Side note:
Emotional music plays.
On screen:
This video shows a diverse group of people who speak from an artists' studio with hardwood floors. Each person holds legal documents
Text on screen:
1 in 3 Americans have a criminal record.
On screen:
A woman with long braided hair and brown eyes speaks to us:
Woman With Long Braided Hair and Brown Eyes:
I was a 19-year-old kid, I had never been in trouble before.
On screen:
A woman with long brown hair and green eyes, speaks:
Woman With Long Brown Hair and Green Eyes:
18 years old, just smoking weed in the dorms.
On screen:
A man with slicked-back dark hair and hazel eyes:
Man With Slicked-Back Dark Hair and Hazel Eyes:
Now I had a permanent record, and I had to deal with that.
Text on screen:
But even after they've paid their debt, their sentence continues.
On screen:
A man with short black hair and brown eyes:
Man With Short Black Hair and Brown Eyes:
I couldn't vote, I couldn't be a taxi cab driver…
On screen:
The woman with braided hair:
Woman With Long Braided Hair and Brown Eyes:
You don't get housing opportunities…
On screen:
A bald man with a thick salt-and-pepper beard:
Bald Man With A Thick Salt-and-Pepper Beard:
Me trying to get jobs...
Side note:
He heaves a heavy sigh.
Bald Man With A Thick Salt-and-Pepper Beard:
...It followed me.
On screen:
The hazel-eyed man:
Man With Slicked-Back Dark Hair and Hazel Eyes:
I began to go through this expungement process and every step costs money, every step takes time.
On screen:
A woman with straight blonde hair and brown eyes speaks to us:
Woman With Straight Blonde Hair and Brown Eyes:
It can cost upwards of $10,000 per case.
On screen:
The man with short black hair:
Man With Short Black Hair and Brown Eyes:
Do I have the means to do it? Do I need an attorney?
On screen:
A man with blue eyes and a goatee speaks to us, clutching his legal documents.
Man With Blue Eyes and A Goatee:
and all you are is paperwork.
On screen:
A montage shows people putting hundreds of legal documents into stacks. A close-up shows a Department of Public Safety Request to Seal Criminal Justice Information.
Text on screen:
To highlight this issue, J.P. Morgan Chase turned millions of legal docu-ments into The Waiting Workforce.
On screen:
Outside of the National Constitution Center building, The Waiting Workforce Installation is displayed in a large room with glass walls. It consists of dozens of life-sized figures made from the stacks of legal paperwork. The hazel-eyed man:
Man With Slicked-Back Dark Hair and Hazel Eyes:
When I actually walked up to this piece and I see all these people faceless and nameless… I look at that sculpture and I say "that is me". I feel like one of these people who's constantly waiting.
On screen:
At the exhibition, the man with short black hair looks at the figures and then speaks:
Man With Short Black Hair and Brown Eyes:
I'm like, those are people burdened by mountains of documents, mountains of paper.
Text on screen: We made 38 statues, one for each state that has yet to pass Clean Slate legislation.
On screen:
A montage shows the different speakers in this video visiting The Waiting Workforce installation. The dark-haired woman:
Woman With Long Brown Hair and Green Eyes:
For me, Clean Slate legislation would mean a new lease on life…
On screen:
The woman with blonde hair:
Woman With Straight Blonde Hair and Brown Eyes:
Educational opportunities, employment opportunities, housing opportunities… It would be life changing.
Text on screen: These laws would clear eligible records, helping millions get back to work and adding up to $87 billion annually to the US economy.
On screen:
A montage showss the legal documents and then the statues that were assembled from those documents. Now, the man with hazel eyes:
Man With Slicked-Back Dark Hair and Hazel Eyes:
It touches you very deeply to understand that there is maybe a light at the end of the tunnel.
On screen:
The woman with braided hair:
Woman With Long Braided Hair and Brown Eyes:
Yeah, my second chance, it's definitely coming.
On screen:
The bearded man:
Bald Man With A Thick Salt-and-Pepper Beard:
Might have done some wrong. Doesn't mean that you can't change and do some right.
On screen:
This video ends showing the Waiting Workforce installation in front of the National Constitution Center museum.
Text on screen:
The Waiting Workforce. Commissioned by JPMorgan Chase. JPMC is committed to second chances. 10% of our new hires are people with past records. Make Second Chances Happen. JPMor-ganChase.com/WaitingWorkforce.
Side note:
Legal disclosures:
Text on screen:
Participants compensated.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, na-tional origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.
Copyright 2024 JPMorgan Chase and Co.
All rights reserved.
END
JPMorganChase is helping remove barriers to employment for people with criminal records. Together, we can make second chances happen.
Even after they’ve fulfilled their justice system obligations, many still face significant barriers to finding meaningful employment.
The complex paperwork needed to clear their records keeps millions of people from supporting their families and communities—and it costs the US up to $87 billion a year in economic growth.
To create awareness for this opportunity, we commissioned an art installation using the same legal paperwork to create 38 statues representing each state that has yet to enact Clean Slate legislation. The installation appeared in Independence Mall in Philadelphia in April 2024 before moving to our Madison Ave. headquarters in New York City.
Clean Slate legislation establishes a framework for automatically sealing or clearing eligible criminal records, opening opportunities for more people to enter the workforce. It was first enacted in the state of Pennsylvania.
Learn more about how to create more opportunities for this Waiting Workforce.
JPMorganChase is helping remove barriers to employment for those with eligible criminal records—with our own second chance approach in hiring and encouraging more employers to do the same, and by supporting common-sense policy solutions, like Clean Slate legislation.
By creating an environment where a fresh start is possible, our goal is to create greater economic opportunity for more people. This can reduce recidivism, improve safety and strengthen the economy, and help individuals, families and communities thrive.
Learn more about JPMorganChase’s second chance efforts.
“When big organizations get involved, it means that not only myself, but others will actually get their second chance. And that's huge.”
“It's crazy to think of how many people have been held back and what they could have accomplished in America and the world.”
Working with organizations like the Clean Slate Initiative, JPMorganChase supports common-sense legislation at the state and federal levels to automatically clear eligible records once justice system obligations have been fulfilled. These laws streamline the process of expunging eligible records and boost employment opportunities.
Learn more about the Clean Slate Initiative.
JPMorganChase is a founding member of the Second Chance Business Coalition, a group of more than 50 large private-sector companies dedicated to providing career pathway opportunities for people with criminal records.
Learn more about the ways businesses can help give people a second chance and help their companies grow.
JPMorganChase commissioned art collective The Glue Society to develop the installation. We chose the site in front of Philadelphia's historic Independence Hall to recognize Pennsylvania as the first state to enact Clean Slate legislation.
The Waiting Workforce installation was available for public viewing in April 2024 in Philadelphia, Penn., before moving to our headquarters in New York City.