Access Denied: Eliminating Barriers and Increasing Economic Opportunity for... (EventID=114089)

Video Description

Connect with the House Financial Services Committee Get the latest news: https://financialservices.house.gov/ Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HouseFinancialCmte Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FSCDems ___________________________________ On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. (ET) Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee Chairwoman Beatty and Ranking Member Wagner will host a hybrid hearing entitled, “Access Denied: Eliminating Barriers and Increasing Economic Opportunity for Justice-Involved Individuals." - - - - - - - - Witnesses for this one-panel hearing will be: • Sakira Cook, Sr. Director of the Justice Reform Program, The Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights • Jeffery Korzenik, Author, Untapped Talent • Dolfinette Martin, Housing Director, Operation Restoration • Melissa Sorenson, Executive Director of the Professional Background Screening Association • Marie Claire Tran-Leung, Director of Legal Impact Network, Shriver Center on Poverty Law Overview Nearly one in three U.S. adults has a prior arrest or conviction record. Justice-involved individuals are often confronted with collateral consequences, including barriers to securing housing, accessing credit, and finding employment. These consequences often follow people long after their involvement with the criminal justice system. Justice-involved individuals also have trouble accessing banking services, such as bank accounts and loans, because of a lack of appropriate identification, thin credit profiles, and discrimination based on one’s criminal record. Further, justice-involved individuals are often limited from working in the financial services industry depending on the nature of and length of time since their prior convictions. The employment barriers faced by this community cost the U.S. economy between $78 billion and $87 billion each year. Lack of housing and stable employment are risk factors for recidivism. This hearing will explore the myriad of challenges faced by those who are justice-involved and how such barriers disproportionately affect persons of color. Employment Barriers Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, returning citizens, or persons who were formerly incarcerated, faced a 27 percent unemployment rate in the U.S.—nearly five times higher than the unemployment rate of the public. The unemployment rate for Black women who are returning citizens and have a high school diploma or GED is 60%, and for Latinx women it is 47%; compared to 29% for White women. Partly in recognition of these inequities, there is broad bipartisan support to improve opportunities for employment for returning citizens at the state level. Thirty-six states have passed laws to “ban the box” for public employment on initial employment applications, and fourteen states expanded ban the box to private employment. The federal government will ban the box effective December 2021 for federal employment and contracting. Additionally, large banks and employers, such as J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America, have committed to ban the box. However, there are concerns that when employers ban the box, they then discriminate based on their perception of the likelihood that the applicant has a criminal record and therefore do not call back or hire young Black and Latinx men. Within the financial services industry, some progress has been made. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) revised their rules to better tailor background checks and open more opportunities in the banking sector. However, advocates recommend more improvements to reduce barriers while maintaining the safety and soundness of the nation’s depository institutions. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) requires new registering brokers to disclose information about certain criminal charges and convictions, including disclosure of all felony convictions and certain misdemeanor convictions on its U-4 form, all of which can potentially cause employers to discriminate against certain applicant brokers and limit diversity within the broker industry. In a comment letter to FINRA’s efforts to solicit feedback on diversity and inclusion within the broker-dealer community, members of the legal community iterated that many “securities industry firms will not consider anyone for employment who has a yes’ answer to the criminal charge disclosures, because of the fear that the firm will be expected to provide extra surveillance of those brokers, or that potential customers will avoid brokers with ‘yes’ disclosures.” The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has recommended that FINRA eliminate registration disqualifications for non-investment-related offenses and non-convictions, as well as limit disqualifications to investment-related convictions so that these disclosures do not stop the "pipeline of young and diverse talent from... Hearing page: https://financialservices.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=408304