How to Present Your Best Self: Proof of Rehabilitation

EXPUNGEMENTS, PARDONS, AND CERTIFICATES OF REHABILITATION*

If you have had your conviction expunged or pardoned, or you received a Certificate of Rehabilitation, give the employer a copy! Give them to the employer along with your completed job application or during your interview. (Important: Make sure you only give the employer a photocopy and keep the original documents for yourself.)

OTHER REHABILITATION DOCUMENTS

These include any certificates, diplomas, letters of recommendation, or other documents that show your accomplishments since your conviction, and that you have turned your life around for the better. Here are just some examples of things you can bring:

Certificates or diplomas for any programs that you completed while inside or after your release—e.g., vocational training and job skills, anger management, substance abuse, GED classes, etc.;

Letters of support from people who know you and can speak to your good character or work ethic—e.g., a former employer, pastor at your church, case manager or social worker, volunteer coordinator, or personal friend.

Certificates from any professional training or school courses you’ve completed;

Proof of other jobs or volunteer work that you’ve done since your conviction; and/or

Discharge papers from a rehabilitation facility.

For more suggestions about how to get evidence of rehabilitation, this guide can help you: How to Gather Evidence of Rehabilitation (Legal Action Center), available online at: http://lac.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/How_to_Gather_Evidence_of_
Rehabilitation_2013.pdf