An act relating to modernizing the Children and Family Council for Prevention Programs

The chapter number 'No. 70' is present in the As Enacted version but absent from the As Passed version, reflecting that the chapter number is assigned at enactment.

The governor's signature date (June 19, 2023) appears in the As Enacted version but not in the As Passed version.

The As Passed version includes bill introduction metadata: sponsor (Representative LaLonde of South Burlington), committee referral, subject line (Juvenile justice; allocation of federal money), and a statement of purpose explaining the bill's intent to comply with changes to the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.

Council membership increased from a fixed 21 members to up to 25 members, giving the Governor more flexibility in appointments.

Council is now explicitly designated as Vermont's State advisory group under 34 U.S.C. 11133, with a duty to support compliance with core JJRA requirements including deinstitutionalization of status offenders, separation of juveniles from incarcerated adults, removal of juveniles from adult jails and lockups, and reduction of racial and ethnic disparities.

New requirement that a majority of Council members, including the Chair, shall not be full-time employees of federal, State, or local government, ensuring independent oversight.

New requirement that on December 1, 2024, and every three years thereafter, the Council shall in coordination with DCF develop a State juvenile justice plan consistent with JJRA requirements and legislative findings under 33 V.S.A. 5101a.

The requirement to include youth and family voice was strengthened by removing the qualifier 'whenever possible,' making it an unqualified obligation rather than a best-efforts standard.

The biennial compliance report deadline changed from January 15, 2024 to January 15, 2025, giving the Council an additional year before its first report is due.

Section 3306 (Children's Trust Fund) and Section 3307 (Trust Fund Programs) were removed entirely, eliminating the statutory framework for a dedicated trust fund to support community-based primary prevention programs and the associated grant-making process.

Council officers changed from chairperson, vice chairperson, and clerk to chair, vice chair, and secretary or treasurer or both, aligning with more standard governance language.

Corrected a statutory cross-reference in Section 3303(a) from '32 V.S.A. section 3309' to '33 V.S.A. section 3309,' fixing an incorrect title citation in the Vermont Statutes Annotated.

Added the Governor's signature date of June 19, 2023 at the end of the enacted text.

Bill renumbered from H.175 to Public Law No. 70 with standard enrolled act formatting and page numbering.

The official version adds a standard introduction page listing the sponsor (Representative LaLonde of South Burlington), committee referral, subject line, and a statement of purpose summarizing the bill's intent to modernize the Council for Equitable Youth Justice to comply with federal JJRA changes.

The internal tracking identifier 'VT LEG #368443 v.1' was removed from page headers in the official version.

Line numbers were added throughout the official version, and the page count was updated from 7 pages to 17 pages to reflect the expanded formatting.

The effective date provision (Sec. 2) was repositioned from appearing before the statutory text in the unofficial version to correctly appearing after all statutory amendments in the official version.