| Entities | Urban Institute (4) |
| Topics and Issues | Accuracy (39) Background checks (71) Ban-the-Box (12) |
The Urban Institute issued a report, Criminal Background Checks and Access to Jobs. According to the abstract
Despite significant efforts by reform-minded government and nonprofits, roughly one in seven DC residents have criminal records that may preclude them from finding jobs. Local ban-the-box legislation, which allows employers to ask about an applicant’s criminal record only after they have made a conditional job offer, has significant limitations, leading to background checks that disadvantage justice-involved people. What’s more, flaws in criminal background check practices result in inaccurate reports, which even prevent people with no convictions from gaining employment they otherwise qualify for. This study examines how background checks, regulations, and the local labor market limit the employment of justice-involved people in Washington, DC, then describes some promising practices under way to reduce those barriers.