Below is a press release from the Mississippi Joint Legislative PEER Committee:
The PEER Committee released its issue brief titled A Review of the Mississippi Department of Corrections’s Response to the COVID-19 Virus and Use of Federal Funds.
A Review of the Mississippi Department of Corrections’s Response to the COVID-19 Virus and Use of Federal Funds: https://www.peer.ms.gov/Reports/reports/rpt671.pdf
Some of the Committee’s major findings and recommendations include:
- MDOC focused its efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 within its facilities rather than on testing inmates to determine exposure for early identification of COVID-19 cases.
- Commissioner Cain noted that MDOC’s strategy was designed to eliminate and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 rather than focusing on testing for early identification of the virus. According to MSDH leadership, MDOC even declined direct financial support through a COVID-19 testing program designed for correctional facilities.
- MSDH provided MDOC with two optional programs designed for correctional facilities that would utilize federal funding to reimburse COVID-19 tests administered in accordance with MSDH recommendations.
- MDOC administered the COVID-19 vaccine at a much higher rate in comparison to the general population (i.e., 93% of inmates vaccinated with at least one dose versus 65.2% of the Mississippi population ages 18 to 64).
- According to VitalCore, COVID-related deaths account for only 1.8% of the total reported positive cases. However, it is uncertain if this number is reflective of the true COVID-related death count.
- MDOC received $20 million from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in 2020, and $80 million in federal funds through the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) Act in 2021.
- While MDOC medical spending continued to increase from FY 2018 through FY 2021, the greatest increase in medical spending was attributed to the change in the contracted medical provider prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Based on the review of MDOC’s COVID-19 documentation and data provided to PEER, MDOC should:
- incorporate applicable elements from its COVID-19 Pandemic Response Plan into its overall disaster/emergency preparedness strategy;
- review data submitted by both VitalCore and the county/regional facilities to ensure its accuracy, completeness, and validity; and,
- standardize reporting requirements among all facilities so that data is consistently and uniformly captured, reported, and shared among stakeholders.
Should you have questions about the report, please contact James F. (Ted) Booth, PEER Executive Director, at 601-359-1226.
A complete list of PEER publications can be found at https://www.peer.ms.gov/Pages/Publications.aspx.
