By statute, the YA is required to accept each juvenile and criminal court case committed to it 'if it believes that the person can be materially benefited by its reformatory and educational discipline, and if it has adequate facilities to provide such care.' In October 1979, the YA began applying these criteria in a strict manner to all criminal court cases that had previously been under the jurisdiction of YA and were subsequently recommitted for a new and serious offense. The current decisionmaking procedure first addresses the issue of 'material benefit' and then focuses on available bed space. The study of this decisionmaking involved an unselected group of 488 criminal court cases committed to the YA during the first 3 months in which the sequential decisionmaking procedure was in operation. The study showed that differences in screening scores primarily reflected differing levels of criminal involvement, e.g., length and violence of pre-YA offense history. The YA has apparently applied the screening factors in an appropriate and internally consistent way. Although the adequate-facilities policy was intended to reduce the YA's institutions and camps, this has not been accomplished, although the policy has helped YA to prevent increased overpopulation. Forms used in the study and materials used by the YA in screening decisionmaking are appended. Tabular data from the study are also provided, along with 13 references.