Overview
The Criminal Records Panel Study (CCRPS), conducted by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) at Cornell University, is a study that surveyed a sample of Americans over time about their employment and income, as well as their health, family, and community life. The CRPS provides important information about the challenges faced by people with criminal records. Millions of Americans have criminal records, which can limit the ability to get a job, driver’s license, and occupational license, as well as limit the access to housing, social services, and even voting in some places. These records often contain errors, which need to be corrected. The goal of the Criminal Records Panel Study (CCRPS) is to learn what types of services and supports increase employment opportunities and earnings for people who have been involved in the criminal justice system.
This project is the result of a class action lawsuit (Houser et al. v. Pritzker) against the United States Census Bureau for discriminatory hiring practices. The theory of the plaintiff’s case was that Census created a racially biased employment barrier by requiring at all applicants with an arrest record for any offense at any point in their lives to produce official court records of the disposition of their arrests to remain a potential candidate for employment in the 2010 Decennial Census. As part of the settlement of this case, each named plaintiff will receive settlement compensation of $10,000. Additionally, named and non-named plaintiffs will have four options: (1) receive a settlement of preference in the 2020 Census hiring process; (2) receive education regarding how to read their record and possible resources for record correction; (3) opt out of class action and retain the right to bring their own legal action against Census; or (4) object to the settlement and thereby allow them to pursue independent legal action against Census.
The Cornell Criminal Records Panel Survey (CCRPS) is a longitudinal survey of a group of people who applied for employment with the U.S. Census Bureau for the 2010 Census of Population. The objective of the research is to learn what types of services and supports increase employment opportunities and earnings for people who have been involved in the criminal justice system.
Project Team
- Barrington, Linda
- Bigler, Esta R.
- Enayati, Hassan
- Groshen, Erica
- Levitt, Bruce
- McNutt, Timothy
- Vilhuber, Lars
- Wells, Martin T.
- York Cornwell, Erin
Links
References
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Cornell Project for Record Assistance Questionnaire - B-filers
Linda Barrington, Esta R. Bigler, Hassan Enayati, and 3 more authors
May 2017
Questionnaire used by the Cornell Project for Records Assistance, part of the Cornell University ILR School (Industrial and Labor Relations), to collect information about respondents, their work history, their involvement with the criminal justice system, if any, and their choice of remedy under the settlement of the Gonzalez et al v. Pritzker case. These respondents had chosen not to receive remedy, information was collected to understand their choice.
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Cornell Project for Record Assistance Questionnaire - A-filers
Linda Barrington, Esta R. Bigler, Hassan Enayati, and 3 more authors
May 2017
Questionnaire used by the Cornell Project for Records Assistance, part of the Cornell University ILR School (Industrial and Labor Relations), to collect information about respondents, their work history, their involvement with the criminal justice system, if any, and their choice of remedy under the settlement of the Gonzalez et al v. Pritzker case. The responses were used to inform support and remedy provided to respondents.
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Cornell Project for Records Assistance Questionnaire - with routing
Linda Barrington, Esta R. Bigler, Hassan Enayati, and 3 more authors
May 2017
Questionnaire used by the Cornell Project for Records Assistance, part of the Cornell University ILR School (Industrial and Labor Relations), to collect information about respondents, their work history, their involvement with the criminal justice system, if any, and their choice of remedy under the settlement of the Gonzalez et al v. Pritzker case. This version contains routing information.
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Cornell Criminal Records Panel Study Questionnaire Wave 2
Linda Barrington, Esta R. Bigler, Hassan Enayati, and 3 more authors
Cornell Criminal Records Panel Study (CRPS), Document 69333, Mar 2019
Questionnaire used by the Cornell Criminal Records Panel Study. Subjects are members of the class in the law suit against the US Census Bureau. The purpose of this research is to learn more about the errors in background screening and understand how criminal records impact employment opportunities.
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Criminal Record Inaccuracies and the Impact of a Record Education Intervention on Employment-Related Outcomes
Martin Wells, Erin York Cornwell, Linda Barrington, and 3 more authors
Cornell University, Final Report, Jan 2020
More than 70 million Americans have some form of criminal record, which can limit their access to employment opportunities, eligibility for occupational licensure, and public benefits. The use of criminal background checks in the hiring process has also dramatically increased over the past decade, and there is reason to think that many criminal records are inaccurate. Prior research has not determined the extent of errors on criminal records. We also do not know educating individuals about their records may promote efforts toward record correction and improve employment and other economic outcomes. The present study harnesses a unique opportunity to investigate the accuracy of criminal records and the impact of a record education intervention on job-seeking behaviors, employment opportunities, and economic outcomes for people with criminal records. We focus on class members of the Gonzalez, et al. v. Pritzker class action lawsuit. This group of individuals applied for a job with the 2010 Census, but they were denied employment because of a criminal background check. As part of the lawsuit settlement, class members were offered the choice of one of two remedies: a criminal records intervention that educates them about their criminal record and their related employment rights, or early notice of hiring for the 2020 Census. Individuals who chose the record education intervention are provided with a copy of their criminal record and a training session to review their record and provide information about their rights when applying for jobs or other employment-related opportunities. In addition, all class members in the two remedy groups were invited to participate in the first two waves of the Cornell Criminal Records Panel Survey (CCRPS). We combine data from the panel survey with administrative data from the records training (including actual criminal records) to address two main research questions. First, we ask: What is the prevalence of errors in criminal records of members of this class, and how are these errors distributed across racial/ethnic and sociodemographic groups? Using data from the record education intervention, we describe the errors discovered on participants’ records and how those errors vary across racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Second, we ask: How does understanding one’s criminal record and relevant legal rights affect job- seeking behaviors, employment opportunities, economic attainment, and social engagement? To address this question, we leverage a quasi-experimental design, comparing class members who receive the criminal records intervention to those who opt into early notice of Census 2020 hiring, in order to examine how the criminal records intervention shapes job- seeking and other behaviors.