Training-school staff and unions seek peace-officer status for off-site transports; public defender raises rehabilitation concerns

The House Judiciary Committee on March 25 heard competing testimony on House Bill 5670, which would amend Rhode Island General Law 12-7-21 to add juvenile program workers (JPWs) and shift coordinators at the Rhode Island Training School to the statutory list of peace officers while performing assigned duties.

Union and agency witnesses said the change is narrowly tailored to on-duty functions: JPWs and shift coordinators already provide custody, transport and care for adjudicated youth and sometimes must retrieve, transport or return residents from out‑of‑state placements or community placements. Witnesses — including Jim Centorino (AFSCME/ Council 94), Joe DeLuca (union vice president and JPW) and a longtime shift coordinator — said the staff have a higher injury rate and lack statutory authority when detaining or restraining juveniles off training‑school property. They described situations in which staff must use restraints or otherwise secure a youth and said lack of peace‑officer status exposes staff and the state to civil and criminal liability.

Witnesses said the bill would not turn JPWs into general police officers: it would authorize limited powers to detain, restrain or transport in the performance of duties and requires the authority be used only with the superintendent’s authorization. Jim Centorino described prior amendments to the draft that narrowed the language to protect against off‑duty or unauthorized uses.

Megan Jackson of the Office of the Public Defender opposed the bill, arguing that the Training School is a rehabilitative environment and that conferring peace‑officer status on staff would undermine the trust-based relationships the school relies on to rehabilitate youth. The Public Defender’s office also said staff are not trained to make arrests in the way peace officers are and that the bill could erode rehabilitative goals.

Committee members questioned whether transports include restraints, whether staff receive training comparable to other peace officers, and how often off‑site incidents required restraint or police intervention. Proponents said the department has developed an academy and additional training modules and that the proposed expansion would be limited to duties expressly authorized by the Rhode Island Training School and only while on duty.

No vote was taken. Supporters asked the committee to consider statutory protections that would reduce exposure for staff who take youth into the community for medical care and other court-ordered placements.

Why it matters: The change would affect front-line staff handling vulnerable juveniles and could alter the legal exposure of the state and employees during off-campus transports and incident responses.