Groden Center Behavioral Specialists hit the picket line for a three day strike

"It's amazing that for a skilled job, there are fast food restaurants that pay more money than what Groden pays its employees," said Behavioral Special Richard Jenkins.

After two days of additional bargaining failed to produce meaningful results, Groden Center frontline staff’s planned three-day strike began this morning. 38 Behavioral Specialists, who are members of SEIU 1199NE, have been negotiating a new contract since June 2024. They are calling for a living wage to aid recruitment, retention, better staffing, and an overall safer environment for students and staff alike. 

The starting wage for Behavioral Specialists is just $18 an hour, just under $35,000 a year. Not only does this not provide a living wage for staff amid Rhode Island’s rising cost of living, but it also impacts the quality of care and education students receive. Low staffing and high turnover disrupt the continuity of care and create significant safety risks for staff and Groden students, many of whom are non-verbal with behavioral, emotional, physical, or cognitive challenges.

I spoke with Behavioral Specialist Richard Jenkins on the picket line.

Steve Ahlquist: Can you tell me why you're here?

Richard Jenkins: I'm a behavioral specialist at the Groden Center in Providence on the east side. We're here to fight for a living wage contract.

Steve Ahlquist: You've been in negotiation for a few days, and you're not getting anywhere.

Richard Jenkins: We've been in negotiation since June and have not made any progress. The company has not offered us a living wage.

Steve Ahlquist: I don't need to ask you what a living wage is, but at the same time, what seems to be the big problem here?

Richard Jenkins: They're not paying the staff enough money to survive. Many of the staff who work here have to work two jobs just to be able to make ends meet and the increases that they're offering annually do not even come close to meeting the cost of living increases that we've seen.

Steve Ahlquist: Can I ask you what a behavioral specialist does?

Richard Jenkins: Behavioral specialist works with people on the autism spectrum. We are teachers, caregivers, and safety minded people. We are specially trained to be able to work with this population. This is a population that has difficulties with communication and processing emotions. What we do is work with those kids. We provide an educational background and a safe environment. We give them support.

Steve Ahlquist: That's very cool.

Richard Jenkins: It's a skilled job. It's amazing that for a skilled job, there are fast food restaurants that pay more money than what Groden pays its employees.

Steve Ahlquist: Wouldn't we want the highest level of care for people in this position?

Richard Jenkins: If you're interested in the best quality of care for your clients and if you want to retain the trained staff. Groden has been using [a temp] agency staff to come in and supplement their staffing and part of the problem with staffing is there's a problem with retention because they don't pay a living wage.

Steve Ahlquist: The [temp] agency staff - they're not necessarily at the same level of experience.

Richard Jenkins: Not at all. Groden staff behavioral specialists are trained in safety care. Agency staff are not. The other problem with agency staff is there's no consistency. We don't get the same people in every day. They're not trained. So how can they work with our children in a safe environment if they're not trained? If we have a behavioral incident, the agency staff cannot get involved. Only the behavioral specialists because we're specially trained.

Steve Ahlquist: So if you're not there, then the child could go unattended or have very bad experience?

Richard Jenkins: They wouldn't be unattended. What I mean is if there is a behavioral incident where a kid has difficulty, only certain staff - only Groden staff who are behavioral specialists - are trained to deal with that situation and provide safe care for our clients. All the staff who work here are highly dedicated to our clients. We love our kids.

Steve Ahlquist: Isn't it important to have a relationship with your caregivers consistently?

Richard Jenkins: These kids must form consistent relationships with their staff ...

Steve Ahlquist: Average kids in a school setting need consistent relationships with their teachers. We've shown that that helps. So for more vulnerable kids, it must even be more important.

Richard Jenkins: Absolutely. This is a vulnerable population and the Groden staff are highly dedicated. All we want is a living wage contract.

In a statement, Katherine Siguenza, a Behavioral Specialist Coordinator, who has worked at Groden for 12 and a half years, said, “We have been negotiating in good faith for months because we want to reach an agreement that ultimately improves the quality of education and support we give our kids. None of us want to strike but we need management to know the status quo is not working for anyone. There is still time for them to do the right thing, return to negotiations, and work with us to settle a contract that helps us ramp up staffing and pays us enough to take care of our families.”