I am finishing up my Bachelors degree this summer and planning to apply to EDS programs in School Psychology in Illinois. I am a misdemeanor of theft on my record from a one time horrible life decision last year which has led me to the field of psychology. I want to know if it is still possible to get a job in a school with this on my record. I am not sure who to contact to ask this question. I went to counseling for a year after the incident which has made me want to pursue a career in counseling. If anyone has any experience or helpful information I would appreciate it. I am scared I would be able to get licensed but, not able to get a job in a school or hospital.
School Psychologist criminal background
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As a rule, using psychopathology or prior mental health treatment as your reason for applying to graduate school is usually a red flag. I would say that a lot depends on your actual offense and how competitive you are as an applicant. If it's against you and applicant XYZ, and you both have similar backgrounds and accomplishments, but you have a criminal background and XYZ does not, then I think it's a safe bet that they'd offer XYZ the spot. If I remember correctly, there was a pretty lengthy thread about this topic recently.
I would consult a lawyer. A job isn't the only thing you have to worry about with a record; you also need to worry about internship because many sites conduct background checks
Yes, I have a lawyer and still received a misdemeanor conviction. I am highly interested and passionate about working in mental health. Will a misdemeanor prevent me from working in schools in Illinois. My conviction is not related to children, drugs, or abuse which are listed as automatic determinants in Illinois. I understand I would have a lot of explaining to do. I feel as though I could get into a program but, my main concern is internship placement and actually getting a job at a school.
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You would want to look at the admissions process at each place. Perhaps some do background checks and some don't. I'm not sure, but that seems an important place to start. If you did have a conviction, I'd imagine you'll have an opportunity to explain yourself.
I have no idea when it comes to working in schools. Good question for your lawyer. The fact that your offense was theft might make it less problematic IMO, but I have no idea. I'd also imagine the recency of the conviction would be a major factor - last year vs. 10 years ago is a huge difference.
FWIW, I know of at least two people who did have criminal records that were able to get into psychology PhD programs. Both of them were very passionate about doing work to help prevent crime among youth and they find mentors that were willing to take them. They also both had been crime free for quite awhile before applying.
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just consult an atty to get it expunged.
In practice, you will have verifiable evidence of why your opinion should be discounted. This might not sound like much, but to any legal counsel it will be.
You can explain until you are blue in the face. But getting rid of it would be a much better use of your time.
If you are willing to drop 40k to get the degree, another 5k to get your record expunged.
In practice, you will have verifiable evidence of why your opinion should be discounted. This might not sound like much, but to any legal counsel it will be.
You can explain until you are blue in the face. But getting rid of it would be a much better use of your time.
If you are willing to drop 40k to get the degree, another 5k to get your record expunged.
The state the conviction was in requires 8 years to pass before getting it expunged, so that will not help me for quite some time. I am applying to schools and eventually jobs that are in a different state from which the conviction is in which, probably will not make a difference. Most masters school psych programs do not do criminal background checks until before you start your internships. If I can not get into an internship then I do not want to waste my time in the program is the thing. I would love to work in an urban school district to help with crime prevention in school systems. The crime will have been 1 year old when I apply and 4 years old by the time I apply for jobs. I do not want to use the fact the fact that the counseling I received from an amazing psychologist to be my motivating factor of applying to programs. I would like to turn my poor life decision into something positive by learning how to prevent crime in our youth.
Are you certain that an EdS in school psychology is the best fit for your goals? The reason I ask is because you mention that your main goal is to pursue a career in counseling. Then why not pursue a counseling degree? You can receive training in counseling in a school psychology EdS program but the main foci of EdS programs are assessment and consultation. Although there are some school psychology jobs primarily involve counseling (typically when working in a setting with a high concentration of children with emotional and behavioral disorders), the vast majority of school psychology positions at the EdS level primarily involve assessment and consultation.
I'm not saying this to discourage you from the field - if assessment and consultation are activities that you are eager about, then great, school psychology would fit your goals.
I will mention that I have completed practica in two school districts and both required background checks, which is probably standard practice not only in school practica but also non-school practica. So it's not only internship or job seeking you need to worry about - it's completing practica. Granted I'm not sure what the schools' criteria were for excluding practicum students from working in their district.
I'm not saying this to discourage you from the field - if assessment and consultation are activities that you are eager about, then great, school psychology would fit your goals.
I will mention that I have completed practica in two school districts and both required background checks, which is probably standard practice not only in school practica but also non-school practica. So it's not only internship or job seeking you need to worry about - it's completing practica. Granted I'm not sure what the schools' criteria were for excluding practicum students from working in their district.
There are ways to use this life experience productively and starting now to give this a meaningful narrative (even if you get the record expunged) just makes sense. Learning to talk and write about what you learned in the process can actually become a viable essay or at least a response to applications (like internship) that will ask about legal record. I know of a candidate who I had a much more serious arrest record and completed a PhD clinical program and got an Ivy League internship. She wrote clearly and confidently about how the experience had shaped her life and led her into the field. I am sure some sites used it as an opt out...but she had multiple interviews and landed in her top choice so don't be deterred.
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I agree with what docma said. Being open about your experience, in the long term, is probably the best thing to do. Will you get scapegoated and possibly passed up from some programs because of your offense? Quite likely. But do you really want to be in a program that does not accept you for who you are? Also, I would keep in mind that this is a doctoral clinical psych forum - getting into an EDS program is far less competitive than a phd in clinical psych, so keep that in mind when reading some of the responses on this thread (as well intentioned as the posters are, I am not sure writing about your reason for entering the field regarding an EDS school psych program is quite the red herring as it can be in a clinical psych phd program). Good luck!
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I would directly contact whichever organization does teacher/educator licensing in Illinois (just Google teacher licensing and it should pop up) and ask them about this directly--at my school psych program, we had to register and complete a background check with my state's version of this organization before setting foot on campus in order to be authorized to do practica in the schools. If they say you're good to go, I'd go ahead and apply, though be aware that some applications will ask you to briefly explain your conviction.
