Every year, juvenile court judges commit large numbers of delinquent youths to institutional placements. Prior research indicates that both legal and extra-legal factors influence this decision-making process. Less frequently examined is the role of treatment needs and prior social services use. This study examined the influence of treatment needs and prior social services use on the dispositions of 187 delinquent juveniles. It found that treatment needs and prior social services use predicted disposition severity when controlling for other legal and extra-legal factors. Moreover, it showed that some of these effects were conditioned by gender. These results suggest the need to create more opportunities to divert delinquent youths into community-based interventions to prevent or delay institutional placements.