The concerns highlighted in this report were derived from a questionnaire sent to states and territories and reflect national as well as individual state and regional concerns about juvenile delinquency and crime. Although the wide ranging responses to the questionnaire made it clear that states and territories experience different problems, the issues discussed here represent the most serious juvenile justice problems facing the nation today. Although juvenile crime rates have declined in recent years, the focus on delinquency prevention has also waned. However, this is not the time to cut back on efforts to prevent juvenile crime; rather, it is the time to maintain focus on prevention and make it a national priority. Prevention programs work. They cost less than high end intervention efforts, protect the public, and help improve young people's lives. Moreover, serious juvenile justice problems remain and new ones continue to emerge. For example, the number of minority youth in all stages of the juvenile justice system remains disproportionate and troubling. The number of juvenile female offenders has increased significantly, but there is a lack of gender specific programming to deal with them. Likewise, many youth in the juvenile justice system suffer from both mental health and substance abuse disorders, and the services available to treat them are seriously inadequate. It is important not to lose the ground gained over the past several decades in developing prevention programs that keep youth from even once making contact with the juvenile justice system. The President and Congress must lead the nation in making delinquency prevention a priority once again. [Report produced by the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice.].