[House Hearing, 115 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
MISSING FROM THE LABOR FORCE: EXAMINING DE-.
CLINING EMPLOYMENT AMONG WORKING-AGE MEN
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
__________
Serial No. 115-HR04
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Printed for the use of the Committee on Ways and Means
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__________
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COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS
KEVIN BRADY, Texas, Chairman
SAM JOHNSON, Texas RICHARD E. NEAL, Massachusetts
DEVIN NUNES, California SANDER M. LEVIN, Michigan
PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio JOHN LEWIS, Georgia
DAVID G. REICHERT, Washington LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas
PETER J. ROSKAM, Illinois MIKE THOMPSON, California
VERN BUCHANAN, Florida JOHN B. LARSON, Connecticut
ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska EARL BLUMENAUER, Oregon
LYNN JENKINS, Kansas RON KIND, Wisconsin
ERIK PAULSEN, Minnesota BILL PASCRELL, JR., New Jersey
KENNY MARCHANT, Texas JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York
DIANE BLACK, Tennessee DANNY DAVIS, Illinois
TOM REED, New York LINDA SANCHEZ, California
MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania BRIAN HIGGINS, New York
JIM RENACCI, Ohio TERRI SEWELL, Alabama
PAT MEEHAN, Pennsylvania SUZAN DELBENE, Washington
KRISTI NOEM, South Dakota JUDY CHU, California
GEORGE HOLDING, North Carolina
JASON SMITH, Missouri
TOM RICE, South Carolina
DAVID SCHWEIKERT, Arizona
JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana
CARLOS CURBELO, Florida
MIKE BISHOP, Michigan
David Stewart, Staff Director
Brandon Casey, Minority Chief Counsel
______
SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES
ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska, Chairman
JASON SMITH, Missouri DANNY DAVIS, Illinois
JACKIE WALORSKI, Indiana LLOYD DOGGETT, Texas
CARLOS CURBELO, Florida TERRI SEWELL, Alabama
MIKE BISHOP, Michigan JUDY CHU, California
DAVID G. REICHERT, Washington
TOM REED, New York
C O N T E N T S
__________
Page
Advisory of September 6, 2017 announcing the hearing............. 2
WITNESSES
Brent Orrell, Vice President, Family and Economic Stability, ICF
International, Inc............................................. 6
(Truth in Testimony)......................................... 11
Mike Henderson, President and CEO, ABC Baltimore................. 12
(Truth in Testimony)......................................... 20
Tyrone Ferrens, Graduate, Project JumpStart...................... 21
(Truth in Testimony)......................................... 25
Anthony Lowery, Director, Policy & Advocacy, Safer Foundation.... 26
(Truth in Testimony)......................................... 35
MISSING FROM THE LABOR FORCE: EXAMINING DECLINING EMPLOYMENT AMONG
WORKING-AGE MEN
----------
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Ways and Means,
Subcommittee on Human Resources,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m., in
Room 1100, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Adrian Smith
[chairman of the subcommittee] presiding.
[The Advisory announcing the hearing follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman SMITH. The subcommittee will come to order.
Good afternoon and welcome to today's hearing entitled
``Missing from the Labor Force: Examining Declining Employment
Among Working-Age Men.'' I know this is a priority topic for
the ranking member, Mr. Davis, and I appreciate his work on
this issue.
For decades, the focus of most of our government assistance
programs have been mothers and children living in poverty. In
these attempts to help single mothers with children we have
left out a key figure in the family--the father. Today, there
are more than 7 million working-age men in America who are not
working or looking for work. Unfortunately, this is not a new
phenomenon.
The large number of men not in the labor force is a trend
which has been growing for the past 50 years. In 1967, 96
percent of men were working or looking for a job. Today, it is
only 88 percent. And it is even worse for those men without a
high school diploma. An alarming 83 percent, or one in six men,
are out of work. While unemployment rates have been up and down
over the past 5 decades, inactivity among working-age men, ages
25 to 54, has only risen.
As Derek Thompson noted in The Atlantic in late 2014,
inactivity among men grew during the Carter, Reagan, Clinton,
and both Bush Administrations. It grew during the dot-com boom
and during the Great Recession. And most concerning, inactivity
among working-age men has grown more since the end of the Great
Recession than it did during the Great Recession itself.
This steady decline is most troubling because so few people
seem to be discussing it. There hasn't been great outrage or
debate; it's barely even been a topic of discussion. Yet, it
has a profound impact on our society, the economy, and the
individual and family well-being.
The U.S. ranks second to last in male labor force
participation when it comes to other OECD nations, ahead of
only Italy. American men who are not in the labor force report
spending less than 1 hour a day working or looking for work.
And it is not as if they are all of a sudden becoming the
primary caretakers at home. They are less likely than working
men to be caring for household members, such as children or
aging parents.
With a 4.4 percent unemployment rate, combined with more
than 6.2 million job openings--a historically high level as we
continue to grow the economy--now is the time to engage these
men and get them back in the workforce, for the benefit of
themselves as well as their families.
The economy is not the only major concern. This lack of
work also has growing impacts on family structure and our
society. Today, there are roughly 11 million fathers who do not
live with their children in the United States. Close to 25
percent of them have no earnings and, therefore, are unable to
support and care for their children. There are more than
600,000 sentenced prisoners nationwide released from prison
each year, many struggling to find work and frequently end up
offending again, costing taxpayers and hurting communities. And
there are more than 12 million adults who are able to work yet
are receiving food stamps with no reported earnings, up from
just 4 million in 2000, highlighting the growing dependency on
our public benefit programs.
In terms of child support alone, which this subcommittee
has jurisdiction over, we should consider looking at ways to
better connect non-working fathers to our already existing
workforce development system, and provide them with on-the-job
training and apprenticeships when available. We also should be
looking to make sure all of our benefit programs coordinate
with the child support system so families are getting the help
they need from the start.
While there is no single cause of the declining work among
men, there are a number of contributing factors: a lack of
training and credential completion, the rising prevalence of
criminal records, higher usage of opioids and a growing
dependency on public benefit programs. We know these men. They
are our fathers and our sons, our uncles and nephews, and
families all across this nation depend on them every day.
I am most excited to hear from Mr. Tyrone Ferrens, who has
turned his life around after a time of turmoil and is now
working as an electrician at TEI Electrical Solutions. He began
this work after attending an employer-led workforce development
program known as Project JumpStart. I am grateful to him for
sharing his story and helping our subcommittee gain a better
picture of the issue at hand.
Over this past year, the subcommittee has emphasized
hearing from individuals with real, first-hand experience with
the issues we are grappling with and attempting to reform day
in and day out, and I am glad Mr. Ferrens is here to give us
his perspective today. We have a lot to learn, and I am looking
forward to diving in.
And with that, I recognize Ranking Member Davis for his
opening statement.
Mr. DAVIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank you
for holding this hearing about the continuing decline in
working-age men in the labor force.
My heart breaks for the people in Texas and Louisiana
struggling to recover from Hurricane Harvey, and I look forward
to working with you on ways our subcommittee can help in the
recovery as well.
Although the decline of men in the labor force is partly
due to demographic factors such as age and health, I see every
day the structure barriers to work that face low-income men in
Chicago, especially African American men.
