The primary goal of the youth service bureau is to provide counseling and advocacy service to nonadjudicated youth referred directly by their families or various juvenile justice or community service agencies as a result of reported violations of general laws or family difficulties. The services are geared to prevent penetration into the juvenile justice system. The cohort for the study consisted of the 1,342 persons whose cases were closed during 1977 (939 male and 403 female). Measures of recidivism were detention or commitment to the Rhode Island Training School for Boys and Girls, detention at the McCable Juvenile Diagnostic Center, and becoming clients of juvenile probation and parole. In addition to the three types of recidivism, the chronological order in which the youth service bureau intervention and the recidivist event occurred is also considered. The recidivism rate was found to be 24.1 percent. As of December 1979, 9.3 percent of the cohort had been to the training school; 9.1 percent had been to the diagnostic center; and 20 percent had been placed on probation as juveniles. A limitation of the study is that a control group did not exist. Thus, the probability that a random youth with particular offense or personal problems would become involved with the juvenile justice system during the 2-year followup period is unknown. In addition to the recidivism rate, the report includes the variables of client sex, client age when the case was opened, source of referral, length of time the case remained open, type of offense, where the youth resided when the case was opened, and the census tract within the town of residence. Tabular data are included.