Linking Youth, Families & Communities
For All of Us
Youth Connections strives to be the premier agency advocating for youth and their families in Johnson, Morgan, and Brown counties. We provide dynamic programs and services that promote family support and positive youth development. We achieve our goals through a highly knowledgeable talented staff, a visionary board and outstanding community partnerships. We want the community to believe in Youth Connections and invest in our future.
Watch a Message About Our Campaigns
Join us at our next event Dancing with the Johnson County Stars on September 20 & 21,2019!
This year our dancer is Lucas Hill ! His enthusiasm is contagious and is an awesome dancer!
Giving Back has never been so easy! Check out these programs below to help your local Communities!
Families in Transition
The Families in Transition program is designed to provide parents and children (between the ages of 8-16) with practical information to cope effectively with circumstances that result from divorce. The Families In Transition program provides practical information on dealing with the effects of divorce on children and how to work cooperatively to meet the needs of children
Supervised Visitation
The Children’s Visitation Center is designed to help alleviate the tension between children and parents during parenting time with the non-custodial parent(s). By providing a comfortable, neutral location for supervised visits, we are able to help create a better atmosphere for child-parent interactions.
Safe Place
Safe Place is a national program that helps young people who are having trouble and are in need of somewhere to turn. With the aid of local businesses, volunteers, and youth agencies, Safe Place is able to meet the needs of these young people whenever and wherever needed. A Safe Place representative is always available through a 24 hour help line. 1.866.738.KIDS.
Host Homes
The Host Home program provides for temporary emergency shelter care for children between the ages of seven and seventeen through caring volunteer Host Home families in the community. What makes Host Homes unique is that placement is voluntary on the part of the parent(s), the child, and the Host Home family. In this program, the youth can stay with the Host Home family for up to 21 days.
Custody Evaluation
A custody evaluation is a court mandated assessment of a children’s needs and each parent’s abilities to meet those needs. Youth Connections has been conducting custody/parenting time evaluations since 1997
youth mentoring
Jumpstart is a group mentoring program that serves elementary, intermediate, and middle school youth in Morgan and Johnson County. Group sessions are held during lunch and as an after-school program. All groups are focused on helping youth learn valuable life skills while building positive relationships with their peers and Youth Connections mentors.
Sarah- An eleven year-old girl who participated in our Jumpstart group mentoring lunch groups has selective mutism. She would not talk to her peers, teachers or other adults; she would simply retreat into her own world. Throughout the year she participated more and more in our group sessions. The girls in her group were very supportive of her and tried to draw her out. By the end of the year she was openly talking and making friends, as well as singing in the hallways and answering questions in class. The counselor told Youth Connections program coordinator that she was impressed with the impact that we had on the student and that there had been a huge change in the young girl during the school year.
Our Partners & Sponsors
