Group homes are small residential settings in which a group of 4 to 12 juvenile offenders live with and receive structure and guidance from professionally trained staff. Often, because group homes are community-based, the participating juveniles are enrolled at and attending local public schools during their tenure in group homes. Teaching-family group homes are directed by married couples called 'teaching parents' who live in a family home with approximately six delinquents between the ages of 12 and 17. These adolescents stay in the teaching-family group for an average of 6 to 12 months. Teaching parents receive ongoing instruction and supervision in the application of such behavioral treatment methods as specific skill training, self-government, motivation, the building of relationships, and youth advocacy procedures. In the course of their reasarch on the teaching-family group home, the authors were able to develop and evaluate a treatment model that was effective in modifying the behavior of delinquents while they were in treatment. Once they left the teaching-family group, however, the adolescents returned to delinquent behavior. This leads to the conclusion that the teaching-family model in its present form is not a complete remedy for the delinquency problems brought by its young residents. Additionally, the young people in the program had serious delinquency problems and no adult assistance in solving those problems after leaving treatment. The authors conclude that teaching-family group homes are necessary for prolonged periods for troubled adolescents. 89 references.