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Corrections Citizens' Advisory Group (CCAG)
HISTORY
The Corrections Citizens' Advisory Group (CCAG) is an organization created to provide the commissioner with ongoing advice and counsel on the operation and policy of the Vermont Department of Corrections. This group was formed in response to the Marks/McLaughlin investigation report.
The CCAG was established by the Commissioner of Corrections in June 2004 as a working group of various citizen advocates and other interested parties to create the foundation of a citizens' advisory group. The purpose of the proposed advisory group was to review systemic issues and advise the Commissioner on how best to reach the Department's stated goals. The Citizens' Advisory Group was officially convened in September 2004. The group has met at least quarterly since then. In 2005, two additional meetings were held to address group issues. Members of the Citizens' Advisory Group include offender advocates, non-profit providers of treatment and transitional housing, victims' services providers, business people, representatives of the faith community, prisoner rights, protection advocates and other concerned citizens.
CCAG helps to set a strategic direction, provides input on policy and assists the Corrections Commissioner in setting the limits of growth. Recognizing the inherent tensions of a citizen committee and the problems of independence, the purview of the group is matters of policy and practice rather than individual case review.
Membership of the group is broadly representative, inclusive of advocates, but the group will not be an independent watchdog agency overseeing the department. It will be an advisory group to the commissioner designed to improve the quality of policy and the practices of the department.
CCAG members also offer valuable input on system problems. It is not the purpose of the group to seek redress for individual issues and grievances. Ideally, the group is a constituency for advocacy to the broader community for offenders and issues faced by them in the community.
Corrections has become an increasingly complex and challenging field, charged with the custody and supervision of Vermonters in an arena that is contentious and rigorous and where best practices are necessary. The advice of this group serves to chart the best course for the Department.
You can contact the CCAG's members collectively by clicking this link or communicate with specific members through their email addresses below.
Current CCAG Members
Gordon Bock - Prisoner Advocate
Chairman, CURE VERMONT
P.O. Box 484, Montpelier, VT 05601-0484
802-371-9932 (no collect calls)
Click here to send an Email to Mr Bock at CURE VERMONT
Gordon Bock received a B.A. from Columbia College, the men’s undergraduate division of Columbia University. A dean’s list major in political science and urban studies, he was recipient of the James Gordon Bennett Prize for allegedly producing the political science department’s best senior thesis that year.
Mr. Bock then earned an M.S. from Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, which he attended on a Scripps-Howard Foundation scholarship. He also completed Columbia’s International Fellows program during that time.
Mr. Bock toiled as a reporter in the New York bureau of United Press International, where he rose to supervising editor in charge of coverage by 12 UPI bureaus in the tri-state area. Then followed a stint as regional correspondent for U.S. News & World Report, covering the Northeast from the weekly’s New York bureau. A job as staff editor at Business Week magazine yielded to a position as staff writer in the economy and business section of TIME magazine.
Whilst at TIME, Mr. Bock was an adjunct professor at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. Throughout his career, he has been a regular contributor to radio and television news broadcasts. For eight years, he was the Sunday ski columnist for two major Connecticut dailies. He was inducted into the Columbia chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, the professional journalists’ society.
At Business Week, Mr. Bock won an award from the Computer Press Association for best news report of the year. At TIME, he was part of a team bestowed with the John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business and Financial Journalism for coverage of the “Black Monday” stock market crash. Mr. Bock soon became special assistant to Frank Lorenzo, chairman of Texas Air Corp., which then owned Continental and Eastern airlines. He later attended Vermont Law School.
A certified Vermont firefighter who received from the Montpelier city council a commendation for meritorious assistance in the 1992 flood, Mr. Bock previously received a civilian commendation from the New York City Police Department for apprehending a fleeing mugger in Times Square.
Formerly a justice of the peace in Montpelier by appointment of Gov. Howard Dean, Mr. Bock is an instructor/proctor in Serv Safe, the National Restaurant Association food-safety course. He has been an instructor in: boating safety (Vermont Department of Public Safety); advanced first aid and CPR (American Red Cross); hunter firearms safety (Vermont Fish and Game). Since 2008, he has been a volunteer member of the Corrections Citizens' Advisory Group (CCAG), serving at the pleasure of the state corrections commissioner. Mr. Bock proudly served as a petty officer with the U.S. Coast Guard.
You can follow CURE VERMONT on FaceBook
Allen Gilbert
ACLU-VT Executive Director
Americans Civil Liberties Union of Vermont
Will Hunter
Sarah Kenney
Associate Director of Public Policy
VT Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence
Sarah has been at the Network for ten years, first as the Sexual Violence Specialist and now in public policy. From 1998 to 2002, Sarah worked at the Women’s Rape Crisis Center in Burlington, VT and prior to that served as a volunteer at the WRCC while working for then-Congressman Bernie Sanders.
