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There were four contracts for the Alabama Department of Corrections considered at the Legislative Joint Contract Review Committee when they met on Thursday.
Among the reviewed contracts were a renewal, an amended contract and two newly developed contracts. The first contract for consideration was a one-year renewal valued at $377,000 with The Moss Group.
The Moss Group provides support and consulting services on sexual safety and staff training while maintaining continuity of efforts to comply with the Male Inmate Pilot Risk Reduction Plan. They have held a contract with ADOC since 2015, when the Moss Group initially began collaborating with ADOC through a settlement to address sexual safety concerns at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women.
Rep. Chris England spoke to the frustrations with the lack of progress within ADOC.
“As a result of so many lawsuits and leadership changes and rises in the amount of people who are incarcerated, it’s just very hard for someone on the outside, especially on the legislative level of this, to see any real progress being made,” said England.
England also spoke about the disproportionate weight that seems to have fallen on the legislative branch to make changes within ADOC, calling it an “executive branch function.”
“On the legislative side, we’ve had to do some things on our side to fill a void of what appears to be, and I won’t say lack of effort because that’s clearly not the case, but something’s not working,” said England.
The total price of the contract with The Moss Group over the past decade sits just under $2 million.
A contract with YesCare, a company that would provide medications for medication-assisted therapy, was presented. Valued at $2 million, these funds were allocated to ADOC from the Opiod Settlement Fund.
Medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder helps alleviate the physical symptoms that come with withdrawl and is often coupled with counseling and behavioral therapies.
After difficulty procuring the medications from the Alabama Department of Mental Health and the Alabama Department of Public Health, ADOC sought help through their current YesCare contract.
Deputy Commissioner of Health Services at ADOC Deborah Crook discussed the success that their medication assisted therapy program had seen so far. There are currently 118 people enrolled in the program and eight have graduated from the program over the course of a year.
The two new contracts both come with no cost to ADOC. A contract with Union Supply Group will allow loved ones to purchase footwear and incentive packages for inmates. The last contract reviewed on Thursday with Securus Technologies will provide telecommunication services as well as educational devices.
