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Commission hears proposal to extend diversion contract with The Bridge to keep youth in community programs
Summary
Chief probation officer Ray Williams described a proposed amendment to extend the county's contract with The Bridge for juvenile diversion services from Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026, funded via Department of Youth Services community-program set-aside funds; commissioners asked about program scope and numbers in DYS custody.
Montgomery County chief probation officer Ray Williams presented Amendment No. 2 to the county’s contract with The Bridge, a diversion services provider, proposing an extension from Oct. 1, 2025, to Sept. 30, 2026.
"This is a contract for our diversion program that we're gonna extend," Ray Williams said, describing the program as a family- and community-based alternative intended to reduce commitments to the Alabama Department of Youth Services (DYS) by providing services in-home and with family involvement instead of sending youth to state-operated facilities such as Mount Meigs and other contracted DYS facilities.
Williams said the program aims "to work with the kids in our community, in their homes, along with their family members instead of removing them from their home and sending them off to a state operated facility, and we can rehab the child along with the family and lessen our commitments to the Department of Youth Services." Commissioners asked for the number of Montgomery County youth currently in DYS custody; Williams said he did not know the exact number at that time but offered to find out.
A county official noted the contract materials referenced a roughly $490,000 grant; Williams explained that funds come from DYS set-aside dollars to operate community programs as alternatives to secure placements. One commissioner asked whether The Bridge in county materials was the same organization based in Gaston, Alabama; Williams confirmed the provider is based in Gaston and that Tim Nower is the CEO.
No formal vote on the extension is recorded in the transcript excerpt. Commissioners and staff discussed the program's goals, funding source, and the intent to use community-based services to reduce youth placements in state facilities.
