Created in 1974, the Connecticut Wilderness School is a successful program for breaking patterns of failure due to negative self-image and instilling positive values of confidence and responsibility in order to develop constructive attitudes and behaviors in young people aged 15 to 20 who have run into trouble with the law. The wilderness program has 3 components: a 2-day introduction for referral agency staff, a 14-20 day wilderness challenge for students, and a year-long follow-up period during which the referral agency is committed to assist the graduate. Organized around rigorous outdoor activities, the wilderness section consists of increasingly difficult group and individual challenges to improve self-image and create responsible, functioning communities from groups of 8-12 students. Follow-up activities include periodic recontact via newspapers, reunions, parent nights, a telephone help-line, and brush-up courses for graduates. With a $66,000 budget and 47 graduates the first year, the program has grown to a proposed budget for 1976-77 of $89,000, a full-time staff of 3, and supplemental summer help, which would support orientation for 60 referral agency staff members, wilderness experience for 144 students, and follow-up for 300 graduates, at a per student cost of $625/year. (SB)