This decline was facilitated by the progressive community's abandonment of rehabilitation and its acceptance of the justice model as a means to restrict the increasing number of youths in correctional institutions. The justice model was conceived as a means to impose confinement limitations through standardized sentencing while accommodating conservative demands for retribution and punishment. However, contrary to expectations, the justice model promoted an unprecedented rise in the number of incarcerated youths and a deterioration in institutional conditions. This situation was occurring despite increasing evidence demonstrating the superior effectiveness of rehabilitation models in altering patterns of juvenile delinquency. An analysis of juvenile correctional systems in California, Massachusetts, Utah, and Washington reveals that rehabilitation should be reaffirmed as the foundation for a progressive agenda in juvenile justice. Figures, tables, and 42 references (Author abstract modified)