Multi-million dollar contract to help Florida contact trace increases tenfold in less than 3 months

BUSES, AND ALL SHARED OBJECTSWILL BE CONSTANTLYDISINFECTED...TONIGHT FOUR IN YOUR CORNERDISCOVERS A MULTI-MILLION DOLLARCONTRACT TO HELP IMPROVE THESTATE’S CONTACT TRACING PROGRAMHAS BEEN EXTENDED, COSTINGTAXPAYERS TEN TIMES MORE!LAST MONTH, OUR KATIE LAGRONEREVEALED HOW THE STATE QUIETLYHIRED AN OUTSIDE FIRM TO RAMP UPITS TRACING EFFORTSNOW SHE’SLEARNING PRICEY NEW DETAILSBEHIND THE ELUSIVE CONTRACT.(45-55)(212-223)(302-313)FLORIDA’S ONGOING STRUGGLE TOSLOW THE SPREAD OF COVID-19THROUGH CONTACT TRACING ISGETTING FAR MORE COSTLY TOTAXPAYERS.WE’VE LEARNEDWHAT STARTED AS A$6 MILLION CONTRACT WITH AVIRGINIA BASED COMPANY HASBALLOONED TO FIFTY MILLIONDOLLARS IN JUST A FEW MONTHS-AS CASES STARTED TO SPIKE IN THESTATE.1:03- this contract really seemsto be shrouded in secrecy.DAN BASS WITH THE LABOR UNION,COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OFAMERICA-- REPRESENTS WORKERS OFMAXIMUS INCTHE CALL CENTERPROVIDER FLORIDA HIRED TO BEEFUP ITS ROSTER OF CONTACTTRACERS.IN RECENT YEARS HE SAYS, THEGOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR HAS BEENACCUSED OF UNDERBIDDINGCONTRACTSUNDERSTAFFINGJOBS..AND UNDERPERFORMINGPROJECTS.3:14- what’s the M-O here thatyou’re concerned about?answer- maximus can try and takeadvantage of situations toextract extra dollars fromstates for these important statecontracts when the circumstancesare right and this is exactlythat kind of circumstance.ACCORDING TO THE STATE’SCONTRACT DATABAS━ AT THE END OFMA━ FLORIDA AGREED TO PAYMAXIMUS $6 MILLION OVER FOURMONTHS FORCONTACT TRACING SERVICES TO"prevent the spread of covid19."BY MID JULY - IT EXTENDED TO AYEARITS DOLLAR AMOUN━MORE THANQUADRUPLED TO $27 MILLION.LESS THAN A MONTH LATE━ THEDEAL IS NOW WORTH $50 MILLIONDOLLAR━ BUT IN A COMPANYEARNINGS REPORT THIS MONTH -MAXIMUS TOUTS IT’S 6 MONTH JOBIN FLORID━ AT 73 MILLIONDOLLARS.DESPITE NUMEROUS REQUESTS,FLORIDA’S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTHHAS YET TO PROVIDE US THECONTRACT━SCOPE OF WORKDETAILSOR ANSWER QUESTIONSABOUT THESE RISING COSTS.IN AN EMAIL, A MAXIMUSSPOKESPERSON TOLD U━"It is very typical forcontracts to have modificationssuch as an extension to takeservices beyond the initialcontract period or changes instaffing.Typically forvolume-driven contracts likethis, there tends to be a rangeof possible financial scenariosthat depend on the level ofactivities.

In this case, thetotal value will likely rangebetween $65 million and $75million"THAT MAY NOT RAISE QUESTIONS*IF* THE STATE REVEALED MOREDETAILS ABOUT ITS PROGRAMANDITS PERFORMANCE2:56- i’ve called it a failure,i’ve called it abysmall, i’vecalled it ineffective, i’vecalled it equivalent to nothaving a program.MIAMI BEACH MAYOR DAN GELBER HASBECOME AN OUTSPOKEN CRITIC OFTHE STATE’S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTHAND ITS CONTACT TRACING PROGRAMAFTER WATCHING COVID CASES INHIS COUNTY OF MIAMI DADEEXPLODE.HE DIDN’T KNOW FLORIDA HIREDMAXIMUS TO HELPOR THAT ITSPAYING THEM NEARLY 100 MILLIONDOLLARS TO DO IT.1:27- are tax payers gettingwhat they’re paying for?answer- 1:30- i don’t know ifwe’re getting what we’re payingfor bc they’re not keeping trackof what kind of job they’redoingTHE STATE DOES TELL US THEY NOWHAVE 4400 TRACERS DOING THEJOBBUT IT’S UNCLEAR HOW MANYARE MAXIMUS EMPLOYEE━ OR HOWWELL ITS WORKIN━ WE’VE ASKED:55- is this how this issupposed to work?answer- no it’s not how itssupposed to work in fact, itflies in the face of florida’sstrong transparency laws.PAM MARSH OF FLORIDA’S FIRSTAMENDMENT FOUNDATION.7:39- they have to provideperformance measures so that wecan have some accountability forwhat we are getting for ourmoney and at this point, it’sjust all in the dark, not insunshine.BUT WE’RE ALL PAYING FOR IT.WE ALSO ASKED MAXIMUS ABOUT HOWITS PERFORMANCE IN FLORIDA- ITSSPOKESPERSON WOULDN’T SAYBUTDID SHARE THAT ANY PERFORMANCEDATA DISCLOSED BY THE STATEWOULD LIKELY INCLUDE DATA ABOUTTHE STATE’S ENTIRE CONT