Senate Judiciary committee members on March 21 heard hours of testimony about whether Vermont should delay H.2’s next phase, which would add 19‑year‑olds to juvenile court. Department for Children and Families (DCF) staff and labor representatives warned that mixed caseloads, long wait lists for treatment and a short supply of secure and specialized placements mean the system cannot absorb the expansion on the current timetable; supporters of the law, including a former federal juvenile-justice official, said research favors treating young people in juvenile rather than adult systems.

The issue matters because H.2 would change where 19‑year‑olds are prosecuted and where they receive services. Committee members debated an amendment to shorten a proposed two‑year pause to one year and require a January report on whether misdemeanors could be phased into juvenile jurisdiction earlier. In a committee straw poll on the amendment the chair described, four senators signaled support and one opposed; the panel agreed to prepare a formal amendment and return with a clean draft for a formal vote.

"Many of the youth we serve have complex needs including support in finding safe and supportive long term housing, substance misuse treatment, mental health treatment, opportunities to increase supportive peer connections, and educational and employment opportunities," said Nikki Duran, family services supervisor in DCF’s Burlington District office. Duran told senators her office currently has five juvenile services workers covering 114 cases — an average of about 22 cases per worker — and that staff sometimes carry juvenile delinquency, youthful offender and child protection duties simultaneously. She said the Burlington team had nine youth whose sole involvement would be a raise‑the‑age case and that, in the last fiscal year, the office was assigned seven cases that explicitly involved a gun.

Patricia ("Tracy") Casanova, chair of DCF’s Family Services Labor Management Committee and deputy compact administrator for interstate juvenile matters, urged a pause. "When workers carry mixed caseloads, the priority will always be children in DCF custody due to the requirements that the department holds as being these children's parents. Probationers and youthful offenders will always take the back seat when triaging is required," she said. Casanova described high turnover and long wait lists at community providers and said the division’s work is constrained when community partners are understaffed.

Deputy Commissioner Eric Vakhi, Family Services Division, acknowledged incremental improvements — citing new programs such as Red Clover (a four‑bed secure stabilization program) and a Katz team — but said provider staffing shortages remain a problem and that DCF does not feel able to implement the next phase of H.2 "at this time and do it well." He told senators he would supply vacancy and turnover data to the committee.

Liz Ryan, who previously led the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, testified in favor of implementing the law. "Youth and young adults should be handled in family court rather than in criminal court," Ryan said, adding that research on adolescent brain development and evidence of better outcomes from juvenile‑focused treatment support the policy.

Witnesses described gaps in specific services: no in‑state residential substance‑use treatment for juveniles; limited programming targeted at firearm violence or harmful sexualized behavior; and providers who close referrals when youth miss sessions because of long wait lists. DCF staff also described using graduated sanctions and, when needed, filing violations of probation, but said violations in the delinquency docket do not always provide additional accountability or treatment access.

Committee members questioned whether DCF and the governor’s office have prioritized hiring and funding to remedy problems. Some senators expressed skepticism that repeated pauses will produce change; others said a delay with reporting milestones and an accountability requirement could give the division time to stabilize operations and for community partners to increase capacity.

Votes at a glance (straw poll): amendment to H.2 (as described above) — 4 in favor, 1 opposed in a committee straw poll; committee agreed to draft the amendment and return with a clean copy for a formal vote. No final committee passage of the bill was recorded in the hearing transcript.

The committee asked DCF for written data — including vacancy and recent turnover figures — and scheduled follow‑up work on both the bill amendment and separate oversight of DCF workforce and system capacity.