More than one out of every five are disengaged and disconnected in the state of Connecticut. Oftentimes, these youths have suffered immense trauma like the death or incarceration of a parent, abuse, poverty, domestic violence, housing instability, gang violence and more. They frequently experience the threat of incarceration or have already experienced it.

To help these disenfranchised kids, AI has teamed up with Domus to help these kids stay engaged and connected. Following Activities were undertaken under the SoCCs program:

 

• During the 5-week trial program, participants learnt essential life skills like resume writing, developing a budget and goal setting.

• After attending a lecture, they had the opportunity to participate in a variety of tasks. These tasks included developing a personal budget, creating a resume or setting three goals for themselves to gain SoCCs.

• In turn, they redeemed these SoCCs for individual endeavors such as a voucher for school supplies or an opportunity to attend a class they were interested in.

• They could also pool their SoCCs and redeem for a group activity like an outing to NYC.