In Chicago, the unemployment rate for African American men
was 21.7 percent in 2015, more than triple the national
average. In 2014, nearly half of African American men between
the age of 20 and 24 in Chicago were disconnected from both
school and work. The educational opportunity gap is startling
in both urban and rural areas. In fact, we are hosting a large
event in Chicago this weekend to focus in part about ways to
overcome the structure barriers facing African American men.
These men desperately want to work, but they face multiple
barriers, like low levels of education and basic skills, health
and substance abuse problems, and mental health challenges, by
exposure to violence and trauma. Barriers that make work
challenging and sometimes impossible.
Many men also make mistakes and have made mistakes in the
past often due to addiction, and they paid for those mistakes,
but when they return to their communities after incarceration,
determined to do better, they encounter tremendous obstacles to
employment. These men need a fair shot, not a scarlet letter.
This hearing presents a chance for us to look for ways to
help hardworking men and women climb the economic ladder and
find good paying jobs to support themselves and their families.
The most powerful incentive to work is the opportunity to get a
good job. The most effective work requirement is access to a
job that lifts the worker and his or her family out of poverty.
Good paying jobs break the cycle of poverty and recidivism,
lifting communities and the overall economy.
To promote economic opportunity we can strengthen access to
education and training to ensure workers have the skills needed
to secure good jobs and that they have the right skills to work
in the changing economy. To promote economic opportunity we can
help fathers address the obstacles in their paths.
The Affordable Care Act increased access to healthcare that
parents need to address mental, physical, and addiction health
issues that can prevent work, and that is a good start. Newly
revised rules for child support enforcement increase fathers'
ability to provide financially for their children, but we could
do far more to help those fathers work.
Our Federal fatherhood programs help fathers play positive
roles in their families. But these grants reach only a small
share of those who need them, and they should also enhance
availability of job training. Further, we need to enact the
Family First Prevention Services Act, which would allow us to
address family substance abuse challenges and support family
members who step up to help, instead of waiting until the only
alternative is foster care.
If we shift our policies to address the structure barriers
and expand opportunities to supporting these individuals,
families, and communities, we can help these men climb the
ladder and secure meaningful career pathways to better support
their kids and families.
I look forward to working together to tackle these
structure barriers and promote economic opportunities. I thank
you again, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing, and I yield
back.
Chairman SMITH. Thank you to our ranking member. I
appreciate your statement.
I would like to welcome our witnesses to the table. First,
we have Mr. Brent Orrell, Vice President for Family and
Economic Stability at ICF International. Second, we have
Mr. Mike Henderson, President and CEO of the Associated
Builders and Contractors of Baltimore. Then we have Mr. Tyrone
Ferrens, as we referenced earlier, a recent graduate of Project
JumpStart. And finally, we have Mr. Anthony Lowery, Director of
Policy and Advocacy at the Safer Foundation.
Witnesses are reminded to limit their oral statements to 5
minutes. All of your written statements will be included in the
record. You will see the light indicator for a green, yellow,
and red. Fairly obvious. When you see that yellow light, you
might look to bring the flight in for a safe landing.
So we will begin with Mr. Orrell. You can begin when you
are ready.
STATEMENT OF BRENT ORRELL, VICE PRESIDENT, FAMILY AND ECONOMIC
STABILITY, ICF INTERNATIONAL, INC.
Mr. ORRELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
Davis, for inviting me here today. I am here to discuss a
report that I co-authored with Dr. Harry Holzer at Georgetown
University and Robert Doar of the American Enterprise Institute
on ``Getting Men Back to Work: Solutions from the Right and
Left.'' I want to thank the Chairman and the Ranking Member for
the excellent summary and introduction as to the problem at
hand. I am going to skip over another explanation of the
problem and instead talk about solutions to this problem.
If we want to reverse this downward spiral that we are
facing, in terms of availability and willingness to participate
in jobs, we need to look at three key areas, and I would like
to highlight those. First of all, building skills among men
seeking work, incentivizing job creation, and then focusing on
special populations.
To improve employment and wages among not-in-labor-force
males, it is vital to enhance skills in the form of
postsecondary credentials--including certifications and
associate degrees--using research validated sector-based
strategies that focus on high-growth, high-wage occupations.
This will require regionally focused, data driven employment
programs that align training with high-growth industries and
occupations. Congress should provide guidance to the
Departments of Education and Labor to expand sector-based
strategies in secondary, postsecondary, technical training
programs, and apprenticeships, as well as consider new
strategies to apply these specifically to out-of-workforce
males.
Second, Congress should review laws governing existing
public development finance instruments to expand employment
opportunities for disengaged workers through the use of
community benefit agreements, or CBAs. ICF has been working
with Sagamore Associates in Baltimore, Maryland to leverage a
CBA associated with the passage of a recent $525 million tax
increment financing package to create a robust project-specific
workforce development initiative.
Sagamore has committed to setting aside for Baltimore
residents 30 percent of the estimated 40,000 jobs this project
will generate, and this commitment is backed by $40 million in
developer-funded workforce development activities to find,
train, and place Baltimore residents in construction and
follow-on jobs.
Third, we need to focus on special populations. Large
numbers of men come into contact with government agencies
through child support enforcement and the corrections and
criminal justice system. Congress should take steps to
strengthen workforce development aspects of both of these
programs. In child support, we endorsed continued Federal and
State efforts to right size child support orders and to develop
debt forgiveness strategies that will encourage work rather
than penalize it. We also believe more needs to be done to
improve employment opportunities for noncustodial parents
through innovative strategies like NCP Choices in Texas that
combine a clear work, pay, play, or pay the consequences option
with enhanced workforce development services. We also recommend
that Congress increase incentives to States to pay for these
enhanced services by strengthening the Federal child support
match for employment-related services.
Finally, for incarcerated populations and those who have
recently returned from prison, we have a key opportunity to
increase engagement of men in work. Through the U.S. Department
of Labor, Congress has invested in pre- and post-release
programs that pave the way for post-incarceration employment.
These projects focus on connecting returning citizens to faith
and community-based groups that help manage reentry and connect
clients to training and employment.
A recent study funded by the Ford Foundation found that the
highest performing of these DOL grants had a number of common
attributes: they all worked closely with the criminal justice
system, they all created tailored reemployment plans, and they
all focused on helping clients gain industry-recognized
credentials to boost post-release employment.
The Council of State Governments is doing groundbreaking
work in aligning recidivism risk assessments with market-driven
employability assessments in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I highly
recommend taking a close look at that. These and other
successful strategies should be sustained, evaluated, refined,
and then replicated.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Orrell follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Orrell.
Mr. Henderson, you may begin.
STATEMENT OF MIKE HENDERSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ABC BALTIMORE
Mr. HENDERSON. Good afternoon. My name is Mike Henderson. I
am the president of Associated Builders and Contractors in
Baltimore. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, committee
members, for your kind invitation to appear before this hearing
today.
I am here today to talk about a workforce development
program we developed 11 years ago in Baltimore city called
Project JumpStart. I am joined by Mr. Tyrone Ferrens. He is a
journeyman electrician, and one of our star graduates.
