Connections provides a comprehensive and individualized set of educational, vocational, recreational, social and personal development services for moderate to high-risk permanency youth ages 15 to 21 who are under the legal custody of Hennepin County and have had multiple disruptions in out-of-home placements. Currently, 85% of participants are African American, 47% are in long term foster care, 50% are wards of the state and over 50% have diagnosed mental and/or physical health issues.
The two main goals of the Connections Program are to:
Stabilize the youth's placement
92% of Connections youth have 0-1 disruptions in placement
Prepare youth to emancipate from the permanency system for
successful transition into independent living
100% of Connections youth are not on welfare
95% of Connections youth are not in the criminal justice system
100% of Connections youth have no open child protection cases
