Youths committed to the Virginia Department of Youth and Family Services are assigned to a Learning Center, where the juveniles are guided toward the fulfillment of needs identified on their individual service plans; these youths have been removed from their homes and communities for "offenses" they have committed. The youth in the Learning Centers have typically had their lives derailed by drug and alcohol abuse, physical and sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, lack of occupational skills and education, low self-esteem, and exposure to violent crime. These problems are more prevalent among African-American males. Two factors negatively affect young men on their way to adulthood; first, the foundations that help promote and foster growth and responsibility have disappeared; second, the expectations that society places on young men are too high and often unrealistic. These problems particularly affect African-American males. Black males have not had the advantages of their white counterparts in terms of family structure. Black males have had to struggle, often unassisted, for their own achievements and a lifestyle that will meet their social and economic needs. Often this is done through illegal means, such as the drug trade. Young black men need to know that their lives have purpose and design, to have their realities and perceptions more closely linked, to have abundant choices, to have the recognition that comes with winning, to have their efforts validated, and to be guided toward a responsible and productive adulthood. 43 footnotes