MONTPELIER, Vt. — Criminal justice reform advocates and family members of inmates urged Vermont on Wednesday to stop sending inmates out-of-state to for-profit prisons.

Grassroots Leadership, a social justice group, released a report at the Statehouse press conference on the costs and consequences of sending inmates to private prisons in other states in response to prison overcrowding.

The report ”“ “Locked Up & Shipped Away: Paying the Price for Vermont’s Response to Prison Overcrowding” ”“ says an over-reliance on out-of-state private prisons cuts ties between prisoners and families, which are critical to keeping inmates from reoffending. It also says shipping inmates out-of-state is costly to families, emotionally and financially. A little less than 500 Vermont inmates are currently incarcerated out of state, mostly in Kentucky.

Tim Burgess, a former inmate from Waterville, said he had visits from his family every weekend while serving time in Vermont but only saw his family once in two years after he was shipped to a Kentucky prison.

Burgess, who has a heart condition, said he also received better medical and mental health services and programming in Vermont than he did in Kentucky, where he was incarcerated for two years of his 2004-2009 term for sexual assault.

“The important thing that I think Vermonters should know about being in Kentucky, being away from family, being away from support networks, is that we as inmates in these facilities have no contact, no support networks that we can see on a consistent basis,” Burgess said. “We’re alone. The only other people we know are other inmates.”

The report recommends the Legislature support the continued use of drug courts, court diversion, mentoring programs and community justice centers and reforming sentencing practices and supervision policies.

Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito said the state has two new programs aimed at decreasing the prison population, including a pretrial services program to help divert people from the criminal justice system by addressing their underlying addiction and a $3 million grant over three years to reduce recidivism.

Advocates say they are seeking sponsors to introduce bills to reduce the prison population and help to bring back inmates from out of state.

Among the proposals are to have charges for possession of drugs for personal use reclassified as misdemeanors, to have nonviolent crimes diverted to a restorative justice process, and changing supervision rules so that absent exceptional circumstances no one be re-incarcerated while they’re on supervision for technical violations in their conditions. They also want to make sure furlough isn’t denied because of a lack of housing and suggest a compassionate release program for older prisoners and sick prisoners who do not pose a danger to public safety.

“That’s going to be a serious money saver,” said Seth Lipschutz, director of the Vermont Prisoners’ Rights Office.

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