BEYOND THE BOX 1 Beyond the Box in Education to Help Reduce Disparate Impact The Education Department's Guidance for Higher Education Reentry Initiatives Outside Education Fair-chance hiring practices and policies that help to reduce barriers to employment for people with criminal histories have been adopted in over 100 U.S. cities and counties In April 2016, President Obama directed the Office of Personnel Management to delay inquiries on past criminal justice involvement for federal employees until a conditional offer was made The White House Fair Chance Business Pledge called for businesses to commit to achieving goals aimed at promoting opportunity for all, including eliminating barriers to reentry, was signed by 112 companies U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that criminal records-based barriers to housing have a disproportionate impact on minority home seekers and may violate the Fair Housing Act May 10, 2016 | Claire Carter Sources John B. King, Jr., “Beyond the Box: Increasing Access to Higher Education for Justice-Involved Individuals,” U.S. Department of Education, May 9, 2016; NounProject, Edward Boatman, Daniel Polshin, Daouna Jeong. Beyond the Box Initiative Eliminating and/or delaying the use of the box that determines whether candidates for admission to higher education institution have had a previous encounter with the justice system Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has stated that national data supports finding that criminal record exclusions have a disparate impact based on race and national origin which violates the Civil Rights Act, and can be applied to education Populations Affected An estimated 70 million Americans have an arrest or conviction that may show up in a background check Annually, over 600,000 people leave state and federal prisons and re-enter society In 2011, about 60 percent of individuals behind bars were minorities and literature suggests minorities are treated differently at several stages in criminal justice process

BEYOND THE BOX 2 Education Department Guidance Focuses on Eliminating Barriers to Application Completion Specific Actions to Encourage Application/Admission for Reentry Individuals May 10, 2016 | Claire Carter Sources: John B. King, Jr., “Beyond the Box: Increasing Access to Higher Education for Justice-Involved Individuals,” U.S. Department of Education, May 9, ActionImportanceExample Delay Disclosure to Admissions of Prior Conviction Can deter qualified applicants or overshadow their individual achievements Requesting Criminal Justice Information(CJI) until offering admission contingent upon clearing background check as opposed to asking for CJI upon initial application Transparently and Clearly Inform Students of Policy Allows for contestation in cases of false information, particularly because background check databases can frequently be out of date Informing students early in the process can encourage students to continue, and for those denied admission a clear explanation for the reason of denial should be provided Individualized Assessments for Excluded Applicants The opportunity for individual assessment and repeal encourages application and admission rather than discouraging from applying Applicant should be given opportunity to demonstrate that exclusion should not be applied in their case and allows for the institution to determine if the applicant warrants an exception based on whether it is a necessity to the institution to exclude Narrowly and Specifically Focused Questions Without being specific and focused, results can exclude an overly broad population set of otherwise qualified students Avoid using ambiguous criminal justice terms Clearly define what information should not be disclosed Avoid overly broad requests about criminal history Include time limit on criminal background data Inquire about convictions not arrests