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May 19, 2005
Indiana: How low can they go? Cutting prison food to 99 cents a day
By Mary Beth Schneider
mary.beth.scheider@indystar.com
May 17, 2005
Indiana is slashing the cost of prison meals from $1.41 to only 99-cents by letting a private company operate the food service -- a move that will save the state nearly $12 million per year, Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday.
The contracting out of the Department of Correction food operation is the first in what is expected to be a series of announcements moving state services from the public sector to the private.
Daniels and Department of Correction Commissioner J. David Donahue said neither quality nor nutritional value will be sacrificed. And, they said, no state employees will necessarily lose their jobs.
The state has awarded the 10-year, $258 million contract to ARAMARK, a nationally known food service company. Donahue said Indiana currently has 336 food service employees. ARAMARK will use 298 people to staff its prison food operation. State employees will be given priority in filling those positions. The balance will be offered positions elsewhere in the Department of Correction, Donahue said.
Daniels called this "a step forward in balancing Indiana's budget and protecting Hoosier taxpayers."
In addition, the state announced it has awarded the food service contract at Logansport State Hospital and an adjacent juvenile correctional facility to state employees. That contract, Daniels said, will save the state about $1 million each year.
Daniels said the state will award state employees bonuses if they are able to achieve even higher savings.
Posted by lois at May 19, 2005 11:21 PM