To ensure that school system and police department personnel are aware of the array of services available to assist youth in their communities, police leadership needs to develop and put in place an appropriate referral system which provides adequate assistance to at-risk youth. To establish a proactive referral system for at-risk youth, a needs assessment must first be conducted, as well as an inventory of available programs, the development of needed programs, evaluating existing programs, and training personnel in using the system. This article briefly discusses these essential steps in the development of an effective referral system. A number of existing youth referral systems are reviewed and include jurisdictions in the States of Florida, California, Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Washington. Using contacts between officers and juveniles to refer at-risk youths to appropriate intervention programs is a step forward in preventing delinquency.