A principal objective of the JJDPA was to halt the practice of confining status offenders and nonoffenders, such as dependent and neglected youth, in secure juvenile detention and correctional institutions. The DSO mandate called upon the States to re-examine the practices of their juvenile justice systems; abandon traditional institution-based approached to handling noncriminal troubled youth; and commit themselves to the pursuit of legal, administrative, and physical remedies to achieve DSO. Now, after two decades, the JJDPA faces its most critical test: whether the accomplishments of the last 20 years can be sustained. Studies by the U.S. General Accounting Office show that in the past two decades, States have made great strides toward achieving the DSO objective. States have reformed their laws, policies, and practices for handling status offenders and nonoffenders. They have enacted and amended statutes and secured executive orders in support of DSO. They revised juvenile intake policies and built and financed noninstitutional programs and services for these youths at the community level. Despite the DSO initiative's general acceptance in the States, its implementation has been difficult. Doubts about the propriety, efficacy, and cost of deinstitutionalizing status offenders inhibited States' early progress. Today, even those State that have achieved full compliance with the DSO mandate face numerous challenges to sustaining and building on their accomplishments. This report includes a discussion of challenges to sustaining DSO. Topics addressed include changing national priorities and policies, the emphasis on "getting tough" with problem juveniles, outlook for the future, contempt and the valid court order, and the chronic status offender. 3 exhibits and appended history of the JJDPA, citations for State DSO statutory provisions, and summaries of States' statutory DSO provisions