Three case studies are offered of the delivery structure for employment programs dealing with "high-risk" youth in three settings. These three, representing distinctive types of delivery systems prevalent in the implementation of federally funded employment programs, are (1) Seattle-King County, where the designated local recipient of Federal funds contracts with other units of local government to deliver services; (2) Clark County, Washington, where a county agency covering a rural-metropolitan area delivers services through its own agencies; and (3) San Francisco, where a unit of local government contracts primarily with nonprofit community agencies to deliver services. Data are from unstructured and structured interviews with employment administrators at the local level, front-line personnel in organizations delivering services, and young people. The case studies are presented in this format: (1) discussion of general characteristics of structure and operations, including the local-level agency with general responsibility for Federal employment policy, the organizations with delivery-level responsibility, the local political setting and labor market, and the structure of administrative relations between central administrators and service deliverers; (2) discussion of the nature of delivery-level work in service delivery organizations; and (3) discussion of young people's perceptions and experiences with school, work, and employment programs. (YLB)