The goal of this project is to implement data collection and study design efforts to position OJJDP to produce accurate and reliable national estimates of missing children reported to law enforcement triennially and to contribute to the field's understanding of the extent and nature of key aspects of the nation's missing children problem. Under a cooperative agreement with OJJDP, Westat and the University of New Hampshire's Crimes against Children Research Center are partnering to meet the following objectives:

• To design and pilot test a more cost-effective methodology for collecting national data on the child victims of stereotypical kidnappings known to law enforcement. The project will use a web-based format to reduce costs in collecting incident-level data and ensuring that current data elements are comparable to prior surveys to the extent possible.
• To implement the redesigned survey and data collection methods to produce accurate and reliable national estimates of child victims of stereotypical kidnappings known to law enforcement agencies.
• To develop and pilot test instruments and sampling methods to collect information from law enforcement agencies on family abductions and other types of missing and returned children in preparation for a national survey.
• To produce statistical products, methodological reports, and other scholarly research reports for dissemination to the public to advance the field's understanding of our nation's missing children problem.

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