To examine what is known about the effectiveness of residential care programs, the researchers reviewed the literature and contacted experts on the needs of at-risk juveniles to identify recent studies of program effectiveness. Researchers also contacted 29 residential programs that served youths aged 10 to 17; provided long-term, comprehensive services that addressed each of four problem behaviors; and had recent outcome data on program effectiveness. Nine of the programs were visited. The work was conducted between August 1992 and November 1993. Findings show that residential care is apparently a viable treatment option for some high-risk youths. Each of the programs contacted reported benefits for youths in such areas as maintaining attendance in school and avoiding drug abuse and criminal behavior; however, programs seldom conduct controlled or comparison studies to determine how outcomes are linked to their treatment efforts; also, few programs have conducted studies on what happened to participants more than 1 year after program participation. The researchers conclude that not enough is known about residential care programs to provide a clear profile of what kinds of treatment methods work best or about the effectiveness of the treatment over the long term. Appended supplementary information and tables