The program has a youth component and a family component. The youth component is offered both after school and in the early evenings twice a week for 11 weeks for 9-to 15-year-olds. The Youth Connection aims to help youth learn the value of wellness as a lifestyle and to use their free time to make the most of themselves physically, emotionally, and socially. The family component includes a home visit from the family coordinator, weekly contact by telephone or some other personalized communication, and parent meetings. The program focuses on promoting emotionally close family relationships, helping parents set realistic limits, promoting quality family time, providing problemsolving help, and encouraging strong self-concepts and social skills. The program's third component is a monthly newsletter that contains a page targeted to the age of each parent's child. More than 300 parents have been involved in the program so far, and preliminary evaluations are positive. 20 references.