State inks multi-million dollar deal with behavioral health consultants

The Montana state health department has inked a contract that will likely pay millions of dollars to a private consulting group to coordinate a mammoth two-year effort to reform mental health, addiction treatment and developmental disabilities services across the state.

The agreement with Alvarez & Marsal Public Sector Services LLC, obtained by Montana Free Press through a public records request, charges the New York-based group with overseeing multiple projects initiated by the Department of Public Health and Human Services under the Gianforte administration, including strategies to decrease pressure on the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs and other intensive hospitalization and residential settings...