Giving People with Criminal Backgrounds a Second Chance

Giving People with Criminal Backgrounds a Chance to Participate in the Economy

Advancing Inclusive Growth and Opportunity

Giving people with criminal backgrounds a second chance

JPMorgan Chase is advancing a public policy agenda to reduce employment barriers,

making new philanthropic investments to support career development and financial health,

and enhancing our own hiring strategy.

Giving People with Criminal Backgrounds a Second Chance

JPMorgan Chase is committed to giving people with arrest or conviction histories

a second chance by supporting their reentry into the workforce, communities,

and local economies. One in three working-age adults has an arrest or conviction

record,

creating significant barriers to employment and economic opportunity

for a substantial number of Americans.

Policymakers and businesses increas-

ingly recognize that providing education, skills training, and employment op-

portunities to people with arrest or conviction histories helps reduce recidivism,

increase public safety, build stronger communities, and strengthen the economy.

JPMorgan Chase is reducing barriers to employment and economic opportunity

for people with criminal backgrounds through its hiring practices, its philanthro-

py, and by advocating for federal and state policy changes.

SECOND CHANCE HIRING

JPMorgan Chase is committed to second chance hiring and “banned the box” to help ensure

that qualified applicants with criminal backgrounds receive the same consideration as any other

applicant, when their record has no bearing on job requirements. Roughly 10 percent of the firm’s

new hires annually in the U.S. are people with criminal backgrounds in roles that do not impact the

financial system. New and more robust processes are being put in place for reviewing applicants

with criminal histories to ensure both that they receive full consideration and that they can be hired

without presenting undue risk to our employees, customers, or the general public. Additionally,

JPMorgan Chase works with community partners to establish recruiting channels for individuals

whose histories fit within industry regulatory guidelines, and share best practices with other

financial institutions and businesses that choose to adopt fair chance hiring policies.

POLICY AND ADVOCACY AGENDA

JPMorgan Chase supports federal and state policy changes to reduce barriers to employment,

and increase hiring for people with arrest or conviction backgrounds. Over 600,000 people are

released each year from prison

and there are roughly 5 million formerly incarcerated people in

the U.S. with an unemployment rate estimated at 27 percent,

which is significantly higher than the

national unemployment rate.

Leaving this many people out of the workforce weakens the economy

and contributes to financial insecurity. JPMorgan Chase’s goal is to drive policies that enable more

people to have opportunities for a fresh start at life.

OVER

people are

600k

released each

year from prison

In the U.S.,

there are roughly

FIVE MILLION

formerly incarcerated

people .

with an

unemployment

rate estimated at

27%

10%

new JPMorgan Chase hires annually

in the U.S. are people with criminal

backgrounds in roles that do not

impact the financial system

Giving People with Criminal Backgrounds a Chance to Participate in the Economy

THE JPMORGAN CHASE SECOND CHANCE OPPORTUNITIES PUBLIC POLICY AND ADVOCACY AGENDA INCLUDES:

Reforming Financial Services Industry Hiring Rules: The Federal

Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) limits ﬁnancial institutions’ ability to hire

people with speciﬁc types of conviction records unless the agency issues

a waiver, which relatively few candidates pursue because waivers can be

time consuming and expensive.

JPMorgan Chase supports reforms to

FDIA Section 19 rules that will increase access to employment for aected

workers, while maintaining the safety and soundness of the nation’s de-

pository institutions.

Learn more 

Restoring Pell Grants: The Violent Crime

Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994

included a ban on providing Pell Grants to

incarcerated individuals—roughly 463,000

are currently eligible

—despite evidence that

access to post-secondary education in prison

reduces recidivism, lowers government spend-

ing on prisons, and leads to higher rates of employment and increased

earnings post incarceration.

JPMorgan Chase supports restoring access

to Pell Grants for people in prison in order to help ensure that they have

greater opportunity to ﬁnd employment after their release.

463k

incarcerated people

would be eligible for

Pell Grants if the ban

were lifted

Learn more 

Fair Chance Hiring: Disclosing arrest or

conviction records on an initial employment

application reduces the likelihood of callbacks

and job oers from potential employers by

almost half.

