Principles reflected in the YOS are accountability for the youth who offend, recognition of the interests of victims, early intervention, procedural protection for juveniles in the justice system, age and developmental appropriateness of interventions, the use of best practice, consistency with the Treaty of Waitangi (guidelines for responding to offending by Maori juveniles), cultural responsiveness, youth participation, the strengthening of family and community links, and limiting involvement in the formal juvenile justice system. The YOS recommends a new delivery mechanism for preventing and responding to juvenile offending. It involves the development of local youth offending teams that will be composed of practitioners from child protection services, family services, the police, and the health and education sectors. Another feature of the new delivery mechanism is a Ministers Group and Senior Officials Group that will oversee the performance of the local teams and provide a coordinated and coherent national approach to the development of youth justice policy and services. A third component of the new delivery mechanism is an independent Advisory Council composed of key juvenile justice personnel, including the Principal Youth Court Judge and government and community representatives. Also recommended is the development of new comprehensive and intensive interventions for serious juvenile offenders, as well as measures to improve the quality of information about juvenile offending. 3 figures and appended summary of recommendations, statistics and trends, and programs and services