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Auditors: Montana DOC fails to provide education, training to meet demand; lacks data • Daily Montanan

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Auditors: Montana DOC fails to provide education, training to meet demand; lacks data • Daily Montanan


A new legislative audit report released Monday tells lawmakers it’s unclear if inmates with the Montana Department of Corrections are receiving much education or instruction because the data and record-keeping within the agency is either non-existent or so incomplete that it was nearly impossible for auditors to perform their tasks.

Furthermore, some of the programs offered through the Department of Corrections seemed to do little for inmates who face re-entry into a market hungry for employees, and those same inmates gain little in terms of practical skills.

For years, lawmakers and auditors have focused on the Montana Department of Correction’s education and rehabilitation — and for good reason. Statistics provided by the auditors show that when inmates are put through educational or vocational programs, their chances at recidivism, or reoffending, drop significantly.

Around one-third of inmates who enter the Department of Corrections do not have a high-school diploma. By state policy, those inmates should be enrolled in programming that will help them complete a diploma-equivalency, the report said.

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“Research indicates that participating in educational and vocational programs can decrease recidivism by a third,” the audit report said.

For more than four years, lawmakers have been pressuring the state’s Corrections Department to update its offerings. In 2020, the performance audit completed by the Legislative Audit Division compared state and contracted facilities, but that report determined the Department of Corrections was not monitoring or comparing education, which resulted in lawmakers recommending “a formal, data-driven approach.”

“This portion of the recommendation was not completed,” the auditors found.

A response from the Montana Department of Corrections

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The Montana Department of Corrections released a statement and provided information regarding this audit report. Department of Education Services Bureau Chief Travis Anderson said:

The Montana Department of Corrections appreciated the opportunity to assist the Legislative Audit Division in its “Evaluating Education and Training in Montana’s Prisons” audit of education and career training in Montana prisons (2020 – 2022). We are pleased to note that the DOC had already identified many of the areas in which LAD (Legislative Audit Division) provided recommendations in its report delivered in 2024 and has already made significant progress on those. The department recognizes the pivotal role educational opportunities in prison play in the future success of offenders when they return to Montana communities and strives to ensure the relevance of its programming to help ensure the best possible outcomes for offenders.

The department is particularly proud of new educational programming being offered at our facilities including:

  • The Last Mile computer coding class. Our second cohort of students at Montana State Prison recently reached the half-way mark in their programming and are on target to graduate in September. For more on this, please click here.
  • Second Chance Pell (now Prison Education Programs – PEPs). The DOC offers PEP programming in partnership with Helena College to allow students to earn their Certificates in Applied Science in Auto Technology and with Dawson Community College for Associate of Arts in Chemical Dependency Counseling. The second cohort of students in the Applied Science in Auto Technology program will graduate on May 6 at Montana State Prison. For more on this, please click here.
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In 2022, a report showed that one of the department’s largest contractors, Core Civic Corrections, was embroiled in a cheating scandal for inmates utilizing the education programs there. After that incident, though, it appears that the educational programming either stopped temporarily or was restarted with little tracking. Meanwhile, the 2024 audit report also said that educational and work-training programs have been moved and reorganized so many times that tracking data is “underdeveloped or (does) not exist.”

The audit report had four key findings:

  • The Montana Department of Corrections does not maintain usable program data to assess education and work program performance and compliance, and the department does not monitor recidivism.
  • Education and work programs across the state do not meet demand and are not regularly assessed to ensure relevance or quality.
  • Inmates are not consistently provided education, career counseling or re-entry assistance.
  • Contracted secure facilities, like Core Civic, in some cases have even more problems with education programs.

No tracking equals no data

The auditors and the report itself released by the Legislative Audit Division repeatedly pointed out that officials couldn’t say much definitively because the data and tracking was either so sparse or incomplete.

“The Department of Corrections lacked accurate records for inmate education and work participation across public and private facilities. The data management procedures for this program are inadequate or absent,” the report said. “We intended to use department records to assess program performance and compliance with the law, policy and best practices. However, while obtaining and reviewing the records, we realized that there were significant deficiencies in the data management practices.”

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A deeper look into the problem with data reveals that information about an inmate’s work history or education could be in as many as six different software programs and servers.

The report details years of lost data at the Montana Women’s Prison. And many facilities don’t track “milestone” achievements like receiving a certificate of completion or even a high-school diploma equivalency.

The report said that auditing staff worked for months in an attempt to either resurrect or rebuild data. When the auditors did receive data, it was “inaccurate, incomplete, or difficult to decipher.”

“We found errors in student records including impossible date ranges, incorrectly identified information and duplicate entries,” the report said.

The problems with the data didn’t just present problems for auditors.

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“It’s unclear which programs are most effective, and accurate information on course achievement is necessary to assess interventions,” the report said. “The Board of Pardons and Parole also reported lacking information on education and training accomplishments for parole consideration.”

