Office of Justice Programs; Missing Children's Assistance Act; Fiscal Year 1994 Competitive Discretionary Grant Program: Second National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children (NISMART II); Notice DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

SUMMARY: The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

(OJJDP) is publishing this Notice of a Competitive Discretionary Grant

Program and announcing the availability of the OJJDP application kit

under section 404(b)(2)(D) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Act

of 1974, as amended (the Act), 42 U.S.C. 5773(b)(2)(D). An OJJDP

Application Kit containing a copy of the Guidelines, application form

(Standard Form 424), standard and special conditions, the OJJDP Peer

Review Guidelines, OJJDP Competition and Peer Review Procedures, and

other supplemental information relevant to the application process can

be obtained by calling the Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, toll-free,

24 hours a day, (800) 638-8736.

DATES: All applications must be received by 5 p.m. e.s.t., October 30,

1994. Applications received after the deadline date will not be

considered.

ADDRESSES: Applications must be mailed or delivered to: NISMART II,

Research and Program Development Division, OJJDP, Room 782, 633 Indiana

Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., 20531. (202) 307-0586.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Cammarata, Research and Program

Development Division, OJJDP, Room 782, 633 Indiana Avenue, NW,

Washington, D.C., 20531. (202) 307-0586.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose

Pursuant to the Missing Children's Assistance Act, Title IV,

section 404(b)(3) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Act of 1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5773(b)(3), OJJDP is required to

conduct periodic studies of the incidence of missing children. The

first such study was published in May 1990, providing national

estimates of the numbers of children who were abducted by family or

non-family members, runaway, thrownaway, lost or otherwise missing

during 1988. OJJDP is now conducting the second National Incidence

Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway & Thrownaway Children (NISMART

II). The purpose of NISMART II is to develop reliable and valid

statistics on the incidence of children who are missing, abducted,

runaways or thrownaway.

Background

``Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children in America,

First Report: Numbers and Characteristics,'' (NISMART I) published in

May 1990, was developed in response to the statutory mandate, section

404(b)(3) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of

1974, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5773, which requires OJJDP to conduct

periodic national incidence studies to determine for a given year the

actual number of children reported missing, the number of children who

are victims of abduction by strangers, the number of children who are

victims of parental kidnappings and the number of children who are

recovered each year. The studies funded by OJJDP had two primary

objectives: (1) To develop valid and reliable national estimates of the

numbers of children reported and/or known to be missing in the course

of a given year as well as the number of these children who are

recovered; and (2) To establish profiles of missing children and

characteristics of the episodes.

NISMART I developed a comprehensive strategy to respond to the

specific requirements of the legislation and to the unique problems of

defining and counting these children. Five distinct categories of

problems that children experience were examined in the study in order

to seek evidence of missing children. Each involved certain situations

in which children were missing or displaced in some manner that

appeared to put them at risk of harm. The five populations include:

(1) Family Abductions (children abducted by parents or other family

members)

(2) Non-Family Abductions (children abducted by strangers and other

non-family members)

(3) Runaways

(4) Thrownaways

(5) Lost or Otherwise Missing Children

The NISMART I studies included:

(1) A Household Telephone Survey

(2) A Juvenile Facilities Survey

(3) A Returned Runaway Study

(4) A Network Study

(5) A Police Records Study

(6) An FBI Data Reanalysis Study

(7) A Community Professionals Study

Subsequent to the NISMART I project, OJJDP funded a planning effort

to support methodological and conceptual activities in preparation for

the second national study of the incidence of missing children. The

major purposes of the planning effort were to examine conceptual,

methodological, policy, cost, and other factors in connection with

NISMART II, and to make recommendations for the design of this second

study. Major planning activities included:

(1) An assessment of NISMART I;

(2) A Key Informants Survey to identify NISMART II information

needs and sources of information;

(3) A Planning Symposium which brought together knowledgeable

individuals to comment and make recommendations for NISMART II;

(4) An exploration of additional data sources and methodologies

that may improve NISMART I;

(5) Development of draft definitions, and draft screening and

survey questions for a household survey;

(6) An analysis of the Police Records Study conducted in NISMART I;

and

(7) Recommendations for NISMART II.

