Systems Change Work
FLY’s systems change work improves systems, policies, & practices, affecting youth impacted by the justice system at local & state levels.
FLY works to build youth power through coaching and skill-building to support young people in accessing decision-making spaces to promote local and state policies that:
- Divest from punitive approaches
- Reinvest in our communities
- Demand accountability for justice system harms
- Address the root causes of crime
- Dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline
Youth Policy Fellowship
The Youth Policy Fellowship is a new 10 month Jan-Oct paid Fellowship opportunity for FLY youth and alumni. Fellows will have the chance to learn about and participate in policy-making, advocacy, and community organizing while lending their unique perspectives to help influence and guide FLY’s policy priorities.
For more information contact: colin@flyprogram.org
Current Legislative Priorities
2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021
FLY will support legislation or priority setting by state or local government agencies to effect policy and practice for the betterment of young people.
Check out Evelyn FLY Alum and Staff member
advocating for AB 2629!
In 2024, 6 of FLY’s Legislative Priorities were signed into law, including AB 1186, co-sponsored by FLY
CURRENT CO-SPONSORED BILLS
SB 824: The SHIFT
(Supporting Healthy Individually Focused Transition) Act
SB 824 will ensure that the youth justice system prioritizes rehabilitation and the services, programs, and placements young people need to successfully return to the community. Addressing gaps in existing law, SB 824 delineates how courts and other stakeholders can effectively plan for and support a young person’s rehabilitative progress and reintegration, with the ultimate goals of reducing recidivism and helping youth maintain progress and flourish when they return home.
AB 1279: The Pathways to Justice Act
AB 1279 ensures that offenses committed as a youth can’t be used as strikes to increase adult prison sentences. It also allows people to be resentenced if a youth strike was used to give them more time.
AB 802: Youth Hunger in Juvenile Facilities
AB 802 addresses the poor and inadequate food often served in juvenile halls by requiring regular surveys of youth and ensuring counties take action to ensure all young people have access to nutritious, healthy meals.
AB 1376: End Endless Probation
AB 1376 protects youth by limiting unnecessary time on probation and requiring fair, individualized conditions—aligning with research that shows long probation terms can do more harm than good and don’t improve public safety.
Coalition Membership
FLY organizes alongside community-based organizations across California to achieve our policy goals and is a proud member of several coalitions:
California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice (CAYCJ)
Alliance for Boys and Men of Color (ABMoC)
Debt Free Justice California (DFJC)
Other AdVOCAcy Priorities
Board of State and Community Corrections Advocacy
In 2022, the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) began a process to revise the Juvenile Title 15 and 24 Regulations. These are the minimum standards that probation must follow when running a locked facility for youth. FLY’s youth have been actively involved since the beginning of the process, creating this report and advocating for stronger standards to protect youths’ rights to education, end the use of chemical weapons against kids, improve the quality of food and hygiene products, increase access to mental health care, and much more!
PAST ADVOCACY VICTORIES
AB 1186 (2024)
The REPAIR Act (Realizing Equity while Promoting Accountability and Impactful Relief) was signed into law in 2024 and ends youth restitution fines, releases uncollectible debt that is over 10 years old, eliminates wage and trust garnishment, and right-sizes financial orders.
SB 448 (2023)
The Equity for Youth in Detention Act was signed into law in 2023 and requires that youth detained in a county outside of their county of residence must receive the same consideration for the least restrictive alternatives to detention that are given to youth who are detained in their county of residence.
AB 2629 (2022)
Signed into law in 2022, this bill makes record dismissals more readily available to youth by providing additional guidance to juvenile court judges on when to grant a dismissal. This type of dismissal will allow youth access to a wider range of employment opportunities, especially those requiring a federal background check.
Reducing and eliminating youth incarceration through transitioning to a community-based system of care aimed at wrapping support around youth using a strengths-based and culturally responsive approach.
Divesting from policing to reduce system contact for individuals who can be more effectively served through reinvesting in community and public health services thereby responding to the public safety needs of all members of the community.
Aligning the age of criminal responsibility with cognitive development science that says the brain does not fully develop until the late twenties and providing more resources to young adults during this vulnerable transition time.
Eliminating justice system policies and practices that create and perpetuate poverty, inequity, and lack of access to civic engagement.
Reforming school policies and practices that perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline and creating equitable pathways to post-secondary education for youth impacted by the justice system.
educational articles
Take ACtion
You can take action to advance youth justice! You can support and advocate for change in many ways.
Sharing information to raise awareness
Calling your local representative
Making public comments at the local or state level
Contact for more information
For more information, email systemschange@flyprogram.org