addressed with their full name and ID number. Vermont inspects incoming mail for contraband and limits what may be enclosed, and mail rules can change, so confirm your facility's current rules before sending, including any limits on photos and pages. Publications generally must come new and directly from an approved vendor or publisher. Legal mail is handled separately, and Vermont provides confidential attorney phone lines at each facility.

How and When They Might Come Home: Parole, Furlough, and Earned Time

This is the section to read most carefully, because Vermont uses several paths home, and furlough is central in a way it is not in most states.

Start with sentencing. Vermont uses indeterminate sentences with a minimum and a maximum, for example two to ten years. The minimum is the key date. Your person becomes eligible for parole consideration after serving the minimum term, and if the sentence has no minimum or a zero minimum, they are eligible within twelve months of arriving. At that point the Vermont Parole Board, an independent board, interviews your person and decides whether to grant parole, weighing conduct, programming, victim input, and risk. Eligibility is not release; the board decides. Vermont has also moved toward presumptive parole for many cases, meaning a person who has completed required programming, stayed compliant, and avoided major disciplinary violations is presumed suitable for release at the minimum unless there is a reason to deny, which makes finishing the case plan especially powerful.

Now the part that sets Vermont apart: furlough. Vermont relies heavily on furlough to supervise people in the community, sometimes before the minimum and often as the path out. Furlough is a community status that is still legally part of the sentence, your person lives and works in the community under supervision and rules, and can be returned to a facility for violations. Vermont reorganized and simplified its furlough system effective January 1, 2021, so the categories your person encounters may differ from older descriptions, but the core idea remains: many Vermonters serve part of their sentence on furlough in the community rather than behind walls. Ask your person's caseworker which status applies and what the conditions are.

Vermont also reinstated earned time. Under a 2020 law effective January 1, 2021, eligible incarcerated people can earn time off through good conduct and program compliance, which can move dates earlier, though a later law disqualified people serving certain listed offenses, so whether your person earns time depends on the conviction. The honest takeaway: learn your person's minimum date, find out whether they qualify for earned time and presumptive parole, and understand that furlough may be the actual road home. In every one of these, the levers are the same, completing the case plan, staying disciplinary-free, and lining up approved housing, so help your person focus there.

When Release Day Comes

Do not expect them to walk out with much. Whatever is left in their account leaves with them, and Vermont, like most states, has only modest help for people who leave with nothing. The lesson is simple: do not assume the state sends them home with a cushion. If you can, have a little money and a plan waiting, including approved housing and where your person will sleep the first night, which matters because furlough and parole both require an approved place to live. Supervision conditions begin immediately, so know the first appointment and the conditions before release day. One note Vermont families are sometimes surprised by: Vermont is one of only two states, with Maine, where people do not lose the right to vote while incarcerated, so your person's voting rights are not taken away.

Vermont Resources That Actually Help

You are not the first Vermont family to walk this, and you should not do it alone. There are organizations across the state focused on reentry, family support, and legal advocacy, including groups that help families understand furlough, parole, and earned time.

We keep a current, Vermont-specific list of family support organizations, legal aid, and reentry programs on our Vermont reentry resources page. Start there. The right organization can help you understand your person's minimum date and furlough options, navigate the JailATM and ICSolutions systems, and help them land on their feet when they come home.

You Can Do This

Here is the last thing, from someone who understands a system like this from the inside. The families who make it through are not the ones with money or connections. They are the ones who learn the rules, stay involved, and pace themselves. Vermont has its own particulars, one unified system with no county jails, six facilities across a small state, sometimes out-of-state housing, and a heavy reliance on furlough, but you found this guide, which means you are already doing the most important thing: learning how it actually works so you can work it.

Find them on the VDOC locator and register with VINELink. Set up JailATM for money and ICSolutions for phone and tablet, and write real letters to the facility. Learn your person's minimum date, ask the caseworker about furlough, presumptive parole, and earned time, and help your person finish the case plan, stay clean, and line up approved housing. And take care of yourself across the long haul.

You are not alone in this. Vermont families do this every day, and so can you.

FAQ

**Does Vermont have county jails?** No. Vermont runs a unified system, so the Vermont Department of Corrections handles everyone, people awaiting trial, those serving any length of sentence, probation, parole, and furlough, in one of six state facilities. Pretrial and sentenced people share the same system, and there are no long-term county jails.

**How do I find my person?** Use the VDOC offender locator by name or alias to see their ID number, location, and sentence information, and register with VINELink for automated status notifications. If you cannot find them, call the VDOC or the specific facility.

**Where are women held?** Women in Vermont state custody are generally held at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington. Men are housed across the other facilities depending on classification and needs.

**How do I send money to someone in Vermont?** Through JailATM online, or by mail using a VDOC deposit coupon and a money order, following the form exactly. Confirm current options and fees on the VDOC family page. Use only the official channels, and never send money through anyone who claims they can speed it up or buy an early release.

**Can I call and message my loved one?** Yes. Phone runs through ICSolutions, with outgoing calls only to approved numbers through a prepaid account; if calls are blocked as suspected robocalls, check with your carrier. Vermont has also distributed ICS tablets at all facilities for email, messaging, and virtual visits, with Gold Passes available through JailATM.

**When is my person eligible for parole?** After serving the minimum term of their sentence, or within twelve months if the sentence has no minimum or a zero minimum. The independent Vermont Parole Board then interviews your person and decides. Vermont also uses presumptive parole for many cases, so completing programming and staying compliant strongly supports release at the minimum.

**What is furlough, and why does it matter so much in Vermont?** Furlough is a community supervision status that is still legally part of the sentence; your person lives in the community under rules and can be returned to a facility for violations. Vermont relies on furlough heavily as a path out, sometimes before the minimum date, so it is often the actual road home. Vermont simplified its furlough system effective January 1, 2021, so ask the caseworker which status applies.

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