Fresh Lifelines for Youth

FLY's network of licensed partners will address one of the greatest threats to the well-being of this country's youth—the pipeline to prison. Nearly 60,000 youth under age 18 are incarcerated in juvenile jails and prisons in the United States on any given day. 

Youth incarceration is ineffective: one study of 35,000 system-involved youth over ten years showed that juvenile incarceration leads to adult incarceration, including for violent crime, and 66% of youth who have been incarcerated do not return to school. Incarcerated youth also face poorer health, higher unemployment, and lower rates of homeownership later in life. This injustice is also expensive; the national average cost of locking up youth is $588 per day and $883 in California per day. Effective community-based programs, providing individualized and wraparound services, can cost as little as $75 per day.

The pipeline to prison is perpetuated by harsh policies and practices in schools and policing, and disproportionately impacts youth of color, LGBTQIA+ identifying youth, and youth with disabilities. By creating a network of licensed partners delivering strengths-based, trauma-informed solutions, we can support youth in making positive life choices and developing system partnerships that provide positive alternatives to police-enforced legal sanctions.

FLY’s solution will create a network of licensed partners to deliver our award-winning Law Program in ten cities nationwide. This will quickly expand community-based alternatives to policing and punitive models of justice and community safety. 

FLY’s programs are designed in partnership with youth to uniquely meet their needs, including access to positive role models and a better understanding of the law and justice system. Our solution will serve youth impacted by the justice system nationally by training other agencies to partner with youth, deliver legal education and life skills programming, and provide strength-based, trauma-informed supports. 

Each year, over 80% of FLY’s 2,000 youth reported having better access to positive role models and decreased likelihood of breaking the law. By scaling through a licensed partner network, FLY will improve life outcomes for youth in ten additional communities and encourage the adoption of policies and practices that support positive youth life outcomes.

FLY has over 20 years of experience in delivering our Law Program to youth impacted by the justice system. We designed the curriculum to be responsive, and our work across three San Francisco Bay Area Counties demonstrates its capacity to meet different communities’ unique needs. 

We launched the pilot phase of our licensed partner model in Monterey County in 2019. We are now in the second year of our pilot program in Monterey, where we have been training probation officers to deliver our Law Program in their evening reporting centers, alternative schools, and juvenile halls. At the conclusion of training, Monterey County will be licensed to deliver our Law Program in perpetuity. Their delivery will allow FLY’s programs to reach hundreds of additional youth with direct service and encourage justice system reforms that could impact over 1,000 youth on probation and in juvenile halls, as well as their families.