The Reconnecting Youth (RY) program offers a carefully designed, research-validated model for building strength and competence in at-risk students, transforming risk into resilience. This manual was written to assist group leaders in implementing the RY program. The overall purpose of the program is to reach high-risk youth, who are on a potential drop out trajectory. The point of the program is to reach these youth before they drop out of school. While the intended recipients of the RY program are at high risk of school dropout, the content of this program would benefit most high school students. Most of the chapters are devoted to detailed group session plans for implementing the program over a 5-month school semester. The introduction provides a synopsis of the structure, objectives, and key components of the program. The second chapter contains practical information on starting an RY group, focusing on the background and organizational framework of the program as well as the phases of group development and how group processes are integrated with skills training. "Getting Started: The First 10 Days" provides specific plans for each of the first 10 days in RY. A chapter is devoted to each of the four major units of the RY program: (1) "Self-Esteem Enhancement"; (2) "Decision Making"; (3) "Personal Control"; and (4) "Interpersonal Communication." Following these four chapters are additional chapters that focus on system-level interventions necessary to reconnect youth to the larger school network, to prevent suicide, and to evaluate the effectiveness of RY program implementation and outcomes. A separate section focuses on social, recreational, and school activities. Another section describes how to develop or enhance a school-based crisis response plan. A section concentrates on the necessary process and outcome evaluation tools to assess the effectiveness of RY. As an aid to the RY group leader, an index of all sessions is included. (Contains 18 references.) (SL