The Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative (CJEI) was established to improve employment outcomes for justice-involved individuals, assist employers in rethinking their approach to hiring, engage in research to study reentry practices, and influence policy makers and legislators on criminal justice reform. 

The CJEI analyzes and proposes best practices on the issues of evaluating candidates with criminal records, employment of justice-involved individuals, criminal records education, and occupational licensing. Its work has included national conferences, focus groups, educational public programs, direct training of individuals with criminal records, employers and advocates, outreach, and the development of resources including web-based information available to the public. 

A Summer Fellow will conduct research of federal, state, and local laws related to the employment of people with criminal records to just state and local laws.  Topics include: The Fair Credit Reporting Act; Ban the Box laws; Title VII Legislation; Sealing and Expungement Laws; Occupational Licensing Requirements; Federal Bonding programs; and negligent hiring. 

A Summer Fellow will work closely with the CJEI team to assist with other CJEI projects, which may include assisting with the design of educational materials; obtaining research consent; and measuring training outcomes.  Work also may include preparing materials and conducting research for community training; researching funding opportunities; providing background research for potential forums/conferences for employers, advocates, legislators and policy makers to discuss issues related to expanding employment opportunities for justice-involved individuals; updating a database of reentry partners and organizations.

Additionally, the CJEI team is expanding awareness of our work via traditional and social media. A Summer fellow may work with the CJEI team to develop content for videos and articles for our website and social media platforms, provide research and analysis on the best ways of reaching specific population demographics, and strategizing on creating effective media outreach.