The last girl in the building

In the spring of 2020, while she was still being held at the ranch, Guevara was on FaceTime with her mother when a supervisor interrupted the call.

“Pack your things,” he told her. “You're getting out.”

During Guevara's time at the ranch, Lucero had met with Jessica Nowlan, then the executive director of the Young Women's Freedom Center, a statewide organization that provides support and advocacy to young women and transgender youth who have grown up in poverty or in the foster care or juvenile justice systems. Together, they laid plans to launch one of the center's several California satellite locations in Santa Clara County and secured $1 million from the state to fund the collaboration.

Now, each time a girl lands in juvenile court, judges call on the Freedom Center to help the young women to identify and pursue goals such as getting a driver's license, enrolling in college, finding full-time work or securing housing.

With such support, Guevara reached a crucial goal: getting her education back on track. Having entered juvenile hall with just 15 high school credits, she has since managed to graduate a year early.

Guevara said the juvenile court's new approach helped her turn her life around. And in her current role as a youth organizer for the Freedom Center, she is helping other girls like her to avoid jail time altogether.

When she came before the court, Guevara said, Lucero always wanted to know what was going on at home and how she was feeling — and it inspired her: “I could see that she actually cared.”