THE STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN IN ANSWER TO CRITICISM OF THE NEW 1969 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS ACT, WHICH WAS SEEN AS PLACING AN INCREASED BURDEN UPON LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENTS, CAUSING A DETERIORATION IN DISCIPLINE, AND RESULTING IN THE REDUCTION OF AGE AT WHICH A YOUNGSTER COULD BE SENT TO BORSTAL. UNDER THE 1969 ACT, CHILDREN, WHETHER 'DEPRIVED' OR 'DEPRAVED', WERE TO BE DEALT WITH AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LOCAL AUTHORITY. FORMERLY, 'DEPRIVED' CHILDREN WERE DEALT WITH BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES, BUT ' DEPRAVED' CHILDREN WERE COMMITTED TO A RESIDENTIAL APPROVED SCHOOL AWAY FROM HOME FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD. FROM JUVENILE COURT REGISTERS, THE CROWN COURT REGISTER, QUARTER SESSIONS RECORDS, AND INDEXES AND CASE FILES, INFORMATION WAS GATHERED ABOUT THE SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF EVERY WARWICKSHIRE YOUNGSTER ON WHOM A CARE ORDER OR SUPERVISION ORDER WAS MADE UNDER THE 1969 CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS ACT FROM 1971 TO 1976. ALLOWING FOR A FEW GEOGRAPHICAL, TIME, AND LEGAL EXCLUSIONS DATA WAS COLLECTED ON 1,070 YOUNGSTERS, UP TO 18 YEARS OLD. COLLECTED DATA INCLUDED REASONS FOR COURT APPEARANCE, TYPES OF ADJUDICATION, AND SPECIFICS AS TO PLACEMENT. ANALYSIS OF THE COLLECTED DATA WAS TABULATED UNDER TRENDS IN THE USE OF FIRST-TIME CARE AND SUPERVISION ORDERS, 1-YEAR RECONVICTION RATES, AND THE USE OF BORSTAL AND DETENTION CENTER SENTENCES. IT WAS FOUND THAT YOUNGSTERS ON A CARE ORDER FOLLOWING AN OFFENSE WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS LIKELY TO BE RECONVICTED WITHIN 12 MONTHS THAN YOUNGSTERS ON A SUPERVISION ORDER. ALSO, THE COMBINED 1-YEAR RECONVICTION RATES FOR ALL TYPES OF ORDER REMAINED FAIRLY STABLE FROM 1971 TO 1976. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE IN WARWICKSHIRE THAT COURTS BYPASSED SOCIAL AGENCIES AND MADE MORE USE OF THE PENAL SYSTEM. ALTOGETHER, THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF NEW SIGNIFICANT TRENDS AS A RESULT OF THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS ACT. TABULAR DATA AND APPENDIXES ARE PROVIDED. (FCW)