Project JumpStart is an 89-hour pre-apprenticeship and job
placement program. We run six classes every year, three on the
east side of town and three on the west side. We have an 80
percent graduation rate, and we graduate approximately 120
students every year. But far more important than our graduation
rate is our job placement rate, because at the end of the day
the only true measuring stick that really matters with a
workforce development program is this: are people getting jobs?
And not just jobs, but jobs that have progressive salaries,
jobs that provide recognized accredited training, and the
opportunities to grow in their profession and in their careers.
In our case, our job placement rate is 75 percent, and that
is an average over the 11 years, but in just the last couple
years that placement rate is better than 80 percent.
Our program is primarily funded through private foundations
like the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Weinberg Foundation,
but over the last few years, we also are getting funding from
the city of Baltimore and the State of Maryland. For the
purposes of this hearing, my goal is to share with this
committee some of the invaluable lessons that we have learned
over the last 11 years on those elements that help make a
program like ours successful. Hopefully, once I give you some
background and some context about the program and our students,
it will better explain why we are asked to be here today.
To begin, our students are all Baltimore city residents.
Seventy-five percent are ex-offenders. Nearly half of our
graduates are over the age of 35. Many of our best success
stories, including that of the gentleman seated next to me,
involves graduates over the age of 40. Over the past couple
years, there has been a strong push by our public and private
funders to focus more on the 18-to-24-year-old population, a
group that traditionally we have not done as well with.
After the riots in Baltimore in the spring of 2015, we
decided to bring in 20 to 25 of our best graduates and we held
a focus group. One of the questions we asked them was: ``Why
were you able to succeed when the guy who sat next to you in
class or the guy who grew up across the street from you did
not?'' They said they saw Project JumpStart as their best, last
chance to succeed in life, and if they didn't stick with it,
and apply themselves fully to it, in 6 months' time they would
either be back in prison or dead.
That wisdom and that sense of urgency is something we have
seen from our older students, individuals who made a mistake
earlier in life and are now looking for an opportunity to right
that ship. Unfortunately, you don't get that kind of a life
perspective without making mistakes and taking your lumps.
A year ago, Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins
Hospital wanted to meet with us to try to figure out why
JumpStart works. Between those two entities, they spend over
$100 million a year in construction, and part of Baltimore
city's programs (where they encourage local hiring), they
worked with a variety of workforce development programs. They
said when they work with other programs, sometimes it takes 20
candidates before one placement actually sticks. With us, we
send them four and two or three of those people actually get
jobs.
I can only speak to the population we work with every day,
but the problem in Baltimore city is not that you have men who
don't want to work, but you have men who don't know the path to
get a good job. They don't have the connections with those who
are making those hiring decisions. No one ever taught them how
to build a network or how to make those connections. One of the
most important things we learned, is that you have to be part
of a community--employer community.
ABC Baltimore represents nearly 650 commercial builders in
our region, and we represent more builders' employers than
anyone else in our area. There is a lot of well- meaning work
development programs out there, but they are disconnected from
the employment community. The employers have to be central to
your program. And I can see I am running out of time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Henderson follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman SMITH. Three seconds. Thank you. We will have time
for some questions and dialogue after as well.
Mr. Ferrens, you may again.
STATEMENT OF TYRONE FERRENS, GRADUATE, PROJECT JUMPSTART
Mr. FERRENS. I thank you for having me here today.
Mr. Davis, the beginning of your statement sounded like you
were describing me to a T. I was raised in a single-parent
home. My father was an addict and a drug dealer in Brooklyn. He
still is to this day. I saw him only on the weekends maybe once
a month, and yet my two older brothers and myself followed him
down that path exactly. We all have felony convictions. We have
all spent time in jail. We have been through rehabs. I
personally spent 16 years in the grips of a crack and heroin
addiction prior to coming to JumpStart.
My last conviction was a felony assault, and part of my
sentence was a year of inpatient rehab. It was during that time
I kind of came to grips with the fact that I was never going to
amount to anything; but, I did leave with a single goal, and
that was to see that my son didn't have to go through the same
path I did. And in order to do that I was going to need to get
a job and I was going to need to stay out of prison.
I went to a career center in Baltimore, and they referred
me to Project JumpStart. They were offering a $50 stipend to
attend those classes, and that was enough for me to be
interested in it. It was during the orientation I received a
glimpse of hope for a better future, something I hadn't had.
During my addiction, on plenty of occasions I didn't want to
wake up in the morning. I didn't care if I lived or died. I
didn't see any way, any route to a better future.
During that 13 weeks of training, I received training in
everything as far as math to residential wiring. We had resume
preparation, mock interviews. We did conflict resolution. We
did an OSHA 10-hour class. They seemed to have had everything
that we would need to be prepared to be successful in the
workplace. We were taught what employers were expecting from
us, and how to be successful on the job site. The different
demographics and the different people from different
ethnicities, races and religions on a job site is something
that I hadn't been exposed to before.
In the beginning, they explained to me that if I graduated
at the top of my class, that they could pretty much guarantee
me a job. I graduated at the top of my class. Two weeks later,
I was placed on a job. They were able to get me hired even
though I had an 8-year gap in my resume. Four years after
that--well, actually, 6 years, I completed my 8,000 hours of
on-the-job training, 4 years of apprenticeship classes with
ABC, and today I am a licensed journeyman, as Mike said.
The biggest impact that this program has had on my life is
that it goes far beyond me. My son is the first one to step
foot on a college campus. My mother had retired and was
struggling on Social Security, and after years of torment that
I put her through as an addict I was able to move her into my
home. I became a first-time homeowner last year. My daughter,
who is 30 years old, spent half of her life with a father that
was an addict and a disgrace and an embarrassment. She is
presently in a JumpStart class that is taking place now. She
looks up to me, she admires me, and she wants to follow in my
footprints. That is three generations in my family that has
been changed from this program.
I now mentor younger JumpStart clients. Throughout this
entire process--I graduated 9 years ago--JumpStart has been
there supporting me every step of the way. I mean, my problems
have evolved. In the beginning, it was court dates and
probation hearings and charges, pending charges. Now I call the
director in regards to parenting skills. Because I didn't have
a father I struggle in that area. She always reminds me how far
I came, because my problems are the same problems regular
people have now. We call them ``regular people problems.'' She
explained to me that everyone has problems in relationships and
with their spouses and with their children. I am grateful for
that as well.
It is just a genuine gift to have this program in my life.
And I get questions all the time asking if there is one like it
in other States. I get calls from my family members, and
unfortunately, I have to say no. But I would like to see this
committee just do something in this field to help.
Thank you for having me today. I appreciate it.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Ferrens follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman SMITH. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your
story.
Mr. Lowery.
STATEMENT OF ANTHONY LOWERY, DIRECTOR, POLICY AND ADVOCACY,
SAFER FOUNDATION
Mr. LOWERY. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Davis,
and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity
to testify on the decline in the labor force participation of
men. I represent Safer Foundation, a Chicago based nonprofit
that has provided employment and support services for people
with criminal records over the past four decades. The Safer
Foundation believes that men and women who have made mistakes
in the past should have an opportunity to be self-sufficient so
that they can take care of their families and make our
communities safer.
