At a Joint Interim Committees meeting, agency representatives presented multiple contracts and contract amendments for committee review, including a Department of Education culinary-training contract funded entirely with federal child-nutrition dollars, a Medicaid provider-management contract with GainWell Technologies LLC, and a $384,950 increase to the state’s ClassWallet contract for the school-choice platform.

The matters matter because the approvals and amendments affect how federal and state programs are run — from what foods are promoted in school meals to how providers enroll with Medicaid and how parents access state school-choice funds.

Tina Hammonds, representing the Alabama Department of Education, told the committee the department had three contracts starting on page 8 of the agenda and described one with the Cheff Anne Foundation as “100% federal funds” that was procured by request for proposals and that the vendor will provide “culinary trainings and recipes based on Alabama foods for our kids in the schools.” Hammonds also described work to integrate products from the Sweet Grown Alabama initiative into school menus and recipe development.

Hammonds said the Cheff Anne Foundation was the only respondent to the solicitation for that offering and that the vendor will deliver a recipe book and training materials to child-nutrition staff. On a separate line item, the department presented a contract with Cognia for the Alabama Teachers Observation Tool (ATOT), which Hammonds said is a platform developed and piloted for Alabama to support classroom observation and principal evaluations; she said that contract is 100% federal-funded.

On computer-science training, Hammonds said the department continues a preexisting partnership with Tuskegee University for teacher training tied to the state’s computer-science requirements: “when the computer sciences act was passed, ... they are still the sole trainer for the exploring computer science class and the computer science makers classes,” she said.

Nick Hines, assistant general counsel for the Alabama Medicaid Agency, presented a contract with GainWell Technologies LLC to provide provider-management services including provider enrollment, reenrollment and required training and support. The committee chair noted there were 347 solicitations and two responses for that procurement.

Mary Martin Mitchell, the revenue agency’s executive counsel, described an amendment to the state’s ClassWallet contract that increases the award by $384,950 to support outreach and advertising for the program’s application window. Mitchell reported the application portal opened that day and that, by 12:30 p.m., 2,181 applicants had submitted applications representing 3,743 Alabama students. She said the added funds are intended to help parents access the portal during the application window that runs through April 7.

The Department of Rehabilitation Services requested sole-source renewals for augmentative and alternative communication-device training because two companies maintain distinct language systems the state uses. Cathy Colwell and Sonya Cleckler told the committee that from Jan. 1, 2024, to Dec. 20, 2024, the Medicaid program received 449 new requests for those devices; Colwell said 26% were for Toby/Dynavox systems and 58% were for PRC systems, with other manufacturers accounting for the remainder.

Other items presented included:
- A no-cost time extension for Netizen, the vendor that maintains the department of labor’s unemployment data system, running through 2026.
- Four one-year extensions for reentry services at day-reporting centers in Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery presented by the Board of Pardons and Paroles; those extensions had been procured with 79 direct solicitations and two responses.
- Mental-health contracts: a new Navigate Affordable Housing contract to support supportive housing and coordination across agencies for people with behavioral-health needs and a short-term maintenance contract with WellSky to maintain the existing system until a replacement vendor takes over.
- A time-limited $200,000 not-to-exceed legal-services contract for the Alabama Department of Corrections (attorney Alina Arbutnot) introduced in the legal-services section.

Several agenda items were held or delayed because board representatives were not present to represent their requests. Committee members asked for follow-up briefings in some cases: a member asked corrections staff for an update on construction work at the Elmore County facility and at Escambia County, and the committee requested a follow-up list of studies from ALDOT’s Diet Management Group.

No formal roll-call votes or recorded motions were shown in the meeting transcript for the items described; multiple items were presented for review, some were held for later consideration, and committee members asked staff to provide additional details or briefings on specific procurements.

The committee adjourned after the agenda items were presented and staff agreed to provide requested follow-ups and briefings.