This planning guide is designed to help communities answer important questions about programs to address youth violence, including finding out the types of programs that are effective and learning how to implement them. The guide is divided into four sections. Section 1, "Key Facts about Youth Violence," presents key facts about youth violence with information that can help communities develop a local response to violence. Section 2, "Approaches to Community Collaboration," reviews different approaches to assessing community needs and resources and how to mobilize the community to meet those needs. Section 3, "Promising Programs," focuses on how to develop community-based violence prevention, intervention, and youth development strategies, including a menu of programs and activities that can be incorporated into local efforts. Section 4, "Program Implementation and Evaluation," discusses how to implement programs effectively and how to evaluate their impact. Community worksheets are provided as appendixes at the end of the program planning guide to help communities think about the local violence problem. Fact sheets are included to pinpoint aspects of community youth violence. (Each section contains references and resource materials.) (SLD)