There is dignity in work. Our clients come to us because
they want to work, and are willing to do everything in their
power to earn the right to work. But our society's overemphasis
on punishment at the expense of rehabilitation is affecting
labor force participation rates and workforce morale. My
interaction with directly impacted individuals has taught me
that hopelessness rather than choice keeps people out of work.
I have seen many very qualified people who have criminal
records be denied employment, housing, or a license, decades
after they have served their time.
The issue of criminal justice reform is a socioeconomic
one. Our country cannot afford to continue to deprive returning
individuals of a second chance to become contributing members
of our communities. Instead of shunning them, it is imperative
that we begin to view their reintegration as vital to our
country's prosperity.
We have been good at filling prisons with sluggish and
fostering reintegration and economic inclusion, an important
ingredient of public safety. Our National Employment Law
Project, one of our national partners, estimates that one in
three Americans have some type of an arrest or conviction
record that would interfere with their ability to get a job.
Nearly half of U.S. children have a parent with a criminal
record.
As a result, our agencies, our taxpayers are burdened by a
preventable problem. Take the example of Illinois where,
according to one estimate, 42 percent of working-age adults
have an arrest or conviction record and where almost half of
the 30,000 people released from the Illinois Department of
Corrections were returned to it within 3 years of release. The
Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council estimates that
recidivism amongst probationers and parolees and the formerly
incarcerated cost the State of Illinois $16 billion over a 5-
year period.
Mass incarceration and employment barriers faced by people
with criminal records, combined with the opioid epidemic, have
deflated the U.S. labor force participation rates, which are as
low today as they were over 30 years ago. This has a tremendous
negative impact on our economy.
The U.S. is experiencing a long period of economic
expansion, but experts warn that this expansion will end
prematurely if we don't relieve these structural strains on the
labor force participation.
Safer Foundation has worked with people with arrest and
conviction records for over 40 years. Research, in Safer's
experience, has shown that employment is the most direct link
to reduce recidivism. I go into prisons, I go into schools, I
go into churches, and the biggest question I ask people when I
go into the correctional facility is ``What are you going to do
to stay free?'' Dignity, understanding, and viability are
dependent on their ability to get a job.
A Federal commitment to create more job opportunities or
skills training will reduce the attendant strain on our
criminal justice system and on taxpayers. It will increase the
tax base, give employers credentialed employees, stabilize
violent communities, and pull families out of intergenerational
cycles of poverty and violence.
As the labor market tightens, employers are more ready than
ever to give people with records a fair shot. Safer is
partnered with hundreds of employers to meet their workforce
needs. Our newest initiative is our Safer Demand Skill
Collaborative, which came out of our clients' desire for living
wage jobs and economic mobilities in some high-growth
industries like healthcare.
As a result of our participation in healthcare, and when we
started with our healthcare initiative, I think I was here a
few years ago testifying and just looking at opportunities in
high-growth industries, and we picked healthcare. We also
partnered with Johns Hopkins Hospital, who have been hiring
people with criminal records for over the past 15 years. We
partnered with Hopkins. Now we have a consortium in Chicago
with over 12 healthcare hospitals and networks, where out of
the first 60 people we have got hired in healthcare, only one
person has left that job.
So, again, what we feel that the Federal Government can
provide incentives to contractors, and pass legislation modeled
after laws in Michigan, Ohio, and Texas that provide negligent
liability protection for employers who hire people with
criminal records. We feel that would be an important pathway to
employment and increasing opportunity in the workforce.
Chairman SMITH. Thank you very much. I really appreciate
each of your testimony. It is refreshing to see a focus on
solutions. It is easy to identify a problem around here, it is
more difficult to focus on solutions. As you speak from
experience, it is important that you share your perspective,
and, Mr. Ferrens, I can't thank you enough for sharing in a
very direct and helpful way for us. We salute you. I look up to
you, as well, for really making a difference in your life and
allowing others to help with that.
I hear from employers all the time that they need
employees. We have a large number of people who would like to
leave poverty and, through economic opportunity, we can fill
these gaps. I think we are more productive this way. JumpStart
is important in this regard, especially as it impacts families.
Mr. Ferrens, if you could go back in time, what would have
been something you would have changed to help you achieve
success earlier in life?
Mr. FERRENS. I thought about that in the past, and I
struggled in school. I was diagnosed with dyslexia in high
school and I have just been diagnosed with adult ADHD as well.
Academics weren't a strong suit for me, but hands-on and visual
learning work well for me. Being that there is an emphasis on
going to college, and I was struggling in school, I didn't see
that as my route. I tried athletics, but my genetics failed me
there. I wasn't given too many other options.
Had I been exposed to tradesmen, and known that you could
make close to six figures as an electrician, and that it could
be another route to live a successful, productive life, I would
have probably chose it way earlier in life. It was just
exposure to other things, to other routes.
Chairman SMITH. So you discovered JumpStart through a
career center and a stipend associated?
Mr. FERRENS. Yes. I went to a career center just trying to
get anything. I really thought I would be working at McDonald's
for the rest of my life. That ban-the-box thing is high on my
agenda because people don't come out of prison wanting to go
back to prison. It is due to a lack of opportunities and
desperation that you go back to doing the things that you are
accustomed to doing.
Even now, 10 years in, there are jobs I can't get, as far
as placements in facilities because of my conviction. I tried
to move into a nicer neighborhood in a better school district
for my son and I qualified financially, but because I had to
put ``convicted of a felony,'' I was denied. It is a huge
obstacle.
Chairman SMITH. For about 10 years you are saying?
Mr. FERRENS. My last conviction was in 2007.
Chairman SMITH. Mr. Henderson, if you could elaborate a
little more on JumpStart and what led to the creation and also
deploying that and how you think that has been most effective
in impacting the community. How long has it been around now?
Mr. HENDERSON. Eleven years ago, Johns Hopkins was getting
ready to spend a billion something dollars to create a biotech
community in their footprint of the hospital. They wanted to
make sure that people who lived in that community benefited
economically, so we responded to an RFP. We were selected.
We made mistakes in the beginning. In the beginning, we
tended to side towards leniency, and we realized that we were
not producing candidates that employers wanted. They did great
for a couple weeks, and then they flamed out. So very quickly
we learned you train the way you work and need high standards,
and that it is not for everybody. That is kind of an anathema
to a lot of city politicians that it is not for everybody. But
we maintained very high standards to get in, high standards to
stay in, and high standards--a lot of times, and Tyrone can
tell you this, that first placement isn't always the best
placement. We have a full-time placement director, and she says
do it, work hard, listen, show interest, I am going to find you
a better placement. But it was kind of his proving ground.
And so high standards, and it is so important that you are
connected to employers. Everything we do is centered around
what employers are looking for. One of the most effective
things we do is we bring people like Tyrone back and they talk
to students in class. Because at some point they have all been
through a program, and when they first got into JumpStart they
thought, well, this is just another program that somebody sent
me to, maybe my probation officer. They found out very early
JumpStart is different, because we have been able to build a
team of people who are very serious about helping them succeed.
Is that pretty much what you are looking for? Chairman
SMITH. I appreciate that.
