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Criminal History Records and Higher Education: Leveraging Second Chances

Criminal History Records and Higher Education: Leveraging Second Chances Pathways of Possibility Conference February 27, 2013 New York, New York Marsha Weissman, Ph.D. Executive Director. Center for Community Alternatives.

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Criminal History Records and Higher Education: Leveraging Second Chances

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  1. Criminal History Records and Higher Education: Leveraging Second Chances Pathways of Possibility Conference February 27, 2013 New York, New York Marsha Weissman, Ph.D. Executive Director

  2. Center for Community Alternatives The Center for Community Alternatives (CCA) promotes reintegrative justice and a reduced reliance on incarceration through advocacy, services and public policy development in pursuit of civil and human rights.

  3. Discussion • Importance of higher education • Mass criminalization • Racial disparities • Lifetime consequences of a criminal history record • Policies & practices to ensure access to education for people with criminal history records

  4. At least 8 out of 10 of the fastest growing jobs in the U.S. require some postsecondary education U.S. Department of Education 2003

  5. Growth of Felons and Ex-felons, 1948-2010Source: Shannon, Uggen, Thompson, Schnittker & Massoglia. 2011GROWTH IN THE U.S. EX-FELON AND EX-PRISONER POPULATION, 1948 TO 2010

  6. Racial Disparities(incarceration rates per 100,000) Source: West, Bureau of Justice Statistics of Criminal Justice Statistics, 2010

  7. Lifetime Consequences “…punitive and overzealous tools and approaches of the modern criminal justice system have seeped into our schools, serving to remove children from mainstream educational environments and funnel them onto a one-way path toward prison.”NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC.: School to Prison Pipeline Initiative 1964: Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. CRIMINALS NEED NOT APPLY “over 40 percent of employers indicated that they would “probably” or “definitely” not be willing to hire an applicant with a criminal record for a job not requiring a college degree…”Harry Holzer, “How Do Crime and Incarceration Affect the Employment Prospects of Less-Educated Black Men?” One out of three Black American males in the United States can be expected to be jailed during his lifetime, according to the US Justice Department (2003). Under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, “public housing authorities have the discretion to terminate the lease of a tenant when a member of the household or a guest engaged in drug-related activity, regardless of whether tenant knew, or should have known, of the drug-related activity.” Herkimer Community College President, Ronald Williams’ recently asserted in a letter to advocates that the “admission to HCCC of felons would be unfair to the taxpaying residents of Herkimer County.”

  8. Without opportunities like college, the sentence lasts a lifetime

  9. . SUNY Application for Undergraduate Admission Note: All applicants (freshmen and transfer students must answer questions 20a and 20b 20a Have you been convicted of a felony? Yes 􀀀 No 􀀀

  10. Collection of Criminal Justice Information in College Admissions Source: Center for Community Alternatives 2010

  11. Use of Criminal Justice Information in College Admissions Source: Center for Community Alternatives 2010

  12. Admissions-Related Uses of CJI Source: Center for Community Alternatives 2010

  13. Role of ATI/Reentry Programs in Promoting Higher Education • Partnerships and Special Programs: • College Initiative (co-located at the Fortune Society • On Point for College (partnership with CCA) • College and Community Fellowship • CCA Civic Restoration Clinic • Obtain, review and correct criminal history records • Obtain certificates of rehabilitation • Understand rights and responsibilities in disclosing a criminal history record • Advocacy for admission • Advocacy at sentencing

  14. Overcoming Barriers “Attending college and finishing my BA (and later my master’s) is the most important thing I need to do. I think this is one of the very few ways I can make my history an asset rather than a detriment. I may end up working as a professional in the social justice/prisoner advocacy field largely because of that same history. So it feels great and extremely important.”

  15. Recommended Policy Changes • Support/encourage a “Ban the Box” on college applications • Develop “best practice” recommendations to guide how colleges and universities screen for criminal justice records • Support/sponsor research on the rate of campus crime committed by students with criminal history records compared to students without such records

  16. For more information or to download the studyThe Use of Criminal History Screening in College Admissions go to:www.communityalternatives.org

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