NCDAC
“ The business units have come to recognise that before any new project or initiatives begin someone from IT needs to be there from the start , which is why we are involved in just about everything ,” he says .
In the DPS , Glenn and his team are currently involved in a number IT projects for the areas his team oversees , including case-record management for one of its law enforcement programmes , video surveillance for the State Capitol Police and some exciting solutions for Juvenile Justice . But it is DAC that has recently dominated most of their time .
“ DAC has many new agency initiatives that have had supportive funding to deploy , whereas our work for DPS has mostly been project-based and maintenance for the past year . But we are always ready to be called into action in the event of something major , like an extreme weather event or serious public disorder . We typically get called in when there are new directives or initiatives to assist with ,” Glenn continues .
Prisons telehealth initiative took off in the pandemic In early 2018 , the DAC began work on introducing telehealth provision across its facilities . Although the initiative pre-dated COVID-19 , the pandemic acted as a catalyst .
“ The need for it was there before the pandemic ,” says Glenn , “ because we needed to minimise the costs associated with providing healthcare to our offenders and to help address the Correction Officer staff shortages .”
He adds : “ It was timely the pandemic occurred right when we were ready to launch .”
Telehealth has certainly worked on the cost-saving front , having saved the state US $ 20m to date .
The kind of health issues prisoners present with is similar to the civilian world – cancers , heart problems and arthritis – but there are also physical injuries , from the inevitable altercations .
6 dac . nc . gov