Qualiﬁed applicants are too often

disregarded even if an individual’s background

has no bearing on job requirements. Moreover, asking for the disclosure of

arrest or conviction records on job applications disproportionally impacts

communities of color, as research shows that black men with records

are less likely to get a call back compared to their white male peers.

JPMorgan Chase supports federal and state eorts to limit employers’

ability to ask applicants about their criminal histories or to delay criminal

background checks until after applicants have been given a conditional

oer of employment.

27%

the unemployment

rate of formerly

incarcerated people

Learn more 

formerly incarcerated people, a number of states and localities have

enacted laws to automate record clearing for certain eligible oenses, in-

cluding using technology to identify records, automatically clear records,

and notify individuals of the record clearing. JPMorgan Chase supports

federal and state level eorts to enact and implement automatic record

clearing to streamline the process and make it easier for individuals to

move on from their records. Automatic record clearing could regain bil-

lions in economic activity lost due to disruption and loss of education, job

opportunities, professional licensing, housing, and more. One study has

shown that wages rise by 20 percent for those whose records are cleared.

“Clean Slate” Record Clearing: Having an

arrest or conviction record increases the like-

lihood that a person will face joblessness.

The

process of record clearing and expungement,

which many states allow for crimes committed

as a juvenile and for most misdemeanors,

is time consuming and costly, leading to an extremely low uptake rate.

One study found that only six and a half percent of those legally eligible

for expungement obtained it.

To reduce barriers to employment among

20%

increase in wages for

those whose records

are cleared

Learn more 

Reforming Fines and Fees in the Justice

System: The use of ﬁnes and fees in the

criminal justice system requires people to pay

sometimes thousands of dollars, with interest

and late fees, or face penalties including

incarceration. Millions of people in the U.S.

are burdened by more than $25 billion owed as a result of ﬁnes for trac

tickets, misdemeanors, and felonies, as well as fees for probation services,

warrants, and even a public defender.

Driver’s license suspension is a

common penalty for unpaid ﬁnes and fees, which creates signiﬁcant

barriers to employment for millions of people.

Seventy-seven percent of

people drive to work

and nearly 30 percent of civilian jobs require driving

a vehicle.

JPMorgan Chase supports eorts to reform laws that suspend

drivers’ licenses for failure to pay ﬁnes and enact laws that right-size ﬁnes

and fees and alternative paths to compliance to help ensure that millions

of Americans can access workforce opportunities, improve their ﬁnancial

health and successfully reintegrate into their communities.

$25 BILLION

of criminal justice

debt owed by millions

of people

Learn more 

Entrepreneurship: People with arrest or con-

viction histories often face unique challenges

to ﬁnding employment, including employers

who are unwilling to hire someone with a

record and the inability to obtain higher wage

jobs. Providing support for people with arrest

or conviction histories through entrepre-

neurship and business training programs can

empower individuals to start a new business, reduce recidivism, and con-

tribute to the economic growth of their communities. More than a dozen

states oer entrepreneurship programs to provide education and training

in prison and post-release support services.

JPMorgan Chase supports

eorts at the state and federal level to expand entrepreneurship resources

that provide greater economic opportunities and mobility for people with

arrest or conviction histories and reduce recidivism.

OVER 12

states offer

entrepreneurship

programs to provide

education and training

services in prisons

Learn more 

Giving People with Criminal Backgrounds a Chance to Participate in the Economy

PHILANTHROPIC INVESTMENTS

In addition to working with community organizations to help identify a

pool of candidates who could qualify for jobs at JPMorgan Chase, the

firm is investing more than $7 million to help community organizations

in cities like Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, New York, Seattle, and

Wilmington, Delaware to connect people with arrest or conviction

histories to in-demand, well-paying jobs in other industries, to the

tools and resources they need to achieve their financial goals, and to

entrepreneurship training for small business owners.

INVESTING OVER

$7 MILLION

to help community

organizations in cities like

Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, New

York, Seattle, and Wilmington.