High demand, few opportunities

What little data was available to auditors showed that there’s high demand among the incarcerated population in Montana, with as many as three out of four inmates wanting the opportunity, but not receiving a chance.

“Education and work program opportunities at Montana’s secure facilities are limited, with long waitlists and inconsistently relevant programs,” the report said. “Inmates’ opportunities to access beneficial programs are not equitable between private and public facilities.”

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Not only is there high demand among inmates, which auditors say the Department of Corrections cannot meet, it also found that some of the programs’ quality was lacking, leading to a mismatch between the training inmates receive and what is expected in the workforce.

“Work program opportunities cannot meet inmate demand, do match inmate interest or state workforce needs, often do not provide industry-recognized credentials and are not regularly assessed to ensure enough continued relevance or quality,” the report said.

And the auditors found that 75% of those who had been accepted into a program received no classes or less than one day of instruction. The ripple effect from the lack of education has left even the prison system with a deficit of workers with skills.

“Despite the expected overestimation of participation from this data, it also shows that most of the individuals (63%) received no education or work program opportunities between 2020 and 2022. Nearly a third have not worked a single job,” auditors said.

It also appears that leaders within the Department of Corrections are not monitoring the programs, or looking for ways to improve or update the education.

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“Programs are not assessed for feasibility, market strength, or cost-effectiveness prior to implementation or on an ongoing basis to ensure the time, space, and resources are going to programs that serve the most inmates and the state in the most inmates in the most effective way possible,” the audit said.

The report documents that it’s hard for inmates to be prepared for re-entry into society with few new skills and even less help from prison staff. For example, other states have career counselors that help inmates begin preparing for education. Seventy-nine percent of inmates have said they’ve never met with a staff person to discuss education.

“Case managers shared that they do not often advise inmates on education or job skill needs, and were not all aware related categories existed in the risk and and needs assessment,” the report said. “Case managers do not typically assist inmates until approximately one month before a parole hearing.”

The risk, the auditors note, isn’t just that inmates being released from prison will fail, but ultimately the lack of education opportunities will become a problem for the facilities and the department.

“Lack of support for inmates to obtain education and training increases idle time, may lead to more dangerous prisons, increases subsequent recidivism rates and results in an inefficient use of limited education resources,” the audit said.

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Problems at contracted facilities

Auditors also noted that it wasn’t just state-run facilities, like the men’s prison in Deer Lodge, or the state’s women’s prison in Billings, that were problematic. Instead, they noted that other facilities in the state, namely Core Civic in Shelby and Dawson County Correctional Facility, which contract with the state, have, in many cases, even worse educational programming.

“Private facility contract requirements mandate some educational and job opportunities to facilitate inmate reform,” the report said. “However, these facilities are failing to meet their contracted obligations.”

Several of the facilities say they cannot afford to hire staff. For example, Core Civic said that its average monthly teacher vacancy rate reached as high as 51%, the report said. Furthermore, there are penalties in the contracts that these private companies can face if they don’t offer education.

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“Based on SFCB (Secured Facilities Contract Bureau) records, we estimate that in 2021, more than $100,000 in fines were not levied to address minimum teacher shortfalls,” the report said.

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How North Dakota State and Montana State reached the FCS national championship game

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How North Dakota State and Montana State reached the FCS national championship game


After a thrilling 2024 season, FCS football will crown a champion when North Dakota State and Montana State battle on a Monday night. As the Bison and Bobcats near the pinnacle of the sport, let’s take a look back at their journeys.

🏈 MORE FCS FOOTBALL 🏈 

North Dakota State

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Regular season

North Dakota State finished the regular season 10-2, losing its first game to Colorado out of the FBS and its final game to South Dakota out of the MVFC. The season-ending loss prevented the Bison from winning the MVFC outright, but it didn’t matter as NDSU still got the No. 2 overall seed in the playoffs.

FCS playoffs

North Dakota State fought off an early scare from Abilene Christian in the second round to win by 20 points. In the quarterfinals, the Bison beat Mercer 31-7 in a game they controlled from start to finish.

Semifinal round

In the semifinals, North Dakota State defeated South Dakota State for the second time this year to advance to the championship game. Click or tap here for more on the thrilling finish.

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Bison schedule

Opponent Win/Loss Score Record Ranking (AFCA)
at Colorado L 31-26 0-1 No. 2
vs. Tennessee State W 52-3 1-1 No. 2
at ETSU W 38-5 2-1 No. 2
vs. Towson W 41-24 3-1 No. 2
at No. 15 Illinois State W 42-10 4-1 No. 2
vs. No. 6 North Dakota W 41-17 5-1 No. 2
at Southern Illinois W 24-3 6-1 No. 2
vs. No. 1 South Dakota State W 13-9 7-1 No. 2
at Murray State W 59-6 8-1 No. 1
vs. Northern Iowa W 42-19 9-1 No. 1
vs. No. 14 Missouri State W 59-21 10-1 No. 1
at No. 4 South Dakota L 29-28 10-2 No. 1
vs. (15) Abilene Christian W 51-31 11-2 No. 4
vs. (7) Mercer W 31-7 12-2 No. 4
vs. (3) South Dakota State W 28-21 13-2 No. 4

