Juvenile delinquency is an outward symptom of the deeper social ills afflicting at-risk youth.
Although Extension agents have little difficulty diagnosing the personal, educational, and related social profiles of these youth, solutions and effective programs for working with youth at risk evade Extension's grasp. The majority of young people at risk lack self-esteem and the capacity to achieve. While many juvenile delinquency prevention programs have been implemented through the schools, they're most often directed toward the upper grades where they are too late to be effective. Other programs focus on intervention, reaching youth after their first negative encounter with the law. Project LEAD is designed to prevent delinquency by positively affecting attitudes of youth at risk.