Any other comments others would like to offer? Mr. Lowery.
Mr. LOWERY. Well, first of all, I would like to commend
Tyrone on his journey, also being a person with a past criminal
record is one of the greatest challenges a person will ever
face as far as having the anxiety, letting your family down,
letting yourself down, then trying to reenter the workforce.
Today, I am the director of policy and advocacy of Safer,
recognized as a national advocate. In Illinois, I initiated the
ban-the-box legislation, the occupational licensing
legislation, the sealing legislation, but let me go and apply
for a job, a 20-year-old criminal record would determine what
the employer felt I was.
I always talk to our people with every class that comes
into our building, and we see about 5- or 6,000 people a year,
as far as what we are trying to do is create a new image of who
you are in the eyes of the employer. And just talking to our
people about the impact of the record so they can explain to
their families because, again, when you see a lot of situations
of people having a record and have promised that they are going
to do the right thing don't get the opportunity, as Tyrone
said, then they go back to the old streets, the old things that
they used to do and they wind up incarcerated again.
Chairman SMITH. You spoke briefly about legal liability
addressing that. Could you elaborate on that a bit?
Mr. LOWERY. Yes. What we had to do, in the State of
Illinois, we, about 18 years ago, passed legislation, what we
call a certificate of good conduct, which provides when the
court looks at a person's rehabilitation, the court declares
that person rehabilitated. And with that certificate of good
conduct contains negligent liability protection.
As far as doing this for the years I have been doing it,
the biggest concern from employers were if I hire a person with
a record and they do something on the job, I can get sued. So
the negligent liability was critically important. And doing the
healthcare work we were surprised, when we went to Ohio and we
went to Texas, that they had negligent liability legislation on
the books to kind of erase that fear that employers have so
that they can look at the candidate, they can look past the
fear.
What we are doing in Illinois is pushing forward negligent
liability protection for all employers who hire people with
criminal records, because that will eliminate that fear so they
can get good people, so that people can get that job, transform
themselves, their families, and then ultimately communities in
which most people in Illinois with criminal records live in.
Chairman SMITH. Maybe there could be some negligent
liability protection for Congress passing bad bills from time
to time.
Mr. LOWERY. Yeah, that might help.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lowery follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chairman SMITH. All right. I thank you.
Mr. Davis.
Mr. DAVIS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Lowery, given the fact that I live in Chicago and the
fact that Safer is based in Chicago, I am aware of the long
history of engagement in this type of work. What has fascinated
me the most has been the relationship developed with Johns
Hopkins University Medical Center. Could you share a little bit
more how you made that contact and how you decided that you
would pursue the health industry as an area to explore?
Mr. LOWERY. Okay. Thank you, Congressman. And again, I
would like to thank you for your part as far as making all of
that possible. I was invited here a couple years ago at a
Father's Day event, and I think with the featured Attorney
General Holder, and in doing research for that event I saw a
staggering number of 15 million jobs in healthcare, and I was
like this is unbelievable. Cabrini Green Legal Aid, which is
the leading criminal records advocate in the State of Illinois
had called me about a lady who had a 30-year-old misdemeanor
conviction and couldn't get a job as a CNA in a healthcare
facility, and I said this is un-American.
So when I came here and talked about the need for people--
for congressional members to go back to their communities, talk
to healthcare entities because healthcare is the largest
employer, fastest growing sector in this country. Congressman
Davis does a workshop at the legislative annual caucus, and he
featured Pamela Paulk from Johns Hopkins Hospital, who was the
head of human resources at the time. When we heard Pamela talk
about how she had been hiring--Hopkins had been hiring people
with criminal records for the past 15 years, we said, well,
wait a minute, we need to do this in Chicago.
So we invited Hopkins to come to Chicago, and Pamela was so
gracious to come. Congressman Davis came and joined the event.
We got Chicago Urban League Cook County Board of Commissioners,
and we had the first healthcare forum in the city of Chicago
where we brought hospital CEOs, and hiring managers, to talk
about an untapped workforce.
We highlighted one of our former clients, Melody Young, who
as a young mother addicted to drugs, had went to prison, came
out, got a job in healthcare, but when the background check
came back, she was let go. She continued to go to school, work
on her clemency and pardon, and now she is a nurse with Great
Lakes Naval for the Veterans Administration.
When Melody told her story and her journey about redemption
and challenges and opportunity saying that ``I am not a bad
person, I made bad choices,'' she changed the face of who
healthcare employers thought people with criminal records were.
That allowed us to have the opportunity and open up hiring
opportunities.
News came to Washington about what we had did and our
national partner, National Employment Law Project, collaborated
with us, so we did additional forums in Dallas, in Cleveland,
and in Oakland, California. Now, we have healthcare employers
as part of our consortium sending us open positions. What we
have done is changed that image and opened up that opportunity.
The opportunities when we were in Texas, the lady who has the
consortium in Dallas, said, all the graduates in all the
medical schools in Texas, we still do not have enough people to
fill these positions.
When looking at healthcare being a natural, and then just
eliminating that barrier, getting those to see that people make
mistakes, they are credentialed, there is protection, can we
just have a basic American opportunity to work.
Mr. DAVIS. Thank you very much.
And, Mr. Ferrens, listening to you was kind of like being
in a church of God and Christ church and manna coming down from
heaven, to be very honest about it. Your experience, your
success really makes you a role model for individuals who have
had similar circumstances. If you pinpointed one barrier, what
would you say was the most difficult challenge to get beyond?
Mr. FERRENS. To pinpoint one, I think the most difficult
part for me, it wasn't even so much the training, it was
cutting loose of people and things that I was accustomed to,
people that surrounded me. When I decided I wanted to change my
life and I was attending this program, I still lived in the
community I used to get high in. I still lived in the community
that I sold drugs in. I think breaking those relationships and
stepping out, being strong enough to say I am not going back
that route, was probably the most difficult part of that
change.
Mr. DAVIS. Thank you. Thank you very much.
And thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman SMITH. Thank you.
Ms. Sewell you are recognized.
Ms. SEWELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and ranking member.
This is a really timely subject, and I want to thank all of our
panelists for being here today. I grew up in Selma, Alabama,
and I have the opportunity now to represent Birmingham and
Selma here in Congress, but I can tell you that the difference
between Birmingham and the rural communities is vast, yet I
represent both.
My first question is, how do we take programs like
JumpStart, programs like Safer Foundation and scale them to
smaller communities, rural communities?
I know, Mr. Chairman, you and I both are very passionate
about rural communities and the systemic barriers to employment
and--their systemic barriers and there's structural barriers,
but in rural communities it is lack of transportation, it is,
lack of skills, obviously, but also lack of economic
opportunity. So as we see people graduating from these rural
communities, they are not coming back, and they are becoming
smaller and smaller. And this Nation was founded on small
communities. And so I don't want to lose that.
My question to both you, Mr. Lowery, and you, Mr.
Henderson, is how do we scale your kind of programs to small
rural communities?
Mr. HENDERSON. Boy, that is a great question. I don't have
rural communities. We have suburbia. And I don't think that
counts.
Ms. SEWELL. It doesn't count.