She holds a bachelors degree in political science from St. Michael's College and earned a masters degree from the University of Hawai’i through the fellowship program at the East-West Center. She is a 2002 graduate of the Vermont Leadership Institute at the Snelling Center for Government.
Sarah has spent the past 14 years working to support survivors of sexual and domestic violence and end violence and oppression through her work as a volunteer, educator, crisis counselor, fundraiser, public policy coordinator, lobbyist, advocate and activist.
Joan Lenes
David Luce
Has lived in Vermont except for 5 years at college (graduated from Rhode Island School of Design with a BA in Architecture) and 5 years in the military (honorably discharged as Lieutenant in the USNR).
Was employed by the Vermont Division of State Buildings and then became Principal of David Luce Architect, an architectural design firm, in Waterbury from 1984 - 2009. Now retired.
Has served on the Waterbury Planning Commission, later was a board member of Revitalizing Waterbury, a local non-profit community development group. Was a board member and is currently President of Washington County Court Diversion and a board member and construction coordinator with Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity. Is currently a reading mentor for Everyone Wins! at Thatcher Brook Primary School.
Served on the local education board of Community High School of Vermont (CHSVT) for the Dale Correctional facility until its closure and now serves on the CHSVT education board for Northwest Correctional Facility and as Secretary of the state education board for Community High School.
John G. Perry
John Perry is a long-time resident of St. Johnsbury. He is retired after serving thirty years in the Department of Corrections as Director of Research and Planning. He is a member of the St. Johnsbury Community Justice Center Advisory Board and the Northeast Area Agency on Aging board.
Lt. Brian H. Miller
A Troop BCI Commander
25 years with the State Police, Commander of Criminal Investigations in Washington, Chittenden, Franklin, Grande Isle, and Lamoille counties. Graduate of the FBI National Academy, BA in Criminal Justice from Westfield State College.
Alan Taplow
(802) 454-4675
(813)230-3940 Cell
Skype: ataplow
Alan Taplow lives in Marshfield, VT, where he is a Justice of the Peace and member of the Board of Civil Authority. He has been retired since 1994, after a career in industrial purchasing and materials management for Bristol-Myers, Philco-Ford & General Electric Company. He has a BA from Johns Hopkins University in Business & Industrial Management, and an MA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Human Development. He has lived in Vermont since 1998.
Alan began volunteering in prisons in 1995, facilitating workshops as a lead trainer for the Alternatives to Violence Project as well as leading prison workshops in Behavior Modification. He created a training manual for the Prisoner’s Resource Center — a project of the American Friends Service Committee in Newark NJ. He also developed a program of bereavement support for long-term prisoners who have lost a loved one while incarcerated — this program is still in effect at the NJ State Prison in Trenton. He was the initial convener of the study group, which resulted in the formation of the Montpelier and Barre Justice Centers, and participated in local reparative boards and victim impact panels for several years. He is currently retired from workshop facilitation.
David Usher
David Usher lives in Colchester and serves as a businessperson on the CCAG. In addition to his business career in telecommunications and information technology, he has also been active in Vermont’s non-profit world for many years. He is now vice-chair of the Colchester Community and Economic Development Advisory Council and manages a small home-based business, Usher Associates, LLC. He also served as a volunteer for several years at the Chittenden corrections facility in the ‘80s and ‘90s and later as a member and chair of the Vermont Offender Work Programs board.
David’s interest is in encouraging sound business principles in the work of the Department of Corrections and supporting realistic and efficient programs that engage offenders, improve their skills and help them transition to productive work in society.
Matthew Valerio
Defender General
Office of the Defender General
6 Baldwin Street, 4th Floor
Montpelier, VT 05633-3301
(802) 828-3168
(802) 828-3163 (fax)
Jonathan Williams
Associate, Public Policy & Advocacy
The Vermont League of Cities and Towns
Jonathan graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in 2007. He has served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kingdom of Morocco for several years, and has since gone on to enroll at the University of Vermont's Public Administration masters' program as a Paul D. Coverdell Peace Corps Fellow. Having worked as a Management Assistant for the Village of Essex Junction, he now serves as an Associate for Advocacy and Information with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns in Montpelier, following issues pertaining to Public Safety and Corrections, among others.
To inquire about joining the Corrections Citizens' Advisory Group, please contact:
Heather Simons (Director, Human Resource Development) at Heather.Simons@ahs.state.vt.us or by phone at (802)871-3179