Key players this season

  • QB Cam Miller
  • RB CharMar Brown
  • RB TK Marshall
  • WR Bryce Lance
  • WR Braylon Henderson
  • TE Joe Stoffel
  • OL Mason Miller
  • OL Grey Zabel
  • DL Eli Mostaert
  • DL Kody Huisman
  • DL Loshiaka Roques
  • LB Logan Kopp
  • DB Darius Givance
  • K Griffin Crosa

North Dakota State has a reloaded roster under first-year head coach Tim Polasek. The Bison have the Jerry Rice Award winner CharMar Brown in the backfield along top-three Walter Payton Award finalist Cam Miller. The trenches are stout yet again with NFL prospect Grey Zabel on offense and All-American Eli Mostaert on defense.

Montana State

montana state

Regular season

Montana State finished the regular season 12-0 with the longest regular-season win streak in the FCS. Only two Bobcat games — an FBS win over New Mexico State and a Big Sky win over UC Davis — were within one possession.

FCS playoffs

Montana State’s dominance continued in the playoffs. The Bobcats didn’t play a close game in the first two rounds, averaging 50.5 points scored and a 32.5 margin of victory.

Semifinal round

In the semifinals, Montana State held off South Dakota to advance to the championship game. Tommy Mellott led the way offensively with 134 passing yards and a touchdown plus 125 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Click or tap here for more from the game.

Bobcat schedule

Opponent Win/Loss Score Record Ranking (AFCA)
at New Mexico W 35-31 1-0 No. 4
at Utah Tech W 31-7 2-0 No. 3
vs. Maine W 41-24 3-0 No. 3
vs. Mercyhurst W 52-13 4-0 No. 3
at Idaho State W 37-17 5-0 No. 3
vs. Northern Colorado W 55-17 6-0 No. 3
vs. No. 8 Idaho W 38-7 7-0 No. 3
Portland State W 44-14 8-0 No. 3
at Eastern Washington W 42-28 9-0 No. 2
vs. Sacramento State W 49-7 10-0 No. 2
at No. 4 UC Davis W 30-28 11-0 No. 2
vs. No. 10 Montana W 34-11 12-0 No. 2
vs. UT Martin W 49-17 13-0 No. 1
vs. Idaho W 52-19 14-0 No. 1
vs. South Dakota W 31-17 15-0 No. 1

Key players this season

  • QB Tommy Mellott
  • RB Scottre Humphrey
  • RB Adam Jones
  • WR Taco Dowler
  • WR Ty McCullouch
  • TE Rohan Jones
  • OL Marcus Wehr
  • OL Conner Moore
  • OL Titan Fleischmann
  • OL Cole Sain
  • DL Brody Grebe
  • DL Paul Brott
  • LB McCade O’Reilly
  • LB Danny Uluilakepa
  • DB Andrew Powdrell
  • DB Rylan Ortt
  • P Brendan Hall

Montana State is an experienced group with a mix of young talent. Adam Jones was the runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award while senior Tommy Mellott is a top-three Walter Payton Award finalist. Brody Grebe leads the defense; he finished ninth in Buck Buchanan Award voting.

1 reason why each FCS semifinal team can win the title

In 2024, the final four FCS teams all have legitimate shots at winning it all. Here’s why.

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What a championship would mean for each FCS semifinal team

Four teams remain in the 2024 FCS championship chase: Montana State, South Dakota, South Dakota State and North Dakota State. Winning a title means something different for each one.

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The 8 best potential FCS championship game matchups

Before the 2024 quarterfinals kick off, it’s time to rank the most intriguing possibilities for a national championship matchup — and why.

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Students deliver Christmas meals to veterans in Great Falls

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Students deliver Christmas meals to veterans in Great Falls


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Students deliver Christmas meals to veterans in Great Falls

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In the video above, Paul Sanchez reports on students from Central Catholic High School in Great Falls, who provided all of the fixings for Christmas meals for 50 military veterans.



Copyright 2024 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.





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Average gas prices drop 4¢ per gallon in Montana

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Average gas prices drop 4¢ per gallon in Montana


Gas prices have dropped again across Montana just as drivers hit the roads for one of the year’s busiest travel times.

GasBuddy.com reports average gasoline prices in the state have fallen 4.2¢ per gallon in the last week and are averaging $2.79 per gallon as of Monday.

Gas prices are 20.2¢ per gallon lower than at this time a month ago and 22.7¢ per gallon lower than a year ago.

The national average price of gasoline has risen 3.1¢ per gallon over the last week to $3.01 per gallon, which is 2.6¢ lower than a month ago.

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GassBuddy.com reports the cheapest gas in Montana was at $2.56 per gallon on Sunday while the most expensive was $3.06 per gallon.





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