“Over the past few years, young women of color have been represented at a disproportionately high rate among clients coming to Community Legal Services (CLS) for help with barriers to employment caused by criminal records. This is particularly notable, as the vast majority of research, programming, and policy attention regarding criminal records and barriers to employment have focused on men. The impact of criminal records on young women seeking employment has largely been overlooked” (p. 2). This publication presents data showing the degree to which minority women are impacted by their past criminal records. Sections cover: issue overview; observations from CLS’s experiences with young female clients; local and national trends in arrest data, by gender; characteristics of women with criminal records; impact on employment; and five policy recommendations to address long-term joblessness of female offenders.
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