Second Chances: Exploring the Relationship between Sealed Criminal Records and Employment Outcomes in New York State

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

This research explores whether sealing youthful criminal records helps people find employment who would, absent sealing, be denied employment. New York State has a youthful offender law that automatically seals the record for most first offenses, excluding murder and several designated sex crimes, for youths aged 16-18 at the time of the offense. The sealing can also be offered, at the discretion of a judge, to those with prior records and for those with the most serious offenses. The net result is that there is a substantial population of adults with sealed records. This research explores the utility of this policy by assessing the employment outcomes of a sample of 142,000 potential employees screened for criminal records by the New York State Department of Health. Using a combination of propensity score and variable matching, this study identifies groups of individuals with similar criminal records who either did, or did not, qualify for sealing. We study the impact of sealing not only for the specific job that triggered the background check, but also employment in any job during a two-year follow up period.

Authors

• Megan Denver, University at Albany, SUNY

• Megan Kurlychek, University at Albany, SUNY

• Shawn Bushway, University at Albany, SUNY