Mr. HENDERSON. I mean, what drives these programs are our
programs are driven by economic activity. There is a severe
shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry
nationwide, but we are at the epicenter where the Sagamores of
the world and Johns Hopkins of the world are spending hundreds
of millions of dollars annually. How that translates into--wow,
I don't know. I wish I had some--it is a long way of saying I
can't help. I don't know.
Ms. SEWELL. Mr. Lowery?
Mr. LOWERY. Well, what our experience has shown is that
then we also operate two work release centers for the Illinois
Department of Corrections where we do the training, and we look
at the areas of high employer needs. Because again, to
eliminate the stigma of hiring a person with records, the need
has to be tremendous. So we collaborated, and we had a program
a few years ago where we had job training, computer training in
every State prison in the State of Illinois, all 27, and we
collaborated with community colleges to do the training in
those areas.
Ms. SEWELL. That is a very good point. My time is almost
up, and I really want to commend Mr. Ferrens. You really are at
the face of what is possible if you want to change your life,
and you have the resources and the opportunity to do so and the
will to do so, so I want to commend you for that.
Unemployment in my district--the average unemployment in my
district is 9 percent, even though the national average is 4,
so it is almost double. And we have a job fair every year, and
we alternate urban and rural because I have both in my
district. The first one we had was in Birmingham and it drew
over 5,000 people. People were wrapped around in a very hot
August day around the civic center, showing to many of the
folks who think that people don't want to work that they do
want to work. People do want to work. I think that there is an
indomitable spirit and that nothing is more important than the
dignity of knowing that you can take care of yourself and your
family.
And so my next question, or last question really, is to
you, Mr. Ferrens. One doesn't walk this road alone, and were
there any Federal programs that helped--that were wraparound
services that helped you while you were being trained through
JumpStart?
Mr. FERRENS. None that I was aware of.
Ms. SEWELL. If you could sort of figure--if you could have
a magic wand and sort of help all of us understand second
chances, what would you say to those who don't believe that
people deserve second chances?
Mr. FERRENS. I can tell you JumpStart graduates, I can
speak from my perspective.
Ms. SEWELL. Yes.
Mr. FERRENS. And on the job we operate at a whole other
level. I mean, the level of gratitude we have for someone
giving us the opportunity to perform. There is no reason for
you to hire me. So when you give me a job, you know, JumpStart
graduates are genuinely grateful.
We had a MICA job that was behind, it is a school,
education. They opened 7 days a week for us to work. My company
has over 100 employees. There were probably 17 that showed up 7
days a week for 4 weeks. Nine of the 14 of the 17 were
JumpStart graduates. My company only has 14 JumpStart graduates
on its staff. You know, it was a chance for us to show our
commitment to our company and thank them for hiring us.
Ms. SEWELL. And to your community. Yes. Thank you. Well, I
commend you and thank you for being here today, all of you.
Chairman SMITH. Thank you.
Mrs. Walorski.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Well, I am all fired up listening to your story because it
is, I think, the answer and the solution we are looking for.
And I kind of want to address this to you, Mr. Orrell, just
kind of like the bird's eye view of just a couple of things.
One was you talked about in your written testimony, Mr.
Orrell, about the need for a consistent message about the
socioeconomic and personal importance of work and self-
efficiency. You trace it back to the 1996 Welfare Reform Act,
and I want to go a little bit further than that.
A 1935 State of the Union Address President Franklin
Roosevelt said, ``Work must be found for able-bodied but
destitute workers.'' Posters for his works progress
administration blared in big letters all over the country:
``Work promotes confidence.''
And I want to get to you also, Mr. Ferrens, after I ask you
this question, and I know the how is different in today's
culture, but FDR was also a big believer in the idea that those
that can work must work, and we must discourage sitting on the
sidelines.
In my district in northern Indiana, the home of the RV
industry, today, right now, in just one county we have 30,000
jobs available. We are at full employment because of about 1.7
percent unemployment, meaning 1.7 of the people are not going
to work. Thirty thousand jobs today. There are plenty of
reasons for this. I hear it every day from everybody and their
brother. They can't hire workers that can't pass the drug test.
And this is in relation to this latest onslaught of opioid
addiction.
We have looked at this at several layers in my State, the
Governor--we are engaged now with a task force. Drugs are in my
State and the Federal level as well looking at our State of
Indiana. These opioid deaths now are being called deaths of
despair, but there are still tens of thousands of jobs
available. And I guess, Mr. Orrell, from the big picture can
you give us some perspective on the relationship between
unemployment and the rapid rise of opioid addiction in our
country? And then does anybody have any conclusive evidence to
determine is this a causal relationship and then followed up
by, if so, does unemployment lead to addiction or is it vice
versa?
Mr. ORRELL. So it is a complex interplay of factors. I
highly recommend the study by Anne Case out of Princeton
University on this, who she and her husband coined this phrase,
``the deaths of despair.'' She really looked at after you tease
out all the factors that could contribute to the opioid
addiction, what you get is a cumulative impact on people's
lives that is founded in unemployment. It is not only
unemployment.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Right.
Mr. ORRELL. It is breakdown of families. It is the
dissolution of other community institutions. It is problems in
marriage. It is all sorts of things that feed into it. But
after you control for all of that, you don't really see the
rise in the kind of deaths of despair that we have seen until
you see the deindustrialization of the American economy and the
loss of those jobs. Unemployment, they argue, is really at the
base of this.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Mr. Ferrens, thanks also for your story.
But, you walked through this world, maybe not just with
opioids, but certainly drug addiction. And so for you, you have
already said kind of how you got turned into and got turned
around into something else when you changed your mind. But as
you kind of look out over the scale of the map today, do you
think it is also the same kind of--is it an unemployment issue
that turns your head around to say I need to be responsible, I
can do this?
I am thinking of the people in Indiana right now, 30,000
jobs and, technically, people still talking about there is no
jobs, there are no good jobs. Do you have a perspective on
that?
Mr. FERRENS. It is hard for me to fathom that situation.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Oh, I know.
Mr. FERRENS. You know, from the inner city it is always a
lack of opportunities. But I know in my walk, drug use starts
earlier in life than unemployment before you even start looking
for a job.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Right. Exactly.
Mr. FERRENS. You know, so I would probably go with the drug
use leads to unemployment, just from my perspective in the
inner city. And a lot of it is the single parent homes and
the--I guess you would call it depression. You know, it is hard
to look at your kid--as a father, you have single parent homes
because you don't want to be reminded of your failure. It is
hard when you can't put sneakers on your kid's feet to be in
that kid's life. It is much easier to turn and run because you
are unemployed, rather than stay in that kid's life and feel
like a complete failure.
It is a big picture, and you turn to drugs to deal with
feeling like a failure. It is far more big than what I can
offer you.
Mrs. WALORSKI. I appreciate your perspective.
And thank you gentlemen, and thank you, Mr. Chairman. I
yield back.
Chairman SMITH. Thank you.
Mr. Bishop.
Mr. BISHOP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you to the
panel for being here and sharing your time and your testimony.
