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Committee approves Credible Messenger contract to add mentors at juvenile detention facility
Summary
The committee approved a one‑year comparable‑source (ComSource) contract with options to renew to bring a Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement program into the Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF); discussion covered hiring, training, family engagement and reporting.
Wayne County’s Health & Human Services Committee on Jan. 7 approved a one‑year comparable‑source contract (with two one‑year renewal options) with Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement to operate a credible‑messenger mentoring program at the Juvenile Detention Facility (JDF).
Melissa Fernandez, director of Juvenile and Youth Services, described Credible Messenger as a national, empirically based model studied by John Jay College and other institutions. The program was presented to the committee by county staff and by Clint Lacy (president and CEO of Credible Messenger) and Daryl Woods (founder and CEO of Fighting With Their Fight; also identified as chair of the board of a local police commission).
The contract budgeted for about 12 to 15 mentors, Fernandez said; some mentors will be full time and some part time, and the program intends to hire local mentors. Clint Lacy described the recruitment, vetting and intensive training pipeline for credible messengers, listing training topics that include restorative justice, trauma‑informed care, healing‑centered engagement, mental‑health first aid, group facilitation and conflict resolution. Lacy emphasized the program’s focus on relationship‑building: “The foundation of this work is relationship,” he said, adding that credible messengers are often people with lived experience who can build trust with young people.
Committee members asked about family services, reporting and program evaluation. Lacy and Daryl Woods said family engagement and family mediation are built into the model; Lacy added that credible messenger programming aims to provide transitional supports and to coordinate with community supports so young people can return to sustained, successful community settings. Commissioner Killeen asked how the committee would receive updates; Melissa Fernandez said the department will report on program progress and that it intends to include program outcomes in departmental updates and the annual report.
The item was moved and supported for approval; a voice vote carried the motion.
Ending: The county will begin onboarding the program and is expected to track and report outcomes to the committee once mentors are in place and the program is operational.
