We provide a public health prevention context for reviewing the Early Risers "Skills for Success" Program. The program is presented as the prototype of a theory-driven, developmental approach to the prevention of antisocial behavior in elementary school-aged children who display early aggressive behavior complicated by skill deficits in academic and social functioning. Early Risers is compared to other targeted prevention programs, and the benefits of its flexible family support component (FLEX) are discussed in relation to its standardized education and skills training component, CORE. Following an outline of the FLEX implementation procedures, the program's empirical bases are reviewed. We conclude by candidly discussing some pragrnatic research challenges associated with tailoring interventions to family's assessed needs. ********** The public health approach to prevention seeks to decrease base rates of violence in the general population. When applied to youth in the general population, this is a universal intervention approach. Applied to youth at higher degrees of risk, this is considered a selective or indicated intervention approach (Munoz, Mrazek, & Haggerty, 1996). Interventions used to achieve universal prevention goals typically focus on enhancing protective factors in the general population in order to buffer low-risk youth from deviant influences that might encourage antisocial behavior. Examples of interventions designed to achieve universal prevention include media-based public health messages, school-wide discipline policies, and classroom curricula that teach conflict resolution, anger management, assertiveness, and self-management skills. However, the universal approach is less appropriate for high-risk youth who display a life-course persistent pattern of aggressive behavior associated with academic problems, socioemotional skill deficits, damaged peer relationships, and harsh and ineffective parenting practices (Moffitt, 1993). These high-risk youth require targeted (i.e., selective or indicated) preventive interventions. These interventions include early initiation to prevent crystallization of troublesome behaviors and a comprehensive focus that targets risk and protective factors across multiple systems of influence. These interventions also require an extended duration in which to provide protection through multiple stages of risk. A number of targeted preventive-interventions are currently in various stages of empirical validation, including Early Risers (August, Realmuto, Hektner, & Bloomquist, 2001), Early Alliance (Dumas, Piinz, Smith, & Laughlin, 1999), Fast Track (Conduct Problems Prevention Group, 1999; 2002), Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT: Reid, Eddy, Fetrow, & Stoolmiller, 1999), the Baltimore Developmental Epidemiologists Project (Kellam, Rebok, Ialongo, & Mayer, 1994), Seattle Social Development Project (Hawkins, Catalano, Kosterman, Abbott, & Hill 1999), and the Montreal Longitudinal-Experimental Program (Tremblay, Pagani-Kurtz, Masse, Vitaro, & Pihl, 1995). Although these programs share a common perspective on the developmental pathways that high-risk children traverse, they differ in the emphasis given to various program components designed to meet public health goals. The Early Risers "Skills for Success Prevention Program The Early Risers "Skills for Success" Program is a prototype of a theory-driven, developmental approach to the prevention of violence and antisocial behavior. This program is designed for elementary school-aged children whose risk is indicated by a constellation of aggressive, oppositional and disruptive behavior. Implementation requires two years of intensive intervention with an optional year of booster intervention. The program can be implemented in a variety of community venues, including, schools, community and faith centers. The intervention design includes a coordinated set of child- (CORE) and parent/family-focused (FLEX) intervention components that map onto the early-starter model of antisocial behavior (Moffit, 1993; Patterson, DeBaryshe, & Ramsey, 1989). …