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Albany County renews and amends contracts for court-supervised treatment, housing and software; awards counseling services contract
Summary
Albany County commissioners approved multiple contract actions to sustain court-supervised treatment and diversion services, including temporary extensions for drug testing, a two-year counseling services award, renewal of case-management software, and continued transitional housing for participants.
The Board of Commissioners approved several contract actions for the Albany County Court Supervised Treatment Program and related diversion services, including: a short extension of drug-testing services, a two-year award for counseling services to Foundations Counseling, an extension of Volunteers of America (VOA) for diversion assessments and services, renewal of case-management software, and a lease addendum for transitional participant housing.
Heather, the program lead, told commissioners the county had purchased a new analyzer for on-site drug testing but needed a two-month extension with the vendor Foundations Testing and Monitoring LLC while the county receives, installs and trains staff on the new equipment. "It will take about 6 weeks to get that here trained," Heather said, and the contract extension preserves continuity of testing services.
On counseling services, staff said the RFP produced a single responsive bid from Foundations Counseling; commissioners approved awarding the contract from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027. Staff described the intensive outpatient program (IOP) component as 9 hours of group programming per week with individual sessions added when clinically necessary. The IOP price was described in the discussion as $650 per month per participant; staff said the per-participant breakdown will aid federal grant reporting to SAMHSA.
Heather reported program outcomes during questioning: roughly 85 percent of participants are not recidivating, and the program’s measured recidivism is about 15 percent, which she characterized as better than typical outcomes for traditional probation.
Commissioners also approved an addendum renewing a lease with Renaissance Realty to continue transitional housing for participants; staff said the four-bedroom apartment has provided temporary housing to roughly 14 people over the past year, typically for about 60 days per placement. Separately the Board approved a master subscription agreement and renewal with DataGain for drug-testing and case-management software to integrate test results and reduce duplicate data entry.
All motions passed by voice vote.
