Clark to give 110 Milwaukee jobs to a Florida firm...

[midnight]

In a major outsourcing move, inmate medical care at the Milwaukee County Jail and the County Correctional Facility-South in Franklin would shift to a private company next year under a proposal by Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.

The move would cut about 110 county jobs - nurses, nursing assistants, social workers and other jobs - through a contract with Armor Correctional Health Services, a Florida firm.

If approved, the inmate health privatization would rank as the largest outsourcing done by the county since the old Doyne Hospital went private in 1995. Such moves often have met with union resistance and questions over quality of service and saving claims.

Clarke estimates about $1.5 million in saving from the change, and $1.2 million more from other privatization moves. He also wants to use retired cops as bailiffs to cut overtime to deputies, replace four maintenance workers with private contractors, and hire private workers to replace deputies who serve legal documents. The changes would help offset increases in other parts of his $152 million budget needed to avoid service reductions, Clarke said.

http://www.jsonline.com/newswatch/124576163.html