The national study will look at the implications of determinate and indeterminate sentencing for commitment and release decisionmaking for juvenile delinquents. The telephone survey reached key juvenile justice personnel in each State and covered how adjudicated delinquents may be committed to and released from placement in State-level institutions. They describe those persons empowered, both by statute and in practice, to make release decisions, the criteria that apply to the decision to release youth from institutional placement, and the procedures used in making the release decision. The summaries illustrate a wide variety of approaches to commitment and release in operation throughout the country. The format for each State summary is the same. Each begins by listing the following information: type of State (determinate or indeterminate by release process), juvenile corrections agency to which youth are committed, whether the State has a serious delinquent statute, number of State institutions, State training schools 1979 resident population, average age in training schools, and average length of stay in training school. A process summary is then given which covers the legal framework of commitment and provides information on the agency to which the youth is committed.