JPMorgan Chase recently brought to Phoenix its Second Chance program, previously launched in Chicago and Columbus. Operating in collaboration with Phoenix-based nonprofits to provide career coaching and more, the community-based hiring model Phoenix will help remove barriers for qualified people with criminal backgrounds to secure employment at JPMorgan Chase — if their histories fit within industry regulatory guidelines and their criminal backgrounds have no bearing on the job requirements — further building an inclusive hiring pipeline.
Says Mike Cunningham, managing director and an operations executive for JPMorgan Chase in Phoenix, “In our market, we hire customer-facing operational jobs such as credit card collection and credit card lending. Once they get their foot in the door [as employees], then the sky’s the limit to expand and make it a career.”
For its application process, JPMorgan Chase is proactively “banning the box” on job applications and removing all questions about criminal backgrounds from job applications. “This allows them to have a fair review for the job,” explains Monique Baptiste, who leads Chase’s firmwide Second Chance efforts. “Once they get a conditional offer, we add the regulatory requirement of background checks.” The offense is evaluated to see if it meets the FDIC’s “minimus threshold” of what is permissible in the banking industry. This, she notes, is what makes having a legal aid partner a critical piece of the program. “Applicants have assistance in how to make their case and put their best foot forward to explain why their history does not pose a risk to the firm.”
As of February, 10% of new JPMorgan Chase employees in the U.S. — more than 2,100 in 2020 — are Second Chance hires.
In April last year, the firm joined a group of major employers and national organizations to launch the Second Chance Business Coalition as part of its commitment to give people with criminal backgrounds a second chance by supporting their reentry into the workforce, community and local economies. The SCBC has grown to include about 40 companies from across industries that are dedicated to second chance hiring and career advancement.
Policymakers and businesses increasingly recognize that providing education, skills training and employment opportunities to people with arrest or conviction histories helps reduce recidivism, and, with people connected to a job instead of re-offending, this increases public safety, builds stronger communities and strengthens the economy. And studies bear out the benefit to the employer: higher rates of retention than in the general workforce, as these employees demonstrate a real passion for employers who gave them that second chance.
Chase’s partnership with a legal aid partner offers opportunity beyond its own firm. “Applicants also have the opportunity to work with a legal partner to get an FDIC waiver — the FDIC’s process to have this person’s criminal background, essentially, waived for them to continue to have opportunity in any company within the banking industries,” says Baptiste. “We’ve really invested in the knowledge of our legal aid partners to prepare and empower these applicants to put their best foot forward and remove all these legal blocks that may come in down the line as they’re continuing to move in their career.”
Did You Know: As part of its Second Chance program, providing job opportunities for people with a criminal background, JPMorgan Chase in Phoenix is collaborating with St. Joseph the Worker, Arouet Foundation, Friendly House, Maricopa County Smart Justice Program, Fresh Start Women’s Foundation, Hope Lives and Community Legal Services to provide these job seekers with key resources, such as legal services, job search support and mentorship.
