Impacting and Empowering Youth

Innovative programs for children of all ages, delivering the help they need.

Support from early childhood through high school.

The young people of our community are the future of our society. Our goal as parents, educators, and social service providers is to help our youth grow into becoming strong, caring adults who will help make the community better for all. Achieving this goal has never been more challenging than it is today.

To help meet those challenges, we provide a range of youth programs, beginning in early childhood and continuing through high school.

Youth Prevention Work

Seen, Valued, and Heard

Prevention programs promote “protective factors”—things in a child or teen’s environment that support their development toward becoming healthy adults. These factors include positive relationships with others, coupled with positive learning and growth opportunities. These impact the young person’s perspective and make them less likely to engage in risk-taking or risk-compromising behaviors.

Prevention work doesn’t happen in a silo. It’s the work of a whole community—parents, schools, and faith and civic leaders—all reinforcing the message to youth that they are seen, valued and heard.

YOUTH SURVEY DATA 2006 TO PRESENT
Ignite Youth Group

Promoting Positive Mental Health

These ninth-grade to twelfth-grade students take on the mission to make a difference to the overall health of the young people in Haddam, Killingworth, Higganum, and neighboring communities.

Ignite gives participants the opportunity to recognize needs and connect with other groups to promote positive mental health and to address issues, such as substance abuse. Ignite gives youth a platform to identify issues and take action to create positive change.

This is done through creating public service announcements, informative community events, community service and networking opportunities, and much more.

The Ignite Youth Group meets once or twice a month to plan, create, and, most important, have fun!

BECOME INVOLVED

Prevention - Mission Pillars

Education

Education across all ages serves to inform individuals about risk factors and empower them to establish protective measures that combat those risks.

Connection

We are all in this together. No meaningful change is made without connections through open and honest conversations. We want the voices in our community to be heard, and people to feel safe and supported.

Commitment

Ongoing commitment to our community to encourage sustained unity, understanding, and respect.

Youth Leadership & Development

We promote healthy youth development that is strengthened through programs and activities in schools and throughout our comunity.  We are intentional about preparing an individual as they meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood, working collectively to achieve their greatest potential. We support the individual as they analyze their own strengths and establish supportive networks to engage in community life and affect positive social change.

Juvenile Review Board

The Juvenile Review Board is a committee that has been formally designated to review juvenile court cases. The Juvenile Review Board is a community-based program that provides a mediated process for youth that have committed a juvenile offense the opportunity to make things right with an alternative to Juvenile Court.