Some programs for helping at-risk youth achieve excellent results, while others do not. One reason for program success can be proper management. Mentoring is a promising strategy for helping at-risk youth. Planners who want to create effective mentoring programs should look at the implementation experiences of other youth programs. Evaluations have focused on the following four areas, which are crucial to the success of mentoring programs, or any youth programs: (1) service delivery systems; (2) targeting and recruitment of young people; (3) consistent program mission and identity; and (4) a focused operating system--leadership and staffing. That management factors are essential to youth program successes and failures has not generally been recognized, particularly in the area of mentoring, where enthusiasm is frequently the guiding principle. Unless the field matures and organizes itself, youth programs in the United States will remain marginal enterprises on the periphery of social policy. Funders of research programs must put professional development and training high on their agendas. They must support research into leadership and management skills and expand support of other research into program effectiveness. (SLD)