Jefferson County, Kentucky youth detention practices were studied after alleged incidents of physical and sexual abuse. For many years juvenile detention practices had been the subject of local controversy. Strict, objective, and specific criteria for detention were implemented on a trial basis. These criteria described specific crimes or conditions under which a youth was to be detained. Additionally, social workers (N=33) responsible for direct service in alternative programs were interviewed about their programs to determine their effectiveness. This study sought to determine whether implementation of the criteria was a safe and effective method of reducing secure pretrial detention by asking first, whether more youths were arrested again after implementation than before implementation, and secondly, whether more youths failed to appear for trial after implementation than before implementation. Youths (N=425) referred to the detention center before implementation and youths (N=380) referred after implementation were studied. Findings showed that, following implementation, detention was reduced significantly without a significant threat to the community. Numbers of youths detained were reduced by 50% with an insignificant increase in repeat arrests and only a 4% increase in failure to appear for court date. Recommendations included changing from "mandatory hold" to "mandatory release" guidelines, use of a detention screening form, and continued support for alternative programs. (ABL)