Dear Colleagues,

Root & Rebound recently put together an issue statement on legal and practical barriers to higher ed in California–for people with criminal records for a partner agency.

You can read the full issue statement here: bit.ly/EducationBarriers

We believe it can be helpful across the state for the the broader community working on these issues–to serve policy advocates, practitioners, and students to better understand and advocate around these issues. We plan to do these for all of the nine areas we cover in our guide.

The Higher Ed in California Issue Statement

While it is no secret that criminal records oftentimes hinder the ability of formerly incarcerated people to become full participants in our society, it can be easy to forget just how pervasive and enduring the consequences of a criminal conviction truly are. Two-thirds of colleges and universities collect, consider, and too often deny applicants due to their criminal records. The admissions process and numerous other hurdles continue to discourage and prevent people with criminal records from applying, enrolling, and succeeding as college students. 

In this issue statement, Root & Rebound details the common barriers to higher education for people with criminal records, the far-reaching impact of these barriers, and some of the innovative recent efforts to increase access to higher education for people with
criminal records.

Please be in touch if you have any questions or would like to work together on these issues. If there are ways we can work together to make this information even more useful for your organization or the community you work with, please let us know.

You can email us at [email protected] or call 510-279-4662.

We will also be posting it to our website. Feel free to share the document with your networks.

All best,

The Root & Rebound Team