Swearer Center for Public Service
Preparing For Your Placement
Swearer Center Affiliated Students
Information for Swearer-affiliated students includes those in Swearer Fellowships and Programs (including ESC Practicum), Off-Campus Federal Work Study, Brown Tutoring Corps, CBLR Courses with Community Partners and Engaged Course Mini-Grant recipients.
All Other Students
Information for students who are not affiliated with the Swearer Center.
For Brown Departments
Information for departments with students participating in community work in Rhode Island.
Important Considerations
- Clearance forms and background checks must be renewed every 12 months.
- Due to state law, the Swearer Center or Attorney General's Office will not be able to process a RI State Bureau of Criminal Identification (BCI) background check on your behalf until you turn 18 years of age. Therefore, students will not be able to engage until they turn 18. Please contact your supervisor for specific policies regarding volunteers under the age of 18 before you begin your engagement.
Swearer Center’s Commitment to Non-Discrimination
The Swearer Center acknowledges that discrimination based on criminal records perpetuates the marginalization of formerly incarcerated people and that the impacts of this discrimination fall most heavily on communities of color. In response to this sort of discrimination, measures such as “Ban the Box” have been passed (in Rhode Island enacted in 2014). While we must comply with state law, we are committed to giving full consideration to each volunteer whether or not any arrests are listed on their BCI. We recognize that BCIs construct a notion of safety that relies on the labeling of people according to their interactions with law enforcement officials and the criminal justice system. This results in an incomplete and often distorted picture of a person.