The Valentine Foundation (1991) names the following as things needed by girls in order to be successful.

• Girls need to be safe.
• They need time to talk - in nurturing conversations with ongoing positive relationships.
• They need programs that encourage relationships of trust and interdependence with the women who are a part of their lives.
• They need their cultural and personal strengths to be recognized emphasized.
• They need mentors whose history reflects their own lives.
• And they need education about their bodies, pregnancy and disease.

It is our stance that the needs of girls can be met by taking a holistic or systemic approach when working with them.

Taking a holistic approach when working with girls is essential for success. When one works with girls, there is much more to consider than just the "presenting" problem (e.g. criminal behavior or substance abuse). One must consider and assess all of the relevant systems in their lives looking for risk factor in order to intervene and protective factors in order to enhance. The relevant systems include:

• Their family life,
• Their school,
• Their peers and friends,
• Their social activities,
• Their neighborhood

In essence, one must evaluate and take into consideration their entire "world."

When working with girls, all domains of their lives need to be addressed. An effective approach will strengthen families, support core social institutions, promote delinquency prevention, and intervene immediately and effectively when delinquent behavior occurs. The services provided need to provide care, protection, and treatment. The services and programs should be located in the community, and whenever possible, reduce out of home placement (Howell and Wilson, 1993).
When needs have been identified by considering risk factors and evaluating presenting problems, it should be ensured that the services that are advocated for and offered are appropriate for the needs of girls. These service recommendations should be based solely on the needs of each individual adolescent, and not just on funding availability. As stated by Howell and Wilson (1993), " Its' goal should be to serve the youth's needs, not the requirements of funding streams of various bureaucracies. Collaborative efforts are needed among agencies responsible for assessing the needs of at-risk youth and providing several simultaneous services to maximize efforts." Girls need to have services addressing the various domains of their world wrapped around them, with no gaps. This is the only way one can ensure that all areas of need are addressed. The approach one takes needs to be thorough and comprehensive.

Research addressing gender specific services has consistently shown that it is essential to establish a relationship with the adolescent girls in order to be effective in your work (Surrey, 1991, Gilligan, 1982; 1990, Belenky et a.l, 1986). When working with girls "establishing rapport" is taken to a new level. Girls need to feel a connection in order to trust. Without this connection, progress will be difficult if not impossible.

Boundaries are essential in professional practice but that does not mean one cannot establish an appropriate working relationship with the girls. All healthy relationships, have boundaries. Allowing girls to trust and see adults as caring human beings does not indicate that boundaries are broken, but instead allows the teenage girl to see a healthy relationship in action.

Girls need a connection to an adult in a non-exploitive relationship. (Flansburg, 2001). In some cases there may be the presence of this person in the girl's natural environment, in other cases this person may be an adult treatment provider. However, even if the adolescent that you are working with is involved in other healthy relationships, there must be a connection between the two of you in order for you as the treatment professional to have any influence in her life. For successful intervention, bonds need to be formed. Research suggests that women tend to be relationship-oriented (Gilligan, 1990). Treatment providers need to respect this and teach girls how to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy relationships, how to develop boundaries, and how to protect themselves from exploitive relationships.

It is also important to understand, respect, and honor the various cultural backgrounds of the girls that you work with. Research indicates that minority girls sometimes have different experiences of their gender as well as different experiences with the dominant institutions of society. One should be aware that every experience is unique and also that race plays a role in these experiences. Programs should also be culturally specific as well as gender specific (Chesney-Lind, 1998). The Valentine Foundation (1991) recommends that programs tap girl's personal and cultural strengths. Honoring and respecting the cultures of the girls with which one works will not only enhance relationships and build trust but also enhance self-esteem. Treatment providers need to give girls the opportunity to recognize and be proud of their cultural diversity.