For the more than 70 million adults in the U.S. who have a criminal record, and the more than one million youth who acquire juvenile court records each year, collateral consequences exist that hinder their attempts at gaining employment, housing, and even returning to school. Record clearance enables a person’s criminal history information to be removed from easy public access, most often with the goal of improving employment and other outcomes for the affected person.
Recently, the National Reentry Resource Center, with funding support from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, launched the Clean Slate Clearinghouse, which helps support juvenile and adult criminal record clearance around the country by:
- Providing people with criminal records and non-legal service providers with accurate, up-to-date information on record clearance and mitigation, as well as contact information for legal service providers in all U.S. states and territories;
- Supporting legal service providers currently engaged in record clearance work and giving new legal service providers the tools and resources they need to develop record clearance programs; and
- Giving policymakers the information they need to compare their state’s record clearance policies to those of other states and to learn about best practices.