Aftercare is the service provided for a youth and his family following a crisis. To be responsive to youth needs, aftercare programs must provide continuity of care and be flexible. They must also address themselves to the well-being of the entire family and develop community networks of youth services. Planning is essential to the development of an adequate aftercare component in any crisis intervention program. After crisis stabilization, the youth's need for aftercare must be assessed. Many of the youth served need intensive family counseling, individual or group counseling, alternative housing, and active support for independent living. Most programs cannot provide all the long term care needed by their clients, so they rely on the services of other agencies. However, many clients are not motivated to continue to take advantage of aftercare services. Aftercare is best carried out when all long term care responsibilities are assigned to specific staff within a separate aftercare component. Clients and staff should assess the quality of aftercare services and funds should be sought for generating special aftercare resources. (Author/MC)