Fresh Lifelines for Youth- CAFA Mentor Program

COURT APPOINTED FRIEND AND ADVOCATE (CAFA) MENTOR PROGRAM

For nearly two decades, FLY has trained and matched adult volunteer mentors with youth on probation. The mentors meet weekly with the youth to support them in developing new attitudes, behaviors, and ambitions. Each mentor/mentee match has a FLY case manager for support and also attends monthly group activities organized by FLY.

In partnership with the Probation department and the courts, FLY added a court advocacy component to address the fact that youth of color were failing a specific type of probation at significantly higher rates than white youth. FLY’s CAFA (Court Appointed Friend and Advocate) Mentor Program helped achieve a dramatic turnaround in the failure rates. Because of this success, all mentors are now granted legal standing to act as advocates for their mentees in the courtroom and at schools, and the program has also expanded to Alameda County.