This report reviews the facts underlying the debate about delinquency in the United States, focusing on evidence of how well various approaches to crime succeed in practice. Do youth programs such as family therapies and recreation initiatives actually make a cost-effective contribution to controlling crime? Research supports a strong foundation for identifying risk factors early in life, allowing programs to target underlying conditions that propel some youth to crime. Research does not suggest that tougher law enforcement and stricter sanctions are likely to reduce crime significantly. A number of youth-oriented prevention strategies have documented impressive results in reducing criminal, delinquent, and predelinquent behavior. Careful evaluation has supported the contributions of early childhood interventions in reducing eventual crime. Several community-wide prevention efforts and recreation programs such as midnight basketball have been demonstrated to be effective. Prevention through youth programs has been shown to work. An appendix contains a graph of effective prevention efforts. (SLD)