This issue of the serial "Juvenile Justice" is devoted to the theme of female juvenile defenders and contains three articles on this subject. The lead article, "Investing in Girls: A 21st Century Strategy," by Leslie Acoca, stresses that addressing the needs of adolescent girls, who make up the fastest growing segment of the juvenile justice system, offers the United States its best hope of halting the intergenerational cycle of family fragmentation and crime. "The Female Intervention Team," by Marian D. Daniel, describes the Female Intervention Team developed by the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice to help young women who have lost a sense of direction. "National Girls' Caucus," by LaWanda Ravoira, describes this coalition through which advocates for increased national attention to the special needs of females in the juvenile justice system collaborate. (SLD)