NOTES

1 Friedman, Matthew. “Just Facts: As Many Americans Have Criminal Records As

College Diplomas.” Brennan Center for Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/

blog/just-facts-many-americans-have-criminal-records-college-diplomas

2 Stacy, Christina and Mychal Cohen. “Ban the Box and Racial Discrimination:

A Review of the Evidence and Policy Recommendations.” Urban Institute.

https://www.urban.org/sites/default/ﬁles/publication/88366/ban_the_box_and_ra-

cial_discrimination.pdf

3 Bronson, Jennifer Ph.D. and E. Ann Carson, Ph.D. “Prisoners in 2017.” U.S.

Department of Justice, Oce of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics.

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p17.pdf

4 Couloute, Lucius and Daniel Kopf. “Out of Prison & Out of Work: Unemployment

Among Formerly Incarcerated People.” Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.

prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html

5 National Conference of State Legislatures. “National Employment Monthly Update.”

http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/national-employment-month-

ly-update.aspx

6 Clozel, Lalita. “Small-Time Crimes a Dealbreaker for Banking

Jobs.” Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/

small-time-crimes-a-dealbreaker-for-banking-jobs-11555851720

7 Vera Institute of Justice. “Investing in Futures: Economic and Fiscal Beneﬁts

of Postsecondary Education in Prison.” https://storage.googleapis.com/

vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/investing-in-futures-education-in-prison/

legacy_downloads/investing-in-futures-factsheet.pdf

8 Oakford, Patrick, Cara Brumﬁeld, Casey Goldvale, Laura Tatum, Margaret

diZerega, and Fred Patrick. “Investing in Futures: Economic and Fiscal Beneﬁts of

Postsecondary Education in Prison.” Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality.

Vera Institute of Justice. https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/down-

loads/Publications/investing-in-futures-education-in-prison/legacy_downloads/

investing-in-futures.pdf

9 Stacy, Christina and Mychal Cohen. “Ban the Box and Racial Discrimination A Review

of the Evidence and Policy Recommendations.” Urban Institute. https://www.urban.

org/sites/default/ﬁles/publication/88366/ban_the_box_and_racial_discrimination.pdf

10 Friedman, Matthew. “Just Facts: As Many Americans Have Criminal Records As

College Diplomas.” Brennan Center for Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/

blog/just-facts-many-americans-have-criminal-records-college-diplomas

JPMorgan Chase “banned the box” in 2018, and follows FDIC hiring rules and the

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidance on the use of arrest and

conviction histories.

Couloute, Lucius and Daniel Kopf. “Out of Prison & Out of Work: Unemployment

Among Formerly Incarcerated People.” Prison Policy Initiative.

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html

Chien, Colleen V. “The Second Chance Gap.” Michigan Law Review.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3265335

Selbin, Jerey, Justin McCrary, and Joshua Epstein. “Unmarked: Criminal Record

Clearing and Employment Outcomes Criminal Law/Criminology.” Berkeley Law

Scholarship Repository https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.

cgi?article=3934&context=facpubs

Fines and Fees Justice Center, data on ﬁle. https://ﬁnesandfeesjusticecenter.org/

16 Martin, Karin D., Sandra Susan Smith, and Wendy Still. “Shackled to Debt:

Criminal Justice Financial Obligations and the Barriers to Re-Entry They Create.”

Harvard Kennedy School and the National Institute of Justice.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdles1/nij/249976.pdf

Richter, Wolf. “Americans are Changing How they Commute

to Work.” Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/

americans-are-changing-how-they-commute-to-work-2018-9

Bureau of Labor Statistics. “30 Percent of Civilian Jobs Require Some Driving in

2016.” https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/30-percent-of-civilian-jobs-require-some-

driving-in-2016.htm

Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC). July 2018. “Impact Analysis of the Prison

Entrepreneurship Program.” http://icic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ICIC_PEP-

Impact-Analysis_ﬁnal_post.pdf

The JPMorgan Chase PolicyCenter develops and advances sustainable, evidence-based policy solutions to drive inclusive economic growth in

the U.S. and around the world. It is powered by the firm’s unique global business resources and expertise, including data, research, talent, and

philanthropic investments. The PolicyCenter works with policy, business, and community leaders to drive effective public policy solutions at all

levels of government.