This study examined specific behavioral characteristics of children in four different treatment environments by an Ohio child mental health agency, in order to shed light on placement decisions in relation to levels of care and severity of symptoms. Data were collected from approximately 300 total program admissions above age 5, each quarter, for an 18-month period of time. The children were in four different treatment environments, including an intensive pre-adolescent residential treatment program (n=90), a pre-adolescent day treatment program (n=51), an urban pre-adolescent, school-based mental health program for children with severe behavior disorders (n=24), and a treatment foster care program (n=166). Results indicate that children in different levels of intensive care can be distinguished by the severity of their behavioral characteristics. Those with more severe symptoms were in residential care. It also appears that some of the "youngest and the deepest" of these children may be at the highest risk for having treatment needs neglected or delayed until they have experienced numerous treatment failures or dangerous levels of symptom severity. (CR)