The guide is intended as a primer for policymakers on the issues and interests involved in juvenile justice reform. It summarizes an analysis of more than 400 programs for juvenile offenders that revealed that, overall, juveniles who receive treatment have recidivism rates about 10 percent lower than untreated juveniles in comparison groups and that the best intervention programs reduced recidivism by 20 to 30 percent. Individual sections of the guide focus on the role of early childhood care and education in preventing crime and juvenile delinquency, prevention and early intervention methods that are effective for schoolage and teenage youth, and the use of a continuum of graduated sanctions to hold juvenile offenders accountable and provide services. Further sections discuss the use of juvenile detention and corrections, the move toward juvenile court waiver or the direct filing of serious juvenile offenders into adult criminal courts, and emerging issues in juvenile justice. Figures and 41 references