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“As communities across the country recognize Second Chance Month, DeAnna Hoskins, president and CEO of JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), is taking the conversation a step further by challenging it.
“‘I always ask the question, Is using the word second chance unintentionally limiting?’ Hoskins tells BLACK ENTERPRISE. ‘When in reality, we’re asking for fair access, fair access to employment, fair access to housing.’
“Hoskins has spent years advocating for people returning home from incarceration. Her perspective is shaped by lived experience, one that continues to inform how she approaches policy, power, and public safety.
“Before she was advising at the highest levels of government, Hoskins was navigating the very system she now works to change. …
We have to create fair opportunities so people don’t default to incarceration.
“Hoskins began asking to see the official policy after employers tried to deny her jobs because she was on probation.
“They were like, ‘DeAnna, we want to hire you, but based on our policies we can’t because of your felony,’ she says. ‘I asked one company for the policy and they didn’t have it. That’s when I started researching policy.’
“What she uncovered was not just misunderstanding but systemic inconsistency.
“‘I realized not only the myths, but the policy violations,’ she says. ‘People were just blanket refusing to hire people with criminal backgrounds. The judge sentenced you to community supervision, and one of the conditions is to get a job.’ …
“For business leaders and entrepreneurs, Hoskins says creating fair access starts with rethinking hiring practices.
“Rather than eliminating background checks altogether, she advocates for transparency. Employers should clearly outline which convictions are disqualifying and delay background checks until later in the hiring process.
“‘Initially, people are being screened based on their knowledge, skills, and abilities,’ she says.
“That shift not only reduces bias. It expands the talent pool.
“‘I may have a crime, but I’ve been home 10 years with no interaction,’ she says.
“Hoskins also challenges how public safety is defined, arguing that it extends far beyond policing.
“‘Public safety is affordable housing. Public safety is access to healthcare. Public safety is access to mental health,’ she says.
“When people with lived experience are included in shaping those systems, she says, the result is more effective and more humane policy. ‘You get systems that no longer traumatize, systems that engage and give agency to people.’ …
“‘We have to create fair opportunities so people don’t default to incarceration,’ she says.
“For Hoskins, one of the biggest misconceptions about people with lived experience is that their stories are meant to inspire, rather than inform.
“‘I don’t want my story to inspire you,’ she said. ‘I want my story to inform how you do policy.’”
Thank you so much for supporting our mission here at JLUSA! Your donation helps to support our network of leaders working to dismantle oppressive systems and uplift people and families impacted by mass incarceration across the country.
All charitable donations made to JLUSA are fully tax deductible, as allowable by the IRS.
