Public Structures Spotlights
Office of Child Support
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. August 2009
The mission of the Office of Child Support (OSC), created in 1990, is to improve the economic wellbeing of children, under 18 or still in high school, from split homes.
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Meat Inspection Section
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. June 2009
Meats bound for market get the highest level of scrutiny from meat inspectors. But whether the meats are for sale or personal use, their slaughter, processing and sale are licensed and inspected to ensure proper animal treatment and food safety.
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Banking Division
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. Apr 2009
When a few predatory lenders struck Vermont in the mid-1990s, the legislature stepped in to protect consumers. New laws placed fiduciary responsibilities on mortgage brokers and required lenders to provide detailed disclosures. Those laws have been on the books since, and the Banking Division ensures they’re followed. Good regulation may have saved Vermont from the worst of the national mortgage crisis.
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Community High School of Vermont
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. Feb 2009
The Community High School of Vermont (CHSVT) is the state’s largest high school. It operates within the Department of Corrections. The students are either serving prison sentences in Vermont or living in the community on probation or parole.
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Immunization Program
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. Dec 2008
The nation’s first polio outbreak was in the Rutland area in 1894. Sixty years later a nationwide immunization program was in place. The widespread use of the polio vaccine has all but eradicated the disease in the U.S.; the last known Vermont case was in 1963.
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Office of Home Heating Fuel
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. Oct 2008
Vermont’s Seasonal Fuel Assistance Program helps pay for home heating fuel—oil, gas, kerosene, electricity, or wood—for households at or below 125 percent of poverty, with funds from the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
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Recreational Enforcement and Education Unit
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. Aug 2008
We’ve all encountered state troopers on the highways. But since the 1960s, troopers have also patrolled state waters and, more recently, snowmobile trails. These state police became the Recreational Enforcement and Education Unit, enforcing marine and snowmobile laws and running safety-education programs throughout the state and online.
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Office of the Defender General
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. Jun 2008
For at least 135 years Vermont has recognized that equality is crucial to criminal justice and provided legal counsel to the indigent. In 1972 a statewide system of public defense was created: the Office of the Defender General.
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Federally Qualified Health Care Centers (FQHCs)
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. March 2008
Doctors rarely make house calls these days, but half of Vermonters have access to the next best thing: affordable community health care. An FQHC is a community-operated nonprofit providing comprehensive primary care – including medical, dental, and behavioral care, and affordable prescription drugs – to anyone in the community who wants it.
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Consumer Protection Section
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. DEC 2007
Vermonters have relied on the state’s weights and measures program to protect them from fraud for over 200 years. In its early days the program checked retail farm products – such as fluid milk, meat or wool – for fair measure. Now the Consumer Protection Section also regulates propane meters, gas pumps, heavy duty scales and laser scanners.
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Vermont Department of Libraries
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. OCT 2007
Within a few months of Vermont’s joining the Union in 1791, the state’s first library was organized in Brookfield. Now, 61% of Vermonters have a library card at one or more of the state’s 180 public libraries.
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State Parks Division
PUBLIC STRUCTURES SPOTLIGHT. Aug 2007
In 2006 the State Parks Division managed 2292 campsites (in 41 campgrounds), 29 beaches, 38 picnic areas, 27 cabins, and 9 housekeeping cottages.
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