UNIFIED DELINQUENCY INTERVENTION SERVICES (UDIS) SERVES AS A GOVERNMENTAL CLEARINGHOUSE FOR A VARIETY OF GROUP HOMES, COUNSELING PROGRAMS, AND OTHER CORRECTIONAL ALTERNATIVES FOR JUVENILES IN ILLINOIS. BETWEEN 1974 AND 1977 A CONTROLLED EVALUATION STUDY WAS CONDUCTED BY THE AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH, WASHINGTON, D.C. IT FOUND THAT A DELINQUENT'S NUMBER OF ARRESTS INCREASES SHARPLY AFTER MILD INTERVENTION, SUCH AS PROBATION. IT ALSO FOUND THAT BY THE TIME A YOUTH REACHES EITHER UDIS OR A CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION, HE IS A CHRONIC OR SERIOUS OFFENDER. ARRESTS FOR THESE SERIOUS OFFENDERS DROP SHARPLY AFTER FIRM INTERVENTION, 63 PERCENT LESS FOR UDIS YOUTH AND 71 PERCENT LESS FOR INSTITUTIONALIZED YOUTH. UDIS YOUTHS WHO WERE TAKEN OUT OF THEIR COMMUNITIES HAD LOWER REARREST RECORDS THAN THOSE WHO REMAINED IN THE COMMUNITY, IN EITHER THEIR OWN HOME OR IN A GROUP OR FOSTER HOME. THE STUDY ALSO FOUND THAT UDIS YOUTH COMMITTED MORE OFFENSES WHILE IN THE PROGRAM THAN INSTITUTIONALIZED YOUTH AND THAT UDIS COST AS MUCH AS INTITUTIONALIZATION, ABOUT $1,500 A MONTH. THE MAJOR PORTION OF THIS ARTICLE IS DEVOTED TO THE CONTROVERSY SPARKED BY THIS STUDY. CONSERVATIVES WHO FAVOR INSTITUTIONALIZATION HAVE HAILED IT, WHILE THOSE WHO SUPPORT COMMUNITY BASED CORRECTIONS ARE ATTACKING THE SURVEY'S METHODOLOGY. BOTH SIDES ARE PRESENTED IN DETAIL. AN INDEPENDENT EVALUATION OF THE STUDY IS EXPECTED TO FIND THAT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF UDIS WAS 'VASTLY OVERSTATED' HOWEVER, IT IS CONCLUDED THAT PROPONENTS OF COMMUNITY-BASED FACILITIES IGNORE THE FACT THAT SOME OFFENDERS NEED TO BE REMOVED FROM THE COMMUNITY FOR A WHILE.