The results of the planning effort are presented in the report

entitled ``Planning the Second National Incidence Studies of Missing,

Abducted, Runaway & Thrownaway Children,'' which is available at the

Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse (1-800-638-8736), along with related

references cited later in this announcement.

Goals

OJJDP undertakes this project to provide crucial information to

parents, legislators, judges, police, social workers, and many other

related professionals. The project will build upon the conceptual and

methodological experiences of NISMART I, and will build upon the

activities of the NISMART II planning effort in order to conduct a

sound, valuable, cost-effective study focusing on the classification

and estimation of missing children incidents.

The project will allow for a better understanding of the extent of

missing, abducted, runaway, and thrownaway youth, and other

victimizations of children, by focusing more sharply than NISMART I on

the incidence of missing children.

Objectives

To develop valid and reliable national estimates of the

numbers and characteristics of the incidents and children who are

missing, abducted, runaway or thrownaway, and the number reported to

the police and/or known to be missing in the course of a given year as

well as the number of these children who are recovered;

To develop valid and reliable national estimates of the

incidence of sexual assault and exploitation of children and youth by

non-family members;

To improve the validity and reliability of incidence

estimation regarding the number of children who are missing, abducted,

runaway, or thrownaway;

To improve identification of eligible incidents, and to

accommodate recommended changes in the definition of case types;

To respond to the legislative requirements, the strengths

and weaknesses of NISMART I, the comparability between NISMART I and

II, and the recommendations of the planning effort for the conduct of

NISMART II;

To develop a single estimate of missing children that is

methodologically sound and meaningful for interpretive and policy

making purposes; and

To refine survey methods for interviewing youth about

victimization and other high-risk experiences.

Program Strategy

The organization selected to conduct this research project will be

responsible for all aspects of the project, whether carried out

directly or contracted to other organizations or individuals.

Applicants should familiarize themselves with all relevant NISMART

materials listed in the Reference Section.

The following discussion of program strategy summarizes some of the

recommendations from the planning process. Applicants are expected to

describe in their application how the recommended strategy may or may

not result in achievement of the stated objectives. Furthermore,

applicants are also invited and encouraged to submit alternative

methods for carrying out the goals and objectives of this research

project. Regardless, applicants are expected to expand upon their

strategy by providing a discussion of the issues and more detail

regarding the methodology.

The proposed program strategy includes seven components:

(1) A project advisory board

(2) A household survey

(3) A police records study

(4) A juvenile facilities study

(5) An analysis of the community professionals study conducted under

NIS-3

(6) The development of a single estimate of missing children

(7) A project implementation plan

Project Advisory Board

A core program advisory board of at least three outside experts and

three Federal agency representatives will be selected to provide

substantive and technical advice to this program. OJJDP also encourages

seeking input from additional scholars, practitioners, educators and

policy makers. The board will provide advice, guidance and overall

direction of the project, and to review project plans, and draft and

final reports of the grantee.

Household Survey

A nationally representative household survey consisting of

interviews regarding 40,000 children will be conducted for the major

purpose of collecting data to support incidence estimates for non-

family and family abductions, runaways, thrownaways and lost, injured

or otherwise missing children. The study will focus on the

classification and estimation of incidents; however, the study will

retain sufficient detail about the cases, children, and perpetrators in

order to provide useful information for prevention, policy and program

development.

The NISMART II household survey would differ from NISMART I in the

following areas:

(1) Greater focus on the classification and estimation of

incidents;

(2) An increase in child sample size to at least 40,000;

(3) Interviews with 12-17 year old youth for all categories of

children;

(4) More extensive screening questions;

(5) Use of a standard incident report form integrated for all child

case types; and

(6) National estimates of the incidence of sexual assault and

exploitation of children and youth by non-family members.

