Preschool programs such as Head Start are among the most cost-effective inner city crime and drug prevention strategies ever developed. Other relatively successful programs include the Job Corps nationally; the Argus Community in South Bronx, New York; the Fairview Homes public housing crime prevention program in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Job Start program nationally; and Project Redirection in several locations. These programs offer multiple solutions to multiple problems, and they often tailor both social support and discipline to individual youth via mentors, counselors, big brothers or sisters, and peers. The programs link support and discipline to the development of real opportunities for education, school-to-work transition, employment training, and employment placement. Six lessons from the 1980's are identified: (1) inner city, nonprofit organizations can be effective program implementers; (2) technical assistance from national organizations increases the chances for local program success; (3) voluntarism is being oversold for the inner city; (4) public sector agencies, including the police, have a central role in supporting community-based programs; (5) block watch and other conventional, community crime prevention tactics are sharply limited in the inner city; and (6) higher evaluation standards are needed for inner city programs. For the 1990's the Eisenhower Foundation is focusing on early intervention and urban school reform, the idea of a Youth Investment Corporation for social development and empowerment, the reform of existing school-to-work transition programs, a community enterprise development strategy for the inner city, and drug abuse prevention and treatment. 6 figures