County audits find meal firm broke pact at jail, Shuman
A national food service company failed to uphold contract terms that included providing a salad bar to juvenile detainees and charging Allegheny County Jail inmates inflated prices for special menu items, creating a “two-tiered” meal system, according to two new audits from Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner’s office.
The audits of the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center and the county jail, released July 20, examined the food service contracts with the Florida-based
Trinity Services Group from June 2018 to June 2019. The audits found several provisions unmet, despite the county paying $3.5 million for detainees’ breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Another concerning factor that critics highlight is the inflated prices for special food items meant to “reward positive behavior,” but that come with a 30% commission going to the county and a $1.95 process fee to Trinity.
“On a given day, there are already dozens of individuals in the county jail who are there
only because they are awaiting trial and can’t come up with the bail money, when someone of greater means accused of the same crime is able to gain their release. Now on top of that, they can’t access the quality of food or services that an inmate of greater means — even someone who has actually been convicted — can,” Ms. Wagner, a member of the Jail Oversight Board, said in a news release. “It’s not a system that speaks to principles of fairness or compassion.”
While the county pays Trinity $1.10 for each meal, a separate “behavioral modification program” called Trinity Take-Out sells inmates burgers, chili cheese tater tots, chicken breast sandwiches, and chili cheese hot dog meals ranging from $10.99 to $18.29. A dozen of cookies costs $7.29.
Inmates paid $98,512 during the auditing period for the takeout items, and the county received $28,328 in commission ($1,226 less than what was owed “due to math errors”).
The county jail’s warden, Orlando Harper, said in a three-page response that the jail staff “began verifying [takeout] commission payments in January 2019” and that the “finance manage [sic] will perform weekly review of [takeout] sales to ensure commission payments are accurate.”
But critics have other concerns.
“The food rewards counter creates a two-tiered system in the jail. The socioeconomic reality that lands people in jail then becomes amplified in our jail,” said Brad Korinski, chief legal counsel for the controller.
Trinity also operates the jail’s commissary, where snacks are also sold.
“They’re incentivized to provide low-quality food,” said Bethany Hallam, an Allegheny County councilwoman and Jail Oversight Board member, who spent time in the county jail from August 2016 to January 2017 during her battle with drug addiction.
“The county gets it for cheap and then when people are forced to purchase commissary items, the county and Trinity both profit off that as well.”
Four weeks’ worth of menus attached to the audit reveal little to no fresh produce.
“You will notice no fruit. N-O,” said Marion Damick, activist with the Pennsylvania Prison Society and former local director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Auditors also found that inmates were not offered a ServSafe food safety vocational program as outlined in the contract, and that Trinity did not respond to 18 of 25 randomly selected food complaints within the required 72-hour window.
Documentation for seven of the complaints could not befound, the audit states. Additionally, food service workers were not given semiannual health examinations to be paid for by Trinity.
Ms. Wagner called the lack of health checkups “extremely concerning even for the pre-COVID era.”
Mr. Harper wrote in his July 8 response that jail management will now require Trinity employees to submit health examination results; that the jail “shall ensure” that food complaints are addressed within 72 hours; and that the ServSafe training program will be implemented “in the very near future.”
Findings from Shuman revealed that a salad bar at the juvenile facility became a staff-only option, and additional portions were denied to the minors, except for those in the last lunch period of the day, deviating from the contract terms.
“[I]t was determined after the contract was in place the residents’ daily schedule prohibited time to allow for them to be served a salad bar,” the county’s response to the audit signed by county manager William McKain, stated.
“Trinity did provide an approved [USDA standard] vegetable alternative in exchange for the salad bar option for residents. When a suitable alternative option was presented it was agreed upon to accept the change for the same meal costs.”
The county pays $2.50 per meal at Shuman and, according to the audit, was overcharged by $8,413 because of “a lack of effective record keeping” that resulted in overbilling for 458 meals and charges for items donated by the USDA food program.
The county responded with a promise that new log sheets will more accurately invoice for meals and that Trinity has already reimbursed the county $6,953 for the government subsidized food.
County spokeswoman Amie Downs declined to comment further on the audits.
The Trinity district manager for the county facilities did not immediately respond to questions.