N.J. ends contract with Atlanta-based training company

<p>The Corrections Department said Friday it had ended a no-bid contract with an Atlanta-based private company hired to teach life skills to state prisoners after an audit showed the program lacked oversight and offered no evidence that its training helped inmates.</p><p>Acting Corrections Commissioner George W. Hayman said the state's $1.5 million annual contract with Life Skills Academy would not be renewed. The state planned to review the program's effectiveness, in accordance with the recommendations in the audit, before deciding whether to offer similar services in-house or to outsource the program through a competitively bid process.</p><p>"We found we weren't comfortable continuing with the program as it is now," Hayman said.</p><p>The Record of Bergen County reported Aug. 15 that Life Skills had spent nearly $1 million in state funds over the past three years to help run its national headquarters in Atlanta. The newspaper reported its visit to the headquarters address in midtown Atlanta found no sign of the company.</p><p>Life Skills Academy in Atlanta had no telephone listing. Two residential phone numbers listed for Life Skills officials Emmanuel Ben Avraham and his wife, Elinah, had both been disconnected Friday.</p><p>The program was to teach inmates various practical life skills such as goal-setting, problem-solving, financial responsibility, communication skills and resume writing. The voluntary program, which was supposed to help guide inmates' re-entry into society, was used by 1,200 to 1,400 prisoners a year, said Corrections spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer.</p><p>Inmates are currently not getting such services, beyond the behavior modification and anger management classes offered by the corrections department.</p><p>A joint review of Life Skills' draft contract for the fiscal year that began July 1 resulted in the decision to not renew the company's deal with the state for a 13th consecutive year. The prior contract expired June 30.</p><p>Neither Law and Public Safety or the governor's office would say Friday whether past billing practices by Life Skills were under review.</p><p>The Record said the company used $385,000 in the contract to finance its Atlanta operation this year. The Avrahams told the newspaper that the state knew about the spending and said the national office was designed to improve educational programs for prison inmates.</p>