WEST PALM BEACH, FL – The White Collar Support Group announced in an April 28 press release that it is the first-ever reform group focused specifically on helping individuals and their families navigate the white collar criminal justice system. The group also revealed a new collaboration with Yale School of Management Professor Erin Frey on her Professional and Personal Restoration Study, according to the White Collar Support Group.
The Professional and Personal Restoration Study aims to explore how people impacted by the criminal justice system rebuild their lives—both professionally and personally. Professor Frey hopes to identify factors that either support or hinder that progress, the group shared.
The ultimate goal of the study, the White Collar Support Group explained, is to inform more effective policies, practices, and support systems for individuals affected by the justice system. “I am interested in talking to people at all stages of the process—pre-sentencing, pre-incarceration, post-supervised release,” Dr. Frey wrote in a blog post on the group’s website. She noted that interviews would be confidential and conducted via video conferencing.
White Collar Support Group founder Jeff Grant praised the study’s approach. “By centering the voices of people who have actually been through the justice system, Dr. Frey’s study has the potential to create meaningful, human-centered change,” Grant said. “We are thrilled to put the full weight of our 1,400 members behind the effort,” he added.
The Yale study is part of a broader set of initiatives launched by the White Collar Support Group, a nonprofit dedicated to dismantling the barriers faced by justice-impacted individuals. These efforts are made possible, the group stated, by its 1,400 members—individuals committed to taking responsibility for their actions and moving forward with lives rooted in hope, compassion, tolerance, and empathy.
Among its reform efforts, the White Collar Support Group—along with Frey’s study—has emphasized two key policy goals: expanding access to pardons and expungements, and ensuring fair access to banking services for those with criminal records.
In its Pardons and Expungement Initiative, the group noted that individuals with federal convictions often face unique obstacles. Unlike many state systems, there is no federal expungement process—only the limited possibility of a presidential pardon. The initiative calls for the creation of a fair and consistent federal process to clear eligible criminal records, which the group believes would allow individuals to rebuild their lives without the stigma of a conviction.
“This would replace lifelong barriers with opportunities for restoration and reintegration into society,” the White Collar Support Group stated.
The group’s Rights to Banking Initiative focuses on restoring access to essential financial services. According to the organization, many individuals emerging from the criminal justice system are unable to access basic banking tools—services necessary to work, save, and support their families.
The White Collar Support Group reports that banks and financial institutions often have unchecked discretion to deny services without explanation, leaving formerly incarcerated individuals economically excluded.
Drew Chapin, a member of the group’s Steering Committee, compared the situation to health care discrimination. “Exclusion from the banking system mirrors the denial of health insurance to those with preexisting conditions. It perpetuates systemic inequities and is destabilizing for those who desperately need some stability,” Chapin said.
“Every person should have the right to open a bank account, hold funds, and participate fully in the economy, regardless of the poor choices they’ve made in the past,” Chapin added.
For more information, visit the White Collar Support Group’s initiatives page.
