One in ten young people in Germany does not obtain a school diploma. In 2004, 82,000 students left general education schools without a certificate. Fourteen percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 25 are without vocational training. This has serious consequences: those affected rarely manage to integrate into working life and society. As a result, societal burdens are created that can last for decades. Vocational training remains the key to the integration of disadvantaged youth. Depending on the social, physical, or mental aspects of the disadvantage, individual support must therefore aim as much as possible towards vocational training. Jens Arnold examines comparative support programs in Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He addresses the specific legacies of the GDR education system as well as the conception of new support structures.