Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration is exploring a change through which the state employment process would no longer ask job seekers filling out on an initial application if they have been convicted of a crime.
This change makes sense.
Removing that initial hurdle could mean more employment opportunities for Arizonans who have a criminal conviction and have trouble finding work because they are automatically sifted out of the applicant pool.
The Arizona job application now asks: Have you ever been convicted of any crime, even if set aside or expunged? Yes/No
If the answer is yes, the applicant is required to fill out the date, jurisdiction, disposition and location for any felony, misdemeanor or serious driving offenses.
On the application the criminal background check comes before education, training, certification and employment history.
Eliminating that question from the initial application — or “banning the box” — would widen the group of experienced job seekers applying for state positions.
It’s already in place in Tucson, Tempe and Phoenix for municipal jobs. President Obama removed the question from federal job applications in 2016.
The goal is to remove roadblocks to employment that people with convictions typically face — even if their sentence was suspended, or they paid a fine and weren’t incarcerated.
Ducey has rightly been focused on reducing recidivism, and this change would support that effort.
People with convictions, even those from years ago, often have a difficult time finding a job and can’t afford housing — which makes it more likely they will re-offend.
This change would not mean that convicted criminals would be driving school buses or that the question about criminal history would never be asked.
A person must pass a Department of Public Safety background check to receive the fingerprint card required to work in schools or state jobs that involve interacting with children.
An applicant would have to answer the conviction question further along in the hiring process —after the potential candidate has been evaluated for his or her qualifications and experience.
The city of Tucson, for example, does a background check only once a person is a finalist for a position.
Ducey’s spokesman, Daniel Scarpinato, told the Arizona Capitol Times that, “We have a real commitment to reducing recidivism,” he said.
We encourage Ducey to nix the conviction question on the application.
Doing so doesn’t give people a pass, but a chance.
