IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT INCREASING THE INVOLVEMENT OF COMMUNITY RESOURCES IN DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT WOULD IMPROVE OUTCOMES. DURING THE PERIOD OF STUDY, 40 YOUTHS WERE REFERRED TO THE COMMUNITY DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAM. REFERRALS WERE BASED ON JUDGMENTS THAT OFFENDERS WERE AMONG THE MOST SERIOUS CASES ENCOUNTERED IN TERMS OF OFFENSE DATA AND CASE EVALUATION SCALE RATINGS. OF THE 40 YOUTHS, 10 WERE INSTITUTIONALIZED EITHER FOR STATE DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION OR SUBSEQUENT TO THE COMMUNITY DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION. DATA ON THESE PERSONS WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE STUDY. THE REMAINING 30 JUVENILES COMPRISED THE DIAGNOSTIC (EXPERIMENTAL) GROUP. DEPENDENT MEASURES USED TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF THE COMMUNITY PROGRAM ON JUVENILE BEHAVIOR WERE THE CASE EVALUATION SCALE, OFFENSE DATA, AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE AS INDICATED BY GRADE POINT AVERAGE. OUTCOME DATA FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP FOR A 10-MONTH PERIOD WERE COMPARED WIH OUTCOME DATA FOR YOUTHS WHO ALSO WERE TREATED IN THE COMMUNITY BUT WHO RECEIVED NO SPECIAL SERVICES OR ATTENTION EXCEPT FOR THE COLLECTION OF DEPENDENT VARIABLE DATA. PRETREATMENT MEASURES INDICATED THAT THE TWO GROUPS WERE COMPARABLE. FOLLOWUP DATA SHOWED THAT THE DIAGNOSTIC GROUP COMMITTED FEWER OFFENSES OF A LESS SERIOUS NATURE AND SHOWED A LARGER GAIN IN CUMULATIVE GRADE POINT AVERAGE. THE COMMUNITY PROGRAM REDUCED RATES OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION AND COSTS AND ENHANCED COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN TREATMENT. SUPPORTING DATA ARE PROVIDED. (DEP)