Resources

On February 8th, the California Community Colleges Chancellor issued guidance on Fair Chance Hiring Best Practices (Policy Guidance) following the December 2018 Chancellor’s legal advisory (Office of General Counsel Advisory 2018-04) regarding the use of criminal history records in hiring, promotion and retention decisions by the community colleges and districts. The policy guidance and legal advisory together pave the way for California’s higher education system to expand employment opportunities for people with arrest and conviction records.

The FAQs were developed for community college students with an arrest or conviction record to learn about their rights and responsibilities when seeking employment with a local California community college.

This is a toolkit for formerly incarcerated students in California Community Colleges. It was created based on input from formerly incarcerated students throughout California.

Equity and Excellence in Practice: A Guide for Higher Education in Prison by Tanya Erzen, Mary R. Gould, and Jody Lewen documents the key characteristics of high-quality prison higher education programs, and informs stakeholders in the field, including new and experienced practitioners seeking to achieve equity and excellence in their work, policy leaders, philanthropy, and others. This study is a joint project of the Prison University Project and the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison.

The course catalog is organized by college and lists the institution, course offering, class meeting time, number of students enrolled, whether the course leads toward a degree, and whether the course units are transferable.

The Chancellor’s Office Advisory Committee for Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Students suggests that colleges focus on specific ADTs and the Golden Four to better serve incarcerated students.

This report from the Vera Institute of Justice and the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality presents evidence that recommends a repeal of the federal ban on Pell Grants for people in prison. The report details an array of benefits that postsecondary education in prison programs could have on individuals, communities, and the economy.

“Inmate Education: Encouraging Results from Pilot Program” is a 2018 Chancellor’s Office report submitted pursuant to Senate Bill 1391 (Hancock, 2014)

This toolkit will assist California’s community colleges and Sheriff’s Departments as they build partnerships to provide college education inside county jails.

This letter addresses residency for California residents who were moved out of state during incarceration but promptly returned to California after release.