The YACCA program targets certain areas for intervention based on evidence of high juvenile crime rates, a high proportion of 10- to 16-year-olds, and a general lack of resources and services for young people in the locality. Participation of young people is achieved through community- based projects such as school clubs and voluntary youth organizations. The general aims of these programs are to provide disadvantaged juveniles with improved access to government services and housing, health, and labor market programs and to help adolescents gain life- and employment- related skills. These authors criticize the YACCA program for relying on often questionable assumptions to justify intervention in targeted areas. For example, the program focuses on individual rather than structural problems, and avoids giving entire communities the resources to control and manage their internal affairs. 19 references