The study examined the tension between competing priorities, i.e., to serve large numbers of clients or to provide more intensive, costly, and high-quality services to those most in need. Other issues analyzed were success in recruiting, service matching, the provision of comprehensive services, success in retaining clients to completion of the service plan, and the quality of outcomes for youth clients. The study reviewed employment and training programming for youth over the past three decades; conducted on-site case studies of youth programs in a nationally representative sample of 25 service delivery areas (SDA's); conducted interviews with managers, staff, and participants in 91 youth service programs in the 25 SDA's; and conducted case studies of model employment and training programs for youth within and outside of JTPA. The study found numerous dedicated staff persons who argued convincingly that their youth employment programs were positively influencing the career prospects of disadvantaged youth. The study also obtained, sometimes from these same persons, evidence of frustration at the increasing difficulty of their mandate and the barriers they encountered as they attempted to empower youth to become successful, contributing adults. A key observation in this study was that local policy deliberation and planning was consistently related to high-quality service delivery. A second observation was that targeting services to those most in need was not consistently observed in local practice. One of the study's most disheartening observations was that SDA's were often misdirecting resources toward employment-focused services that lead to short- term measurable outcomes; a large percentage of youth have a strong need for a longer-range service strategy designed to develop basic skills and employability. The study confirms the findings of earlier studies that SDA's often aim at achieving maximum performance according to the standards at the expense both of reaching the hardest-to-serve youth and of offering the intensive, comprehensive services that these youth require. Suggestions for improvement are offered.