Now that Michigan’s new prison services contractor, Trinity Services Group, is having the same problems as Aramark did, meaning that things are going horribly awry, critics are wondering if Gov. Rick Snyder will be willing this time to admit that privatization is not working.
Over at Eclectablog, Chris Savage points that the news of a State Police investigation of a Trinity worker allegedly delivering meth and heroin to inmates sounds a lot like the Aramark workers’ legacy: drug deliveries, sex with prisoners, and unsanitary conditions in food service areas.
Savage argues that, while Aramark was eventually canned, the governor needs to go a step further:
Trinity’s contract is worth $158.8 million over three years. Corrections officials are understandably concerned about the safety threat posed by inmates on heroin or meth.
This instance isn’t the only problem Trinity’s been having, either. There have multiple food strikes by prisoners who quit eating to protest the detestable quality of the food they are being served by Trinity employees.
Outsourcing of critical services like prisons, healthcare, and education are immoral and should be consigned to the rubbish heap of history with a big sign saying, “It didn’t work. Period.”
