By Associated Press - Wednesday, January 1, 2020

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - County officials in Montana have voted in favor of two short-term contracts to provide mental health services in the county jail after officials did not renew a health provider’s contract.

The Lewis and Clark County Commission has contracted the Center for Mental Health temporarily while moving to hire two jail behavioral therapists and a case manager, the Independent Record reported Tuesday.

The decision comes when the jail did not have a therapist for a month and the previous provider’s contract expired, officials said.

One of the contracts provides therapy services to inmates for $110 each hour to the county with a cap of $22,000 until Feb. 28, or until the county hires its staff, jail officials said.

Another contract secures the services of the Center for Mental Health at $500 a day with a cap of $30,000 to cover staffing for an on-call mobile crisis response team, officials said.

These services are not additional services, but instead are designed to bring standards up to industry baselines, officials said.

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