Mr. Orrell, I was wondering, much of the success of a
program like this has to do with changing the culture in our
country of basing success on who can send their kid to a four-
year--or to a college to further their career. How do we deal
with that? How do we go from a society that puts so much
emphasis on college only to come out on the other side with
huge debt and no job? How do we transition to a position where
we actually encourage folks to use their talents that they have
today and transition right into the workforce? What is the
message--what can government do to encourage that kind of
mindset?
Mr. ORRELL. I think it is a great question as to how we
encourage young people to think about non-four-year
opportunities. The reality is that everybody in the economy now
and, in the future, is going to need some sort of postsecondary
training. What we need to do, is make young people aware of the
opportunities. There are good livings to be had in the trades,
in technical fields, in manufacturing, in healthcare, that
don't require four-year degrees.
So encouraging people, encouraging youth to understand,
providing the information, here is what is available to you.
Did you know it is not uncommon these days for welders to make
$100,000 a year? Did you know that there are manufacturing jobs
that will start you out at 40-, $45,000 a year and with great
career pathways? And you won't have to have the $80,000 in debt
that you get out of a bachelor's degree for something you may
not be able to use.
Mr. BISHOP. Interesting. It is a conundrum that we want to
put emphasis on higher education, but at the same time there
are some folks that just do better, as Mr. Ferrens indicated,
outside of school, hands on, and that is the kind of thing that
public policy should support and not look down upon.
I wonder if, Mr. Henderson, you might be able to comment on
whether or not you think that the groups, the projects like you
have been working on, Project JumpStart, government, community
colleges, talk to each other. Do we talk outcomes based to
suggest how we can best work together? And if not, how can we
encourage that?
Mr. HENDERSON. It is a challenge. We work with the
community colleges. We work with the public schools. Everybody
has their own fiefdom. Everybody has their own set of
objectives they have to meet, and sometimes they feel like in
order to get it, in order to get funding, they have got to do
it unilaterally and would it make sense to bring other people
into the program? And I especially see this with the community
colleges. They are an important partner for us, but they have
their own dealing with funding, dealing with changing student
body.
I just want to tag on real quickly what the gentleman was
saying about school. Change the way you incentivize and judge
and hold principals and guidance counselors accountable. Give
accredited industry-recognized training the same way that they
give AP tests and four-year college degrees and you will see a
change.
Mr. BISHOP. A very solid recommendation. Thank you, sir.
Mr. Ferrens, your testimony, your story is really quite
inspiring and compelling. I am wondering if you might be able
to tell me, you drew my interest with regard to criminal
conviction. Mr. Lowery also spoke on the subject, and how that
is an impediment to your future.
Has there been any effort afoot to try and create an
expungement process so that you can expunge your record and not
have to go through life with that anchor around your neck?
Mr. FERRENS. I have attempted in the past. There was a lot
of bureaucracy as far as regards to your last offense being a
conviction, whether it can be expunged or not. It just got
extremely frustrating for me. And it bothers me, because I feel
as though my son and my children are still paying for that
mistake, in regards to the opportunities that I have that would
affect their lives and our living situation.
Mr. BISHOP. The purpose of expungement and the reason why I
raise it is because it is supposed to give people like you, who
have proven themselves to society, who are not likely to be a
recidivists, who are productive members of society, a second
chance. I have always supported, and I think it makes sense to
support public policy that encourages that kind of fatherhood
and citizenship going forward.
So I appreciate your testimony and I think it sheds light
on an important need in public policy in this country.
Mr. LOWERY. I just wanted to jump in for a second as far
as--in Illinois we just passed the largest expansion of sealing
in the history of the country. Where before you had only 9
felony convictions that can be sealed. Now there are hundreds
that can be sealed after the waiting period, after the
appropriate rehabilitation.
I think the biggest change that needs to happen, and I know
Congressman Davis had introduced Federal legislation about
sealing the record, but the biggest thing is the perception of
who a person with a criminal record is. And, again,
rehabilitation is not a made-up word. People turn their lives
around. Given the opportunity to turn their lives around, the
basic dignity of work, there has to be a commitment and a
messaging from the Federal Government to allow people second
chances to just basically work. And I think that will go a long
way with resolving issues, labor place, and all the other
associated ills that we are facing.
Chairman SMITH. Thank you. Mr. Reed.
Mr. REED. Thank you, Chairman. And thank you to our
panelists for the input. And I want to focus my opportunity
here to really get beyond the data, and I spent a lot of time
measuring the data, looking at an evidence-based perspective.
But to have a conversation with you, Mr. Ferrens, primarily
about the human experience that you went through. I, too, am
the son of a single mother. Father passed when I was 2. I have
11 older brothers and sisters, and I was inspired by her to
lead the life that I have led in order to sit here as a Member
of Congress, relatively coming from nothing.
I am interested in getting to--sometimes of a debate that
we have here in Washington, D.C., that I really try to look at
it from the perspective of the other side of the aisle. When it
comes to the conversation about work requirements, when it
comes to the policies that we are trying to advocate for
purposes of giving people the opportunity to get an education,
volunteer in their community, to go to school, to get that to
work.
And sometimes I am chastised for advocating for that type
of policy. That I am heartless. That I am clueless. That I
don't know the difficulty that that represents in a human
being's life as they go through that requirement.
And so sometimes I also have a conversation about the
unintended consequences of what are good faith initiatives by
many people here in Washington, D.C. when it comes to providing
cash welfare or government assistance. And I don't think there
is anyone here who is fundamentally opposed to that. But I want
to understand the human psyche, because we experienced it in
our family when we relied on government programs.
Is there any consequence to you as a human being when you
are given a government program, a government check, as opposed
to earning that government check or earning that resource that
you bring to your family? Did you ever experience any of that
in your life experience, and could you share with me that
story?
Mr. FERRENS. Yes. I have been a recipient of welfare, food
stamps, a lot of government assisted programs. And there is no
comparison. None whatsoever. It is innate that as a man you
want to be the provider, the protector of your home. You can't
describe what it is to earn something versus just being given
something. I would have much preferred someone giving me or
exposing me to a program like JumpStart, rather than me getting
a check on the third. There is no pride that comes in that.
There is no appreciation for it. There is no value in it.
Anything that comes easy you don't appreciate. I wouldn't
compare the two.
Mr. REED. I appreciate that experience because that is
exactly what I have heard as I travel around the country and
when we have taken initiative on welfare reform. The dignity,
the pride of earning that resource, even if it is a government
program. That you are showing up and you are volunteering in
your community, you are giving back to that community. I have
seen such dignity as a result of that.
Would you, Mr. Lowery or Mr. Ferrens, would you agree that
sometimes what we do with the well-intentioned purpose of what
we are trying to do may have an unintended consequence that
gets to the psyche, the dignity, and the ability of an
individual then therefore to achieve success because they have
lost that dignity, they have lost that pride, they have lost
that innate experience that Mr. Ferrens just testified to.
Mr. LOWERY. I think what we really have to understand is
that government assistance is not a career pathway. In the
State of Illinois, I think a person is entitled to a Link card,
for food assistance. I think that is only 140 bucks a month. So
the fallacy of a person is depending on a $140----
Mr. REED. Well, Mr. Lowery, I am not talking about the
dependency on that $140. I am talking about the dignity that is
associated with receiving that Link card for nothing in return
for it. What Mr. Ferrens just testified to is a human
experience that I think we should advocate for here in
Washington, which is that even at the $150, just the simple
request of having an individual volunteer in their community,
to earn that card, gives that person dignity so when they stand
in front of their children, when they stand in front of their
wives or their spouses or their husbands, they say, you know
what, I have given something in return. I have earned it.
