A history of delinquency intervention traces the development of the juvenile court system from its initial orientation toward informal procedures to the more recent emphasis on due process and notes that the crucial aspect of the juvenile court -- its broad powers over disposition -- continues. Indeterminate sentences for treatment, parole for those considered cured, and removal of children from their parental home for treatment also remain unaffected. The rejection of the treatment model by the IJA-ABA Juvenile Justice Standards is also described, with emphasis on the standards' requirement of determinate sentences. The constitutional and legal issues regarding early intervention and raised by the standards are also explored. The need to provide a rigorous constitutional analysis of any coercive intervention process aimed at an individual child is also examined. Reference notes are provided.