Youth & Family Services’ Connect program is designed to respond to and advocate for youth and young adults between the ages of 11–24 who have been affected by sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, and/or trafficking. Additionally, Connect provides trainings to youth and other community members about these issues in order to increase awareness and promote change.

Contact Connect

Stop In At Our Location

Youth & Family Services
120 E. Adams St. STE 100
Rapid City, SD 57701

Call Us

605-791-5025

Send Mail

Youth & Family Services
PO Box 2813
Rapid City, SD 57709-2813

What We Do

YFS’ Connect works to create and maintain a coordinated system of community organizations and individuals that are committed to connecting victims of violence, stalking, and/or trafficking to resources that will help them cope with and heal from their trauma. We work collaboratively with other community organizations in order to streamline appropriate victim-centered response.

Services Offered to Victims

• Case management services
• Mentoring
• Emotional support
• Transportation for services
• Access to health care
• Supportive activities that address trauma
• Educational support
• Resources for crisis counseling
• Referrals for trauma-informed counseling services

Youth-led Prevention

Connect aims to empower youth to be voices in the community through bystander training and through encouraging peer to peer interaction. Our program implements youth-led prevention activities and programming to promote change.

Youth Training

Provide training for youth in leadership and bystander action skills, including skills to understand and recognize abusive behavior while expanding that knowledge to their peers.

Collaborative Effort

Connect is a community-based program that was developed in response to findings during a strengths and needs assessment of the Black Hills area. We work collaboratively with other community organizations in order to streamline appropriate victim-centered response.
This project was supported by Grant No. 2019-CY-AX-0011 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this program are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.