To me, that is a fundamental policy shift that we need
respect. And this isn't about dependency. This isn't about
having a discussion about what is the level of resource to
give. We can have that discussion all day long. It is about a
fundamental policy that rewards the dignity of work, the pride
that comes with it, and not destroying the human psyche, even
though we are very well-intentioned with the purpose of the
programs in which we are advocating for.
Mr. LOWERY. I think, again, the biggest thing, and I don't
have time to share my experiences as far as being a person with
a record, the denial of opportunity, even with a college
degree, having been a director of the highest rated public
housing drug elimination program in the country. I lost that
job. I had to work that earn fair job to get that assistance
from a college degree with a staff of 75 and a budget of $5
million.
I was chopping jerk chicken and vegetables in a Jamaican
restaurant just to fulfill that work requirement. But, again,
what we have to understand is that people want to work
because----
Mr. REED. I agree with that.
Mr. LOWERY. There is dignity in work, and when I go into a
facility----
Mr. REED. My time has expired.
Mr. LOWERY. The biggest challenge that people--can I get a
job? Can I get a job? Can I get a job?
Mr. REED. I understand.
Mr. LOWERY. So if the Government can kind of be a drum
major as far as second chances, encouraging employers with
incentives, with negligent liability, to give people an
opportunity to work. Because, as the gentleman said, out of his
program, the people who work 7 days a week were the people who
had records, who had a loyalty, a commitment, who honored that
second chance.
I think we are hurting ourselves by denying people that
second chance, because you have a workforce of millions of
people around the country.
Mr. REED. Well, I appreciate that--my time has expired. Mr.
Ferrens, thank you for that human experience and your
successes.
Chairman SMITH. Thank you. Mr. Reichert.
Mr. REICHERT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I thank the witnesses for being here.
And, Mr. Ferrens, congratulations on your life and your
success. We all have challenges that we go through.
I come from a family that struggled as we were growing up.
Ran away from home, lived in the street, lived in an old car
when I was 16 years old.
Some stories--you know, mine is bad enough, domestic
violence, that kind of stuff, but everybody has a cross to
bear. And we all go through struggles, some a lot worse than
others. But we all deserve second chances. That is what the
Almighty God who created us tells us, right? We are all
forgiven and deserve a second chance, and I strongly believe
that myself.
When you look at these reasons as to why there is
unemployment. I just looked down the list here, if I can read
them off very quickly, and I hope I can get through some of
this stuff and get to my question.
Number one, lack of post-secondary education and training
resulting in lower wages. Growing dependency on public benefit
programs. High levels of opioid dependency and drug abuse.
Rising prevalence of criminal records, along with unmet child
support orders. Absence of available jobs in many depressed
communities. Weakening of social or cultural norms that expect
able-bodied men to work. And the list goes on and on and on.
You guys have a big job.
But your experiences that you just shared with us are the
reason why some of these programs are successful. God makes us
go through these challenges, right? To help those that are
about to go through the same challenges, go down a different
path. And thank you, gentlemen, for doing that.
I work with a group back in Seattle called DADS, it is
Divine Alternatives for Dad Services. And Marvin and Jeanette
are the husband and wife who co-founded this organization, and
they are personal friends of mine. Marvin won't be ashamed and
Jeannette won't be ashamed for me to share with you that Marvin
was a pimp and Jeanette was a prostitute. I was an on-time law
enforcement officer, 33 years, and worked the Green River
serial murder case, and worked with those people on the street
for 19 years day in and day out. These people I call my
friends. They have turned their life around, and they are
helping men be fathers and get jobs.
As I listen to the comments from our witnesses today, it
makes me think about the consequences for families and
children, for the United States, of working-aged men not
participating in the work force. It is a huge consequence for
our whole society. For these men, the possibility of being
unable to financially support a family, as you mentioned, or
contribute to the upbringing of their children has a negative
ripple effect on the entire country.
And sometimes what I get frustrated with in my law
enforcement career is working with the community. And Marvin
and Jeanette have done a wonderful job of bringing in the
faith-based community which they are excited about helping. And
bringing other social services surrounding--you get the
families involved, if you can.
I have two adopted grandchildren, drug addicted babies,
that are now 14 and 15 years old. They were 3 months old when
my daughter adopted them. They have a wonderful life ahead of
them. But I find that these organizations don't work together.
They are disjointed. They are inefficient. They are struggling
and fighting over the same dollars. And we need to invest in
those programs that can come together, work together, right,
and recognize the goal for all of us and not compete against
the same dollars that, you know, another effort is competing
for.
So, for all of you, I think all of you are coming from the
same place in wanting to help, as we are here on this panel.
What is the one thing? For me it is, you know, it goes back to
family, to responsibility, accountability and faith, to be
honest with you.
What is the one specific policy, though, that you could all
point to that would be the one thing you think that we can do
to help you accomplish the tremendous task that you are all
involved in now.
Is there one thing that just pops in your mind. The one
thing that maybe worked in your life, Mr. Ferrens, or maybe it
was JumpStart. It can't be just money. What is it?
Mr. HENDERSON. Just real quick, we have seen it in our
program, it is that role model. I grew up in a house where I
saw dad go to work everyday. That is what dads do.
Mr. REICHERT. Yep, it was my football coach, my
grandfather----
Mr. HENDERSON. If I go in the neighborhood and my dad
doesn't go to work or the neighbor's dad doesn't go to work, I
don't know what dads are supposed to do.
Mr. REICHERT. Yeah.
Mr. HENDERSON. We are trying to replicate that in a small
way with JumpStart, but that role model is huge.
Mr. REICHERT. Yeah. Good. Anybody else?
Mr. ORRELL. Yeah, I would echo that. I think you have seen
it on the panel here today. What you need are lighthouses of
success at the family level, the individual level, and then at
the community level. You know, you need to have an example of
people succeeding against a lot of barriers that they face, the
communities face, the individuals face.
Helping them succeed in that so it becomes plausible then
to other people in the community that there is a way out here.
We don't have to accept where we are. Programs like JumpStart.
Programs that we are involved with, ICF also involves more--you
know, are really about trying to create those lighthouses of
hope within the community.
Mr. REICHERT. Yeah. Well, if we can help in any way, we
can, let us know. I know you will. But the work really happens
where you all are, and thank you. God speed. I yield back.
Mr. LOWERY. Thank you for your service and commitment to
community.
Mr. REICHERT. Thank you, sir.
Chairman SMITH. Thank you, Mr. Reichert. And thank you to
all of our witnesses, our panelists, I really appreciate
sharing your insight and expertise and your perspective. It is
inspiring to see the difference that you have made in
yourselves and your community. I just can't say thank you
enough, and look forward to perhaps hearing more in the future
about the successes that you have brought about.
Please be advised that members will have two weeks to
submit written questions to be answered later in writing. Those
questions and your answers will be made part of the formal
hearing record.
With that, the subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:15 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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