Examining delinquency problems/services in rural Tennessee, existing secondary data on rural-urban delinquency patterns in the U.S. and Tennessee were compiled; officials and professionals (N=51) working with juveniles in East Tennessee were surveyed; and a preliminary estimation of costs associated with possibilities for improving juvenile services in rural counties was made using a simulated budget approach for group homes, probation services, volunteer programs, and counseling. Analysis of available data revealed: a 38% increase in serious crimes in the U.S. between 1969-74, with Tennessee's rate being far above the national average; juvenile involvement in crime accounted for nearly 50% of all serious crimes in the U.S. in 1974 (Tennessee urban counties had a 1974 juvenile delinquency rate of 32.1 per 1,000 as compared with a rural rate of 12.1); major areas identified as needing more time and money were professional counseling, probation services, recreation facilities, and detention; of the 9 preventive and rehabilitational programs discussed in the survey, special classes, recreation facilities, probation and parole services, foster homes, and volunteer programs were cited as those which could be organized at the county level; the budget analysis suggested the feasibility of pooling or contractual arrangements and the importance of noncost considerations in the decision making process. (JC)