Applying for Teach for America With a Felony Record
My question involves criminal records for the state of: Nevada
I was charged with possession and sale of heroin in Nevada in 2009 at the age of 21. I was also arrested as a juvenile for graffiti, and cited for alcohol possession as well when I was 17. I've since cleaned up and am now in CA, close to getting my BA, with hopes of becoming a teacher. I am applying to Teach for America, and they ask if I have any sort of criminal citations on my record. Here is what I know:
* I was charged, arraigned, released with a court appearance date- and then the case was completely dropped.
* One of my co-conspirators (is that the right word?) made a deal, and allegedly all of our charges were dropped
* I've had pretty limited involvement with LE since then, and am unsure of what shows up when my record is searched.
* I have had not any problems with this anywhere; it has never popped up since then.
Here are the questions I have:
* is there a way I can see what kind of information Teach for America can find regarding my past?
* what should I put on my application?
* is it possible that all of my charges etc. have completely disappeared?
Thank you for reading this, any advice is helpful.
Re: Felony with Regards to Teach for America
1. Not unless you know exactly what they use for their background checks.
2. Honesty.
3. They never disappear.
Re: Felony with Regards to Teach for America
Live Scan is a pretty good indication. Frankly, arrest records that don't result in convictions likely will miss most background checks. It is illegal to ask about arrests that didn't lead to convictions in California. It is also illegal to use information about such arrests in making hiring decisions for other than certain government jobs.