Become a CAFA Mentor in the East Bay!

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FLY's Court Appointed Friend & Advocate (CAFA) Mentor Program trains caring adult mentors and matches them with youth who have been impacted by the juvenile justice system or the school-to-prison pipeline. Mentors meet weekly with their youth to support them in developing new attitudes, behaviors, and ambitions. Each mentor/mentee match also has a case manager for support, and can also attend free group activities organized by FLY (such as Paintball, Laser Tag, Ice Skating, etc.).

In addition to being a positive role model and working one-on-one with a young person, mentors are also court and school advocates. Because FLY’s CAFA Mentor Program has helped achieve a dramatic turnaround in the failure rates of probation youth, mentors are granted legal standing to act advocates for their mentees in the courtroom and at schools. As a result of participation in the FLY CAFA Mentor Program, youth report that they want to make positive changes, have hope for their futures, and that they have more confidence to deal with negative peer pressure.

Many youth are waiting for mentors and FLY always encourages people of all backgrounds and abilities to apply. At this time in Alameda County, we have a particular need for more African-American men to support our youth in Oakland.

Please note that volunteer mentors must be at least 21 years of age and commit to weekend training and working with their youth once a week for 12 months. No prior legal, mentoring, or advocacy experience is necessary as training will be provided.

If you would like to be a mentor, please apply here:
https://flyprogram.org/mentor-volunteer-application/