Indianapolis expands City Connects rollout; Connect Indy dashboard maps student needs and providers

The Indianapolis City-County Council Education Committee on April 7 heard a presentation on City Connects, a school‑based integrated student‑support model and the public Connect Indy dashboard that map student needs and community providers, officials said.

Jillian Lane, executive director of integrated student support and center strategy for the Marian University Center for Vibrant Schools, told the committee City Connects is an evidence‑based model developed at Boston College about 25 years ago and now implemented in Indianapolis with local partners and ARPA funding. "Students spend most of their time outside of school," Lane said, and City Connects builds individualized support plans that address academic, social‑emotional/behavioral, health and family needs.

The program model and why it matters

Lane described City Connects as a systematic, school‑level practice that assigns a full‑time site coordinator—typically a master's‑level social worker or school counselor—to meet with each teacher about every student, combine those classroom insights with student information system data, and create individualized support plans. Plans are reviewed every six to eight weeks and use tiered interventions (tier 1 prevention/enrichment, tier 2 early intervention, tier 3 crisis response). Lane said site coordinators also connect families to community services to leverage existing resources.

"It's all based in developmental science," Lane said, and the model emphasizes strengths as well as…