{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/national-guard-addresses-mccaskill-concerns-with-mental-health-contracts", "National Guard Addresses McCaskill Concerns with Mental Health Contracts", "2014-12-18", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "MO", "Claire McCaskill", "M001170", "www.mccaskill.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "National Guard Addresses McCaskill Concerns with Mental Health Contracts \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t Senator applauds Guard progress on oversight, service improvements for psychological health support services \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, December 18, 2014\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is praising the National Guard\u2019s efforts to improve mental health services for Guard members and improve management and oversight of its psychological health contracts\u2014successfully addressing concerns she raised last year over inadequate services and poor accountability.\r\nMcCaskill sent a letter to General Frank Grass, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, after receiving an update that the Guard is successfully addressing her concerns that management and oversight of contracts may have resulted in inadequate mental health care services, and the failure to properly transfer patient files.\r\n\u201cI was pleased to learn that the National Guard is now addressing many of the deficiencies in contract management and oversight by converting [Directors of Psychological Health] contracted positions to federal positions,\u201d McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight and former Missouri State Auditor, wrote in the letter. \u201cThe National Guard\u2019s psychological health program has informed the Subcommittee that, after a review of the program, they have found that converting contract positions to federal positions would provide advantages over the current contracted structure, as well as provide projected cost savings of between $6 million and $7 million per year across the program\u2026 It is encouraging that the National Guard is performing cost benefit analyses of their contracted programs and finding savings for taxpayers while also increasing the services they will be able to provide to members of the National Guard.\u201d\r\nFull text of today\u2019s letter is available HERE and below:\r\nDear General Grass:\r\nI am writing in regards to my June 19, 2013, request regarding contracts for the coordination of mental health services at Air National Guard Wings and National Guard bases across the country.\u00a0 I thank you for your July 31, 2013, response and the subsequent briefings your office provided to my staff.\r\nAs you are aware, in March 2013, the National Guard awarded a $200 million firm-fixed-price contract for psychological health support services at National Guard bases, including Air National Guard Wings, to Goldbelt Glacier Healthcare Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Goldbelt Inc., an Alaska Native Corporation, and National Sourcing Inc.\u00a0\u00a0 The Subcommittee received information showing that the National Guard\u2019s management and oversight of the contract may have resulted in inadequate mental health care services for members of the National Guard.\u00a0 According to this information, it appeared that the National Guard failed to ensure proper transfer of patient files from a previous contractor which may have left ongoing cases vulnerable.\u00a0 It also appeared that the responsibilities of the Directors of Psychological Health positions had been reduced, which may have affected the level of service and care that National Guard members received.\u00a0\r\nI was pleased to learn that the National Guard is now addressing many of the deficiencies in contract management and oversight by converting these contracted positions to federal positions.\u00a0 The National Guard\u2019s psychological health program has informed the Subcommittee that, after a review of the program, they have found that converting contract positions to federal positions would provide advantages over the current contracted structure, as well as provide projected cost savings of between $6 million and $7 million per year across the program.\u00a0\u00a0 The National Guard has also found that converting the contracted workforce to a federal workforce will, \u201cprovide increased capability versus contracted providers,\u201d as well as, \u201cenhance provider stability and longevity.\u201d \u00a0It is encouraging that the National Guard is performing cost benefit analyses of their contracted programs and finding savings for taxpayers while also increasing the services they will be able to provide to members of the National Guard.\r\nAs the National Guard continues to expand the psychological health program, I ask that you continue to keep my staff informed of your progress.\r\nVisit mccaskill.senate.gov/accountability to learn more about McCaskill's fight to strengthen accountability.\r\n###\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/news-releases/national-guard-addresses-mccaskill-concerns-with-mental-health-contracts"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.9036921225488186, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}