Produced by the Planning Division of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, this report presents an overview of the incidence of youth violent, disruptive, or delinquent behavior, risk factors, components of a successful prevention program, and effective, promising and noteworthy programs that prevent or reduce violent or disruptive behavior in children and adolescents in Vermont. Delinquent behavior increased among all youth in Vermont by approximately 37 percent between 1987 and 1997. There are certain life circumstances that place a child at risk for delinquent behavior such as poverty and social disorganization, conflictual relationships with parents, violence in the home, substance abuse, exposure to disruptive peers, and poor school climate or failure in school. This paper described effective, promising, and noteworthy prevention programs falling into four categories: pre-school intervention models; skills training for both children and parents; conflict resolution and mediation skills; and mentoring programs. In addition, six common characteristics were described in the success of prevention programs that included: (1) intervention early in life; (2) strengthening families; (3) social skills training; (4) focus on schools; (5) intensive individual attention; and (6) provisions for training. References