Key Element Four

Once service members become involved with the justice system, the next phase of their journey is the challenge of living with a criminal record. Key Element Four addresses this challenge by establishing or expanding record clearance policies for veterans.

Research consistently finds that having a criminal record reduces one’s ability to obtain housing, employment, and education. Questions about a criminal record are often used as a screener on job applications, with any indication of a criminal history frequently leading to an application being denied. One study found that White people with a criminal record were 50% less likely to receive a call back when compared to White individuals with identical resumes; among Black job seekers, those with records were 64% less likely to receive a call.1

The same roadblocks appear when individuals with criminal records attempt to secure housing. A 2014 study found that landlords showed units to 96% of prospective tenants without a criminal conviction but just 43% of those with a criminal history.2 Similar impacts can be found in access to education, with recent research finding that college applicants who indicated a low-level felony conviction were 2.5 times more likely to be rejected compared to equivalent applicants without a criminal record.3

This reduced ability to access stable housing, employment, and education can be pivotal. Scholarship consistently shows that jobs and housing are among factors that reduce the odds of a justice-involved individual committing future crimes.4,5 Removing barriers to housing for justice-involved veterans may be particularly important, as veterans are roughly twice as likely to experience homelessness, and homelessness serves as a more powerful predictor of suicide attempts among veterans.6

There are many examples of how record clearance policies can alleviate these challenges. One study in Michigan found that people receiving criminal record expungement had five-year rearrest rates of 7.1% and a two-year rearrest rate of 3.4%, indicating a relatively low public safety impact. In addition to low recidivism rates, the results showed that recipients’ prospects of employment improved by 13% one year after the expungement of a record, with wages increasing by 22%.7 Contrary to these findings, a recent study found that record sealing did not increase non-gig employment or overall earnings, indicating the need for more research on how record clearance policies affect employment, criminal justice involvement, and other outcomes.8