This report, written for state legislators, law enforcers, and researchers, presents the results and recommendations of a study of youth crime and juvenile justice in California. Part I, The Control of Youth Crime in California Today, discusses juvenile crime rates, the processing of juvenile arrests, and arrest disposition patterns. Part II, The Development of Juvenile Law and Intervention Strategies in a Historical Context, addresses the evolution of the juvenile court and its critics, and the search for effective treatment programs. Several treatment programs are described, including the California Community Treatment Project, the Silverlake Experiment, Unified Delinquency Intervention Services, and VisionQuest. Part III, A Reform Agenda for California Juvenile Justice, focuses on the organization of juvenile correctional programs including treatment and sentencing options, authority, and the development of community-based sentencing. The final subsection in part III focuses on the study group's recommendations to the legislature, which include the creation of a juvenile justice commission with ongoing authority to empower legislative changes, funding changes, and sentencing reforms. The appendices present movement patterns and parole outcomes in 1975, Washington State's juvenile sentencing law, and charts of arrest and disposition patterns. A four-page list of references is included. (BL)