The Chicago Youth Development Project was an action-research program jointly undertaken by the Chicago Boys Club and the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research to test whether a program of aggressive street work and community organization in the core of a city could reduce delinquency among youth living there. The report presents a comprehensive account of what was actually done and with what effect, providing the most complete and objective information obtainable, demonstrating to what degree this kind of program can achieve its goals and suggesting what improvements are needed for an even greater impact. The study compares the effects, over five years, of the program in two inner city areas with comparable control areas nearby on such variables as delinquency rates, youth employment rates, school attendance, and adults' satisfaction with their community. The researchers conclude that the project made negligible impact on these respects, but that when boys' expectations of their eventual educational attainment were raised, their delinquency declined. Based on this finding, the researchers suggest that effective future programs will concurrently open educational and vocational opportunities and prepare youngsters to grasp them, fashioning new ways for some adolescents to be students. (Author/AJ)