Rising Scholars

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.

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

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

This report applauds California’s growth, explores how it happened, and calls on the state to ensure quality and sustainability.

This fact sheet outlines how Parole Agents can utilize local community colleges to support the individuals under their supervision toward better job prospects, higher incomes, and lower likelihoods of recidivism.

Information and links for people on parole who are interested in coming to community college.

In 2017, 73 California Community Colleges completed a survey on campus programs for formerly incarcerated students. Survey results are summarized here.

This toolkit includes essential program elements and services, no- and low-cost strategies, and student input regarding on-campus programs for formerly incarcerated students.

Degrees of Freedom: Expanding College Opportunities for Currently and Formerly Incarcerated Californians, by Debbie A. Mukamal, Rebecca Silbert, and Rebecca Taylor is based on over 175 interviews, academic research, and historical investigation. The report profiles existing programs and identifies recommendations for California to take to build effective college pathways that will help these underserved students become college graduates.