The discussion notes that the total number of referrals to Missouri's juvenile courts for all criminal, status, and abuse and neglect categories have increased by 9 percent from 1992 to 1995. The characteristics of juvenile offenses and offenders have remained fairly consistent over this period. Seventy-eight percent of all juvenile referrals in Missouri were handled informally by the juvenile courts during 1993-95. The number of out-of-home placements increased 7 percent from 1992 to 1995. The 3-year plan focuses on minority youth issues; juvenile delinquency prevention programs; serious and violent juvenile offenders; gender-specific programming for female juvenile offenders; and training, technical assistance, and compliance monitoring. A plan is also presented for compliance with the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention act. Tables; figures; and appended juvenile information form, statistics, and excerpt from the Missouri juvenile code