By Gina Macris

A week has passed since the state of Rhode Island was to have awarded a contract for a review of the rates it pays private providers of developmental disabilities services – the first step in an “Action Plan” for correcting long-standing civil rights violations.

The plan, approved by Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of the U.S. District Court, avoided a contempt hearing and the risk of heavy fines.

The Action Plan says the contract would be awarded Nov. 1, and work would begin Nov. 15.

But on the morning of Nov. 9, the state’s website for the Division of Purchases indicated that the bids were still under review.

A total of five consulting agencies submitted bids. They are Guidehouse, Inc., Health Management Associates, Inc.; Mercer Health and Benefits LLC, Milliman, and Public Consulting Group. The rate review is considered the foundation for changes that would overhaul the service system to promote inclusion of adults with developmental disabilities in their communities - a transformation intended to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act and a 2014 consent decree.

The bid amounts have not been disclosed, nor has the state made public its budget for the work, which is projected to take about a year.

Asked about the amounts the five firms bid, a spokesman for the state Department of Administration said in a statement late last month:

“As this in an RFP, (request for proposals) the proposals will undergo the technical and cost evaluation review. We cannot comment on the cost until an award is made, nor do we have an estimate when that will happen.”

Efforts to reach several state officials for comment on the delay in awarding the contract were not immediately successful.

In the last two and a half years, the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) has spent more than $1 million on an analysis of the developmental disabilities system by the New England States Consortium Systems Organization (NESCSO).

NESCSO, which worked 18 months on the project, was instructed to develop various scenarios for change but told not to make any recommendations. The BHDDH director at the time of the contract award, Rebecca Boss, said the work was intended to expand the department’s analytical capability.

Since the project was completed in 2020, BHDDH has not had any public comment on the work.