Services provided by agencies in the community neither reduce the rate of recidivism nor the tendency to commit increasing serious offenses. Subjects in an Ontario, Canada study had committed two or more offenses known to the police. Half the subjects received no service from any of the community agencies. Findings showed: (1) children who received service had a higher rate of recidivism, (2) children receiving "intensive" services had higher recidivism rates than those receiving "brief" services, and (3) severity of offense was unrelated to the amount of treatment. These findings support an argument for "strategic non-intervention." (BN)