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Allen County approves $11,250 pilot for digital CBT program in Community Corrections
Summary
Commissioners approved a one-year service agreement to pilot the Atlas digital cognitive behavioral therapy and journaling platform for Allen County Community Corrections, using 75 transferable licenses and an initial $11,250 expenditure funded from project income.
The Board of Commissioners approved a one-year service agreement to pilot the Atlas digital programming and interactive journaling platform for Allen County Community Corrections at a cost of $11,250.
Kim Church Ward, representing Allen County Community Corrections, told commissioners the pilot will deploy 75 transferable licenses in existing computer labs and be run as a facilitated “Atlas Virtual Academy.” She said the agreement includes a 14-day trial period and is cancellable for material breach with a 30-day cure period. The pilot will be funded from Community Corrections project income and user fees.
“We're here before you today because we had to save our pennies, to be able to launch this in 2025,” Church Ward said. She said the vendor provides training for facilitators and that the platform offers up to 400 CBT journaling topics and an administrative dashboard for reporting. Church Ward also said the vendor described that one facilitator could serve up to 100 participants simultaneously, though the county plans to start with a part-time facilitator to provide monitoring and targeted one-on-one support.
Ryan Meredith, clinical CBT coordinator at Community Corrections, described program rules for participants: “Failure does happen and we have a policy of allowing participants to come back and try again as many times as it takes,” he said. Meredith also explained that program participants retain view-only access to completed materials after leaving the facility.
A commissioner moved to approve the agreement with The Change Companies for the Atlas digital CBT pilot at a cost of $11,250; another commissioner seconded the motion and it carried.
