Success Centers designed Inside/Out in collaboration with San Francisco’s Juvenile Probation Department and the SF Unified School District. The project offers year-round module programming to incarcerated youth during the school day, maximizing a participant’s time in detention regardless of their length of stay. The programming is personalized for each youth, helping them achieve their academic and employment goals. Youth will have access to online college courses, educational resources, health/life skills courses, job readiness training, digital literacy, transitional support and case management post release. This program offers incarcerated youth comprehensive transitional support. Youth will have access to pre-enrollment in community-based programming upon release, including Success Centers’ programs.

Inside/Out facilitators offer one-on-one support, small group seminars, and interactive curricula (10 minutes of instruction and 50 minutes of hands-on practice). In Inside/Out, youth complete individual assessments—Steps to Success Plans—with the support of Success Centers’ staff, helping staff understand a youth’s educational and career goals and their social and emotional needs upon release. Through the development of these plans, youth build resiliency; clarify their educational, career, and short- and long-term goals; build a concrete transition plan that identifies potential barriers, supportive relationships, accessible community resources, and next-steps toward continued education and toward entering the workforce; and a plan for the first 24-hours post-release, the crucial period when most intentions about their changing their lives are either implemented or abandoned.

Through Inside/Out, youth have the opportunity to explore a variety of topics depending upon their personalized interests. These include: career exploration, job readiness training, health/life skills, educational programs, certificate programs, transitional planning, digital literacy, and many others. Their work culminates in a digital portfolio, accessible post release. Participants will leave with a copy of their digital portfolio including vital documents, cover letters, resumes, sample applications for housing, college, jobs, their Steps to Success plan, and their 24-hour post-release plan.