By Rachel Kinsella, Patrick Williams and Kevin Wong

Chance to Change is a deferred prosecution scheme which was delivered across two pilot sites in West Yorkshire and London. Deferred prosecution schemes intentionally remove the legal requirement for an admission of guilt, allowing people who are accused of an offence to access supportive interventions designed to address the personal, social, and economic factors that may contribute to offending behaviour. This study draws on the views and experiences of pilot stakeholders and service users to explore how the Chance to Change projects were delivered and received, and the potential benefits for individuals of participating in the scheme.

 Manchester, UK:  Policy Evaluation and Research Unit, Manchester Metropolitan University 2023, 24p.

By Dallas Augustine, Noah Zatz, Naomi Sugie

This study addresses whether employers are using criminal records as a valuable source of information for risk management or if general stigma impacts employer hiring practices. The study finds that employer aversion to hiring people with criminal records was driven not only by concerns with future criminal behavior or other associated risks but also, in significant part, by the stigma that accompanies a criminal record. Consequently, permitting decision-makers unrestricted access to and use of criminal records allows for forms of exclusion that are based, at least in part, on stigma and stereotypes associated with contact with the criminal justice system rather than purely practical business concerns. Report authors conclude that regulating employers’ access to and use of criminal history through Ban the Box policies and other variants can both combat hiring discrimination and advance broader socioeconomic equality.

Los Angeles: The UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, 2020. 9p.