Fresh Lifelines for Youth outlines in-custody and reentry services, cites housing as top barrier

Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY) returned to the San Mateo County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission on March 25 to summarize in‑custody and community reentry work, program participation this fiscal year and plans to expand mentoring and employment supports.

FLY Director Melissa Polley told commissioners, “FLY's mission is to partner with youth to unlock their potential, disrupt the pipeline to prison, and advance justice in California and beyond.” She and other FLY staff described four program lines delivered in San Mateo County: a 12‑week law curriculum delivered in schools and juvenile hall, SecureTrack in‑custody case management (renamed REPS locally), a community reentry case‑management program, and Stay Fly for transitional‑age youth (ages 18–25).

Maria Delgado, FLY associate director, said about program volume: “We have served over 300 youth in community sites and 90 plus youth at juvenile hall” in the current fiscal year for the law curriculum. FLY staff said the law classes teach rights, police encounters, consent, drugs and alcohol, and social‑emotional skills; the curriculum aims to increase youth knowledge and civic engagement and includes mock‑trial and role‑play activities.

FLY described SecureTrack/REPS as an in‑custody case‑management pilot unique in San Mateo County. The REPS team said the program began enrollment in January; as of the meeting they had seven youth enrolled and were prioritizing young people expected to be in custody for longer stays. The REPS manager offers weekly career readiness workshops and the program is developing a credible‑messenger mentoring component that would use FLY alumni and community members to mentor youth in the facility.

Reentry case managers said their standard enrollment is nine months, with the option to extend. At the meeting FLY reported 22 youth currently enrolled in the juvenile‑hall reentry program and that hiring an additional case manager would allow the program to approach a target of about 45 youth served per year. Stay Fly, the 18–25 program, had four participants at the time of the report and a paused wait list while staff positions were filled.

FLY staff repeatedly flagged housing and household instability as the program’s greatest obstacle to successful reentry. Case managers and program leads described frequent situations in which youth did not know where they would live on release, had families who were not able or willing to take them back, or faced shelter instability. FLY said they use a dedicated career‑pathways navigator to connect youth to job training, trade schools and employment supports and that their reentry teams attend court, help prepare youth advocacy reports and coordinate with probation where feasible.

Commissioners and staff asked about program partnerships and scale. FLY said it is coordinating with probation for court reports and planning additional partnerships with schools and local jurisdictions; the organization said it studies other counties’ credible‑messenger models (San Francisco was cited as one example) as it builds its own. FLY requested volunteer and community support to expand its volunteer‑led law classes and mentoring.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the programs address multiple points in the school‑to‑prison pipeline — education, in‑custody services and reentry — and that credible‑messenger mentoring, increased step‑down/transitional housing and closer school partnerships could strengthen outcomes.

FLY staff said they will return for a fuller presentation next month with program metrics and volunteer recruitment details.