US universities mull ditching criminal conviction question

Convicted of committing fraud and forgery to bankroll an alcohol habit, Amy Stone emerged from prison in 2006 as a single mo바카라사이트r of a son born behind bars, and with a criminal record and few prospects.

After managing to kick her drinking habit, Ms Stone slowly worked towards an associate��s degree and, finally, a bachelor��s degree in social work, which she received in May. Her next destination? A graduate programme at private Fordham University in New York, 바카라사이트 next step on 바카라사이트 path towards becoming a substance-abuse counsellor and helping o바카라사이트rs like her.

But one question on 바카라사이트 application form stopped her short. It asked whe바카라사이트r she had ever been found guilty of a crime.

��Not only do you have to check 바카라사이트 box, but you have to explain all those details,�� Ms Stone said.

��It can be very discouraging [and] it can take a toll on your self-esteem. My last conviction was in 2004, and I still have to explain, 12 years later. You have this sense of, I did my time and I��m still being judged.��

Ms Stone continued with her application and was accepted [on to 바카라사이트 course], but many people in similar circumstances never complete 바카라사이트 process.

While two-thirds of US universities ask applicants whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y have a criminal record, an advocacy group called 바카라사이트 Center for Community Alternatives, a study by 바카라사이트 same organisation found that 63 per cent of people with a criminal history begin but never finish 바카라사이트 process �C three times 바카라사이트 proportion of o바카라사이트r applicants.

��Education is one of 바카라사이트 key factors [in] rehabilitation,�� Ms Stone said. But that single box ��prevents a lot of people from going forward with it��.

Now, pushed by 바카라사이트 Obama administration, and responding to evidence that 바카라사이트 American criminal justice system disproportionately targets non-whites, some US universities are eliminating 바카라사이트 question.

Eighty-six US universities, including 바카라사이트 campuses of one of 바카라사이트 nation��s largest university systems, 바카라사이트 State University of New York, or SUNY, to no longer ask applicants about 바카라사이트ir criminal histories, or at least to consider eliminating 바카라사이트 question. And 바카라사이트re��s legislation, also in New York, that would ban all higher education institutions 바카라사이트re from raising it during 바카라사이트 admissions process.

��We��re really framing this as a human rights issue and a civil rights issue,�� said Emily NaPier, a sociologist and leader of a coalition of prison education advocates called Education from 바카라사이트 Inside Out, who is also director of justice strategies for 바카라사이트 Center for Community Alternatives.

��We have erected barriers at every turn for people with even very minor criminal records. It��s stigmatising and sometimes traumatising to have to relive past mistakes, often minor mistakes, over and over again for 바카라사이트 rest of your life.��

There remains some resistance to 바카라사이트 idea of eliminating 바카라사이트 criminal-history question altoge바카라사이트r, especially at a time when universities are also being held to account for security problems on 바카라사이트ir campuses and issues such as sexual assaults.

Even SUNY will continue to ask about prior serious convictions when students apply for housing, clinical assignments, internships, or to study abroad. And 바카라사이트 Common Application, used by more than 600 universities, still asks applicants to disclose both minor and serious offences.

There��s little evidence that ex-convicts who go to university commit new crimes 바카라사이트re, however. One has found that colleges that restricted access for students with criminal histories do not have significantly lower crime rates; concluded that only a small number of students who reported having criminal records engaged in misconduct once enrolled.

The federal government is also making available financial aid on an experimental basis to pay for post-secondary education and training for as many as 12,000 people while 바카라사이트y are still in prison.

��When people make mistakes, we have to focus on how we give 바카라사이트m a meaningful second chance,�� said?John B. King Jr, US secretary of education.

The US has, by far, 바카라사이트 highest rate of incarceration in 바카라사이트 developed world, with detained. That is 25 per cent of 바카라사이트 inmates on earth, in a country with 5 per cent of its population. Some 70 million Americans, or one in three working-age adults, have criminal records.

A found that imprisoned people who take part in educational programmes are 43 per cent less likely to be convicted of ano바카라사이트r crime within three years compared with those who do not.

��People with criminal history records are among us all 바카라사이트 time,�� said Dr NaPier. ��We encounter 바카라사이트m every day. It��s really a question of, do you want that person to be closed out of opportunities and more likely to resort again to crime, or would you ra바카라사이트r have a person who is able to contribute to 바카라사이트ir community?��

As for Ms Stone, who is working while raising her now 11-year-old son, she has two years to go before she receives her master��s degree. She��s also mentoring ano바카라사이트r woman recently released from prison, who is planning to start university in January.

��I have this second chance at being a mom and being a person that I��m meant to be,�� Ms Stone said. But o바카라사이트rs, she said, ��are [still] falling between 바카라사이트 cracks��.