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AGENCY TESTIMONY

Addressing past vendor issues and complaint handling

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The Department of Correction acknowledges past issues with vendors and outlines steps taken to address these concerns, particularly regarding telephone services and commissary operations.

DOI report on unintentional recording of privileged phone calls addressed through corrective action plan
Very few complaints received about commissary services (less than 1% of orders)
Minimal complaints about tablet services
Quick resolution of issues by dedicated staff members

James Conroy

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In 2023, the Department of Investigation released a report related to the tell to the telephone services provider's unintentional recording of privileged phone calls, causing breaches of attorney client privilege for some persons in custody.

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Well before the report was released, the the Department of Correction had placed the provider on a closely monitored corrective action plan to address the unique issues that arose in this incident.

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As noted in the report, the vendor worked quickly and transparent with the department to correct the issue and implemented safeguards to prevent future problems.

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Since the remedial measures were put into place, all privileged telephone communications have been handled legally and appropriately.

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Additionally, we are aware of criticisms relating to the vendor providing commissary services in our facilities.

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However, the department receives very few complaints related to commissary services.

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Less than 1% of orders are associated with a grievance and works with people in custody to quickly resolve any issues that may arise.

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The vast majority of these complaints are related to delivery status or about accessing accounts to place an order.

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Very few, if any, grievances are related to product prices or quality.

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Similarly, we have found that we see very few complaints regarding tablet services relative to the scale of the operation.

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Complaints that are received are addressed quickly by dedicated members of our staff.

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Contract review and compliance processes

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Benefits of vendor-provided commissary services