Conclusion

Abstract

It seems fortuitous that the final words of this volume are being completed on January 1, 2000. While much has been said about entering the new millennium (too much, some might argue), there is something exhilarating about launching into a new decade and new century. We have a renewed sense of purpose and fresh hopes for the coming years. The challenge of assisting all youth to achieve responsible adulthood is enormous. Millions of young people need immediate, intensive, individual attention. Demography is at work producing an even larger wave of adolescents tumbling into a population increasingly weighted by long-lived older adults.