dealing with the new scarlet letter: what research tells...
TRANSCRIPT
Dealing with "The New Scarlet Letter":
What Research Tells Us about
Negotiating the U.S. Labor Market with
a Criminal Record
Webinar
2014 NNSP Virtual Conference
December 5, 2014
Jim Torrens Program Manager
National Network of Sector Partners (NNSP)
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
Steven Raphael Professor of Public Policy
UC Berkeley
Related webinar later today
Friday, December 5
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Pacific
Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Criminal Records –
Lessons from Per Scholas and New Century Careers
For more details about these and other webinars in the virtual conference, visit
http://www.nnsp.org/nnsp-virtual-conference.html.
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Steven Raphael Professor of Public Policy
UC Berkeley
THE NEW SCARLET LETTER:
NEGOTIATING THE U.S. LABOR
MARKET WITH A CRIMINAL
RECORD
Steven Raphael
Goldman School of Public Policy
University of California, Berkeley
Figure 2.1: Comparison of the Total U.S. Incarceration Rate to Those of Other Nations (Data for Various Years from 2008 through 2011)
Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, World Prison Brief 2011.
743
104 9774
59
10285
101 99 111139
94116
159
78
152
117
200
133
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Inca
rce
rate
d p
er
10
0,0
00
The Number of State and Federal Prisoners per 100,000 U.S.
Residents: 1925 through 2011
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Pri
so
ne
rs p
er
10
0,0
00
Why are so many Americans in prison?
• We’re more likely to punish convicted felons with prison than we
were in the past (especially for drug crimes)
• Those we send to prison now serve more time (especially for
violent crime).
• BOTTOM LINE: Policy, Policy, Policy
Characteristics of the labor market for former inmates
and those with criminal histories: The supply side
• What goes to prison?
• Who is currently in prison?
• Who is released from prison?
Characteristics of the labor market for former inmates
and those with criminal histories: The demand side
• Which employers are willing to hire?
• How often do employers check criminal history records
and how?
• Do employer preferences and screening practices impact
the employment outcomes of former prison inmates?
Table 4
Frequency With Which Employers Check the Criminal Backgrounds of Job Applicants for
Non-Managerial, Non-Professional Jobs
Always Sometimes Never
All Establishments
0.598 0.122 0.280
By stated
acceptability of
applicants with
criminal records
Definitely accept 0.333 0.072 0.595
Probably accept 0.576 0.141 0.283
Probably not accept 0.504 0.157 0.339
Definitely not accept
0.702 0.063 0.235
By whether they are
legally prohibit from
hiring a convicted
felon into the position
Felons prohibited 0.854 0.066 0.080
Felons permitted 0.522 0.132 0.347
Methods Used to Acquire Information on Applicant Criminal History Records Among
Establishments that Check
0.112
0.049
0.778
0.165
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
Ask applicant Query the state Attorney General Background check through a
security firm
Other method
Pro
po
rtio
n o
f E
sta
bli
sh
men
ts
Firms that are unwilling to hire convicted
felons…
• Are concentrated in retail trade
• Are more likely to be hiring into jobs requiring
customer contact
• Are less likely to be planning to expand, more
likely to be planning to contract
• Hire more educated workers
• Are less likely to hire black applicants (black men
in particular)
• Pay more ($13.79 vs. $13.03)
Employers that check criminal backgrounds …
• Larger
• Relatively concentrated in manufacturing, health
services, and other services
• More likely to hire women and African-Americans
• Pay more ($14.41 vs. $12.05)
Employers prohibited from hiring convicted
felons …
• Are concentrated in health services and other services
• Are under-represented in retail trade, construction, and
manufacturing
• Are more likely to hire women and African-Americans
• Pay more ($14.73 vs. $13,43)
Effect of employers preferences and screening on
employment outcomes of former inmates
• Audit studies
• Econometric studies comparing earnings and employment
trajectories
• Using large panel data set
• Using administrative records
• Involvement with the justice system and the timing of
employment and earnings declines
Policy Options
• Effectiveness of workforce development efforts
• Job search assistance, skills remediation, cognitive behavioral
therapy, transitional jobs
• Scaling back the use of incarceration
• Better triaging of the reentry population (using labor
market intermediaries as a screening and signaling
mechanism)
• Sharing the risk with employers
CC photo credit: Colin_K
Related webinar later today
Friday, December 5
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Pacific
Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Criminal Records –
Lessons from Per Scholas and New Century Careers
For more details about these and other webinars in the virtual conference, visit
http://www.nnsp.org/nnsp-virtual-conference.html.
Join us immediately after the webinar for online discussion and
networking about apprenticeship and sector initiatives.
To participate, search for the NNSP group in LinkedIn or visit
http://www.nnsp.org/nnsp-vconf-networking.html for more information.
After the
webinar….
Thank you!
Jim Torrens Program Manager
National Network of Sector Partners (NNSP)
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
CC photo credit: psd