Policies and their implications for masters in social work students with criminal convictions

This study examined the policies of schools of social work within the California State University system regarding how they evaluate for admission and inform in-coming students with criminal convictions of the challenges they may face upon graduation. Data was collected through secondary sources and two online surveys, one for faculty of programs and one from currently enrolled and alumni students of those programs. Findings revealed that few programs have policies regarding students with criminal convictions, a small number of faculty were aware of those policies, and students did not feel informed of the challenges they would face upon graduation due to their criminal convictions.