THE PRELIMINARY PHASE OF THIS STUDY INVOLVED PREPARATION OF DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSES OF THE USE OF EXTERNAL REVIEW MECHANISMS BY SELECTED INSTITUTIONS. THREE GENERAL MECHANISMS ARE DESCRIBED FOR BOTH PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND GRANT REVIEW: ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMITTEE WITH ACCEPTED DECISION OR APPROVAL POWER; ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMMITTEE WITH RECOMMENDATION POWER; AND INFORMAL, OR AD HOC APPROACHES. ISSUES RELATED TO THE USE OF SUCH EXTERNAL REVIEW MECHANISMS ARE EXPLORED. A THREE PHASE ANNUAL PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IS SUGGESTED FOR LEAA, IN WHICH OUTSIDE EXPERTS WOULD PARTICIPATE. THE CASE STUDIES ARE SAID TO HAVE REVEALED NO RADICALLY DIFFERENT OR MORE FORMAL MECHANISMS WHICH COULD BE EXPECTED TO IMPROVE LEAA'S GRANT REVIEW PROCESS. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT EXPERIMENTS BE LIMITED IN SCOPE IN THIS AREA. SEE ALSO NCJ-34600.