Project Connect was developed in Illinois to connect personal, family, and job responsibilities for adults and out-of-school youth in economically depressed areas of the state (including transitional ex-offenders and corrections populations). Making these connections enables individuals to learn to manage and balance these aspects of their lives in order to prepare for or continue successful employment. The project developed and field tested 15 competency-based learning guides that focus on these three types of life responsibilities. This general guide explains the goals of Project Connect and the rationale for the guides and provides information on the following: (1) using facilitators; (2) types of participants that can be served and the settings where they can be found; (3) an overview of the learning guides and an explanation of the parts of each guide; (4) facilitator tips for using the guides; (5) instructional planning, including a flowchart that identifies each competency and learner outcome in a packet and a matrix of topics used in the learning guides; (6) characteristics of the learner population with teaching suggestions; (7) strategies and implications for facilitators; (8) a selected bibliography listing 19 references; and (9) the vision statement, mission statement, and Illinois goals for world-class education for the 21st century (repeated in each learning guide). (KC)