FLY’s law programs teach at-risk youth about the law and consequences of crime, while building important life skills such as empathy, problem solving, and anger management.  FLY’s law programs help youth realize that decisions they make as kids can follow them for the rest of their lives.  National research show that kids exposed to legal education are less likely to break the law, and at FLY we find that when youth know better they do better.

• Probation Program
  FLY offers a 13 week course for a broad spectrum of juvenile offenders ranging from first time-offenders, to youth incarcerated in juvenile hall, to youth who have recently been released from long term incarceration.  These classes, of 15-20 youth each, generally meet after school once a week from 4:00-6:00 p.m.—when this population is most likely to engage in criminal behavior.  The program includes a field trip to Santa Clara or Stanford Law Schools where the youth get a tour of a college campus and conduct a mock trial in the schools’ moot court rooms.  Plus, FLY sponsors a graduation ceremony for youth and their families.

• High Risk High School Program
  FLY also provides a 13 week course to high-risk youth in local alternative/continuation high schools.  Youth who attend these high schools do so as a result of expulsion, poor academic performance, or behavioral issues in mainstream school settings.  Most of the youth are disengaged in education, on probation, and/or carry extensive school disciplinary records.  These classes, of 10-20 youth each, generally meet during the school day in classes such as leadership, health, or social studies. Similar to the Probation Program, this program includes a field trip to Santa Clara or Stanford Law Schools, followed by a graduation ceremony for youth, their families, and their school officials.

• Middle School Prevention Program
  Responding to the need identified by our high school-aged youth on probation to 'stop crime before it starts,' FLY designed a prevention program for middle school youth.  This is the age that many of our probation clients reported was when they started getting in trouble with the law.  The program includes a 5-8 day course in the law, monthly law clubs, and a field trip to Santa Clara or Stanford Law Schools.  As a part of this program, high school youth who have been on probation visit the middle schools and help explain the legal consequences of crime and give advice on how to resist peer pressure, and be 'cool' by saying no to drugs, alcohol, and crime.  Additionally, FLY has designed workshops that our staff and juvenile justice youth can provide in 1-2 hours for a class of middle school students or during school-wide assemblies.

• Project Citizen Program
  FLY continuously designs law-based programs to fulfill the unmet needs of the community it serves.  For example, FLY was the first non-profit in the nation to adapt Project Citizen, a curriculum focused on appropriate social and political activism, for youth in detention settings.  FLY’s model was so effective, that it was implemented at the request of the Santa Clara County Probation Department to solicit youth input on their detention enhancement programs.  The youth input was incorporated into resulting local policy changes.  Additionally, FLY created a Record Sealing Program to help youth definitively exit the juvenile justice system and remove barriers to their employment.