An overview of Illinois' services for children and youth provides a historical perspective of these services in the State, lists and describes the functions of State agencies serving children, and presents a summary assessment of these services. Each section of the report describes and assesses a particular service area. The discussion of mental health services includes a brief comment on how juvenile courts and corrections deliver services to mentally-ill children in their care. The section on the juvenile court discusses the purposes of Illinois' Juvenile Court Act, the rights of juveniles, juvenile court proceedings, juvenile custody, case disposition options, guardianship and parental rights, and probation services. Ways the State deals with child abuse and neglect as well as missing children are considered in another section, followed by a section outlining programs for truants and dropouts. The section on juvenile courts and corrections discusses delinquency prevention and early intervention, juvenile detention, and juvenile corrections services. The State's drug and alcohol abuse treatment services are described in one section, including descriptions of sample treatment programs. A summary assessment of Illinois' services to children and youth indicates that shrinking funding and a lack of planning at the Federal and State levels have prevented coordination and cooperation among public and private agencies providing such services. Referral sources are listed for each service discussed, and 10 references are listed.