School News

Any organization that wants a building permit is often required to prove that its construction project won’t hurt the environment.But little consideration has been given to how policies and legislation – such as those related to employment – will affect the mental health of a community’s residents.

That’s the impetus behind a first-of-its-kind investigation by the Institute on Social Exclusion (ISE) at Chicago’s Adler School of Professional Psychology. The institute is examining a proposed amendment to the current federal policy guidance on the use of arrest records in employment decisions—regardless of whether the arrest leads to a conviction—and the far-reaching ramifications of that practice for low-income, especially minority, communities.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is revising its policy guidance on the use of arrest records in employment decisions, arguing that such use may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act especially when those records are used to disproportionately eliminate minority job applicants and are not relevant to the applicants’ ability to perform specific jobs.

Currently, employers often ask job applicants about arrest records, effectively depressing employment in many minority communities. In July, the EEOC started taking public comments on the issue.

“Because minorities have higher arrest rates than other groups, the proposed amendment could have substantial effects on these populations,’’ said Lynn Todman, Ph.D., executive director of the Adler School’s ISE.

In its ground-breaking Mental Health Impact Assessment (MHIA), working closely with the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, the ISE is assessing the possible effects of the proposed amendment on the mental health and well-being of residents in Englewood, a low-income, largely African-American Chicago community. A significant number of Englewood residents have arrest records, many of which do not result in conviction.

For decades, environmental impact assessments (EIA) have been required for many projects such as large manufacturing, transportation or construction projects that have the potential to affect the natural environment. EIAs generate information intended to help mitigate potentially adverse consequences.  While the EIAs theoretically look at all facets of the environment, in reality health is often overlooked.

To address the oversight, public health practitioners have worked in partnership with urban planners to implement Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) that determine the likely impact of proposed public projects, programs, legislation and policy on population health.

Current HIA practice focuses overwhelmingly on assessing physical health impacts. The Adler School’s ISE is advancing HIA practice by more rigorously integrating mental health considerations through the creation of an MHIA.

Partnering with several Englewood community groups that have established ties with the Adler School, the ISE is conducting focus groups, individual interviews and surveys among residents. The information will be combined with the results of a review of literature on the mental health effects of long-term unemployment, violence, homelessness and other neighborhood conditions to determine the likely mental health implications of the EEOC’s proposed amendment. The results will be used to inform development of an advocacy agenda.

Although Illinois law prohibits employers from asking about arrest records on job applications, job seekers report that the subject of an arrest can come up in interviews.

“In some communities, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, it’s pretty easy to get arrested,” Todman said. “And, an arrest that doesn’t result in conviction is generally not a good indicator of how well a person will do on a job – even though it is used as such. Using arrest records as a basis for employment decisions poses a serious barrier to employment, especially in those communities where arrests happen easily and frequently.”

Todman said policymakers must understand the mental health implications of their decisions, especially in a context of shrinking funding for mental health. “We simply cannot afford to make the kinds of mistakes we have made in the past by instituting laws and policies that harm the psychological health and well-being of people,” she said.

“We have fewer and fewer resources to rectify any harm done. With respect to the revision in EEOC policy guidance, legislators and policy makers need to be aware of the depression, anxiety, stress and other mental health problems associated with long-term unemployment and how those outcomes can translate to a series of family, community and, ultimately, societal problems and dysfunction.”

The ISE already has used preliminary MHIA findings to inform recent public comment to the EEOC on its proposed policy guidance revision. “In the letter, we state that based on our assessment the revision is likely to have a positive impact on the collective mental health and well-being of communities like Englewood, where a large number of people have arrest records often with no subsequent criminal conviction,” Todman said.

Adler School officials point out that government decisions can improve or worsen the mental health of communities. Todman cites the example of the construction of high-rise public housing in Chicago as a situation that took a huge mental toll on residents because planners did not adequately consider the livability of huge, concrete silos. The MHIA is intended to help public officials ensure that their decisions support population mental health and promote mental health equity.

The MHIA, which will continue through June 2012, is being funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Adler School of Professional Psychology, established in 1952, is the oldest independent psychology school in North America. The Adler School continues the pioneering work of Alfred Adler by graduating socially responsible practitioners, engaging communities, and advancing social justice. Offering 11 graduate level programs, the Adler School enrolls more than 1,000 students at its campuses in Chicago and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Contact:
Kim McCullough
Director of Communications
Adler School of Professional Psychology
312-662-4124
kmccullough@adler.edu