THE ANALYSIS IS BASED ON A STATEWIDE NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY, IN WHICH DATA WERE COLLECTED ON RANDOM SAMPLES OF OVER 700 STATUS OFFENDERS AND APPROXIMATELY 2,000 YOUTHS IDENTIFIED AS BEING 'AT RISK' BECAUSE OF THEIR DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIOR IN SCHOOL. FOR EACH POPULATION, THE REPORT PRESENTS AND ANALYZES DATA ON DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, IDENTIFIES PROBLEMS, AND CITES PROGRAM RECOMMENDATIONS. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE TWO POPULATIONS FOCUSES ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HOME SITUATION AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN THE BEHAVIOR OF YOUTHS IN THE COMMUNITY AND AND IN SCHOOL. POOR FAMILY SITUATION (LACK OF ADEQUATE PARENTING SKILLS, PARENTS UNWILLING TO COOPERATE IN TREATMENT FOR THE CHILD, PARENTAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT, BROKEN HOMES) IS THE MAJOR PROBLEM ASSOCIATED WITH BOTH STATUS OFFENDERS AND YOUTHS AT RISK. GENDER AND AGE ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN YOUTHS AT RISK (71 PERCENT MALE, 51 PERCENT UNDER 14) AND STATUS OFFENDERS (65 PERCENT FEMALE, 67 PERCENT AGE 14 TO 16). CHANGES IN STATE LAWS AND POLICIES REGARDING SERVICES TO ADOLESCENTS ARE RECOMMENDED. A DESCRIPTION OF NORTH CAROLINAS' COMMUNITY-BASED ALTERNATIVES EFFORT, A COPY OF THE SURVEY INSTRUMENT, AND SUPPORTING TABULAR DATA ARE INCLUDED. (LKM)