Youth Connections

Youth Connections was founded in October of 1976 in Franklin, IN as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization established to serve Johnson County's youth in crisis through a youth shelter for homeless and struggling youth. Since then, Youth Connections programs and services have moved away from operating a house for youth and have evolved to respond to other emerging community gaps and needs. Today, our programs are focused more intently on the prevention of juvenile delinquency through ongoing programming built on evidence based practices. We serve our community's at-risk youth by "reducing the risk factors" associated with juvenile delinquency such as divorce & family breakdown and a lack of resources for youth before and after school hours. All of our efforts are focused on "increasing" the resiliency of at-risk youth so they may not fall victim to delinquent behavior. We offer the following programs and services to address this need- Safe Place Program (24 hr youth help line, school education, & Safe Place locations)- Families In Transition {F.I.T.}(classes addressing family disruption due to divorce)- The Children’s Visitation Center (supervised visitations between at-risk youth & families)- Custody Evaluations (child custody disputes)- Host Homes (serving runaway & homeless youth)- Jumpstart Group Mentoring (after-school group mentoring for at-risk youth)