The stories below highlight a few directly impacted people who are involved in Clean Slate work across the country. Take a few moments to read through their stories and learn more about the impact of redemption… because it’s about much #MoreThanSecondChances.

To truly become people-centric, government agencies, organizations, and employers must humanize the hiring process. This means reflecting on the barriers faced by many and taking actionable steps to dismantle these obstacles. Policy changes are a start, but the real test is in their implementation. Learn more in this blog post from Sha Shikhmuradova, CSI’s Director of Talent and Culture.

The Clean Slate Initiative’s mission includes not only passing Clean Slate policies but also ensuring they are implemented so that automatic record clearance becomes a reality for millions of people in America. While clearing arrest and conviction records can include technical hurdles, those hurdles aren’t insurmountable — especially with the right people at the table.

That’s why The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) is pulling together the right mix of experts to learn how to address any implementation hurdles and build upon learnings from states as we go. One of those valued partnerships is with Code for America.

On Friday, March 29, President Biden issued a proclamation declaring April 2024 as Second Chance Month. This year’s proclamation comes after CSI’s team has been in direct contact with the White House, advocating for Clean Slate at the federal level. Learn more in this blog post by Reginald Darby, Federal Legislative Director.

As part of CSI’s ongoing recognition of WHM, we hosted a webinar titled "Celebrating Women's History Month: Trailblazers and Triumphs." The webinar allowed me to facilitate a pivotal discussion surrounding the legal system reform and solutions provided by automatic record clearance. Learn more and tune in to the webinar in this blog post by Sheena Meade, CEO.

In a breakthrough for public policy creation, a new data model unveiled by The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) offers detailed insights into the crisis of arrest and conviction records in America. The data model powers The CSI Data Dashboard, which presents data visualizations and population estimates for people in the U.S. impacted by arrest and conviction records, with data further broken down by race, ethnicity, sex, and type of record within each state and over time.

We’re launching a one-of-its-kind data dashboard that provides state-specific data about records and the impacts of record clearance policies. Learn more in this blog post by Dr. Laura Chavez, Director of Research and Data.

The Clean Slate Initiative (CSI) continues to advance Clean Slate at the federal level in 2024 — and part of our strategy for that advancement is relationship building on the Hill. Learn more in this blog post by Reginald Darby, Federal Legislative Director.

Today is International Women’s Day, an annual moment to deeply reflect on women's contributions to shaping our lives, communities, and country. There is no limit to the number of women who have contributed to reforming our nation’s legal system, and we’ve highlighted a handful in this blog post from Sheena Meade, CEO.

Following the Maryland Clean Slate coalition’s official launch in early January, the state partners were hard at work pushing progress forward. At the end of January, the Maryland Clean Slate Act of 2024 was introduced in both chambers with bipartisan support and strong legislative champions. Learn more about the bills, and the Maryland campaign, in this blog post from Ryan Ewing, Campaign Strategist.

At CSI, we are committed to bridging the gap between academic research related to our work and the real-life implications our work has. Learn how we bridge that gap by funding rigorous research — and acting on the results — in this blog post by Dr. Laura Chavez, Director of Research & Data.

January is National Poverty Awareness Month, a time dedicated to shining the light on those living in poverty and how our society can help identify solutions that could break the poverty cycle. Clean Slate policies offer a tangible solution to break this cycle. Read more in this blog post by Reginald Darby, CSI Federal Legislative Director.

Connecticut’s Clean Slate law, signed by Governor Ned Lamont in 2021, was initially slated to go into effect last year but faced unexpected delays that caused the full implementation to be pushed to 2024. Now the state’s Clean Slate implementation is moving forward. Learn more in this blog post by Caitlin Dunklee, CSI Campaign Strategist.

The Pennsylvania state legislature passed HB 689, legislation that builds on the state’s groundbreaking 2018 Clean Slate law by expanding access to second-chance opportunities for people with felony convictions. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support and was immediately signed into law earlier today by Governor Josh Shapiro.

Our team put together this year’s annual report to provide our donors, supporters, allies, and partners with a comprehensive and interactive overview of the work we tackled in 2023. Read more in this end of year recap from our CEO, Sheena Meade.

Clean Slate Delaware has created a resource to help adults with Delaware records navigate their path to a brighter future. Clean Slate Delaware’s expungement hub is a brand new resource sharing all the current & upcoming details on how to obtain an expungement of an arrest or conviction record in the state of Delaware. Learn more in this blog post from Ryan Ewing, CSI Campaign Strategist.

“It’s officially the season widely recognized for gratitude, so I want to take this opportunity to extend my thanks to every person who makes Clean Slate progress possible.” Read more in this note from our CEO, Sheena Meade.

Start spreading the news. New York’s on its way. And while the song that says, “If I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere,” is referring to New York City, the same determined spirit is held by people across the Empire State - from Buffalo to Long Island, Brooklyn to the Plattsburg, and everywhere in between…

“After years of sustained advocacy and strong public demand, New York is on the path to ensuring that a past mistake will not forever foreclose the opportunity for people to build a better life for themselves and their families.

“Soon, millions of New Yorkers will no longer be defined by their records…

It might be spooky season, but automatic record sealing isn’t a scary topic. Read more from Chelsea Murphy, Campaign Strategist.