NISMART II will consist of a telephone survey yielding 40,000

interviews with youth age 12-17 as the primary respondents. Parents/

caretakers will serve as proxies, as appropriate, and for children

under age 12.

Discussions among researchers and practitioners indicate that

definitions of missing, abducted, runaway, and thrownaway children need

to be reviewed and revised accordingly. Several suggestions and

alternative definitions are provided in the referenced material. Also,

NISMART I provided two estimates for each of the five categories based

on study definitions for ``broad scope'' (broad definition) and

``policy focal'' (more serious) cases. Alternative definitions for

policy focal runaway and thrownaway youth are also provided in the

referenced material.

Additional screening questions are needed to identify missing

events. Screening questions for all case types will be revised and

enhanced to improve respondent recall, i.e., more direct cues about

places or situations. Screening questions will also be developed that

use different terminology for children to associate with and

understand.

Additional screening questions will also cue for non-family

abductions involving sex offenses. Research indicates that abductions

involving sex offenses appear to be a relatively frequent occurrence,

and therefore, may be better identified through a household survey

rather than police records which have been documented as lacking the

necessary information to classify such events.

Police Records Study

Experiences of NISMART I confirmed that the original sample size

and methods of the household survey would not identify enough cases of

non-family abduction to produce a reliable estimate. The police records

study was conducted to accommodate this problem; but not without its

drawbacks. A significant amount of information on key criteria

necessary for classifying and counting a case as a non-family abduction

was not available in police records on homicide, abductions, and sex

offenses. Although a number of non-family abduction cases were

identified in the police records study, the study was labor intensive

and expensive, and offered little information about the details of the

incident.

However, a police records study may offer a source of information

on stereotypical kidnappings and stranger abduction homicides. A police

records study may also be used to validate pre-testing activities,

i.e., seeding a sample for pre-testing a new survey instrument.

Applicants are requested to describe how a police records study may

assist in developing estimates on stereotypical kidnapping and stranger

abduction homicides, in validating pre-test activities, or in achieving

other stated objectives of this project.

Juvenile Facilities Study

The NISMART I study also included a juvenile facilities study which

identified juvenile runaways from nonhousehold settings. This

subpopulation is believed to be substantial in size and different in

characteristics from other runaway populations. Failure to include this

subpopulation will result in undercoverage, particularly of the

population that has frequent encounters with the juvenile justice

system. Consequently, NISMART II will include a juvenile facilities

study to capture the portion of the target population comprised of

runaways from facilities. Facilities will include: shelters, juvenile

correctional facilities, group homes, boarding schools, and residential

mental health facilities. The study should include:

(1) A sample of 30 counties

(2) A sample of 75 facilities within the counties

(3) Survey on all children running away from the facilities in the

previous 12 months.

Facility officials will serve as survey respondents and will be

asked for information about the institution, number of children in

residence, type of facility, and the number of children who have

runaway from the facility in the previous 12 months. Detailed

information about specific recent runaway episodes will be gathered on

a specified number of children.

Analysis of the Community Professionals Study

The thrownaways who are most difficult to identify are abandoned

children, whose parents or caretakers have gone off and left them.

NISMART I identified thrownaway children by capitalizing on the

availability of national data from the National Incidence Study of

Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-2) study. The NIS-2 study surveyed

professionals in agencies likely to come into contact with such

children in a nationally representative sample of 29 counties. A NIS-3

study is planned for 1994, and therefore the data will be available in

1995 to provide thrownaway incidence information in a manner timely for

NISMART II, using a methodology similar to that used in NISMART I. The

NIS-3 data will provide a thrownaway incidence estimate to augment the

data collected by the household survey on thrownaways.

A Single Estimate of Missing Children

The NISMART I incidence estimates for abducted, runaway,

thrownaway, and lost or injured or otherwise missing children were not

aggregated to produce a single estimate of missing children. The

different case types were not summed for a variety of reasons: they

represent very different phenomena, many of the children were not

really missing, and the various NISMART I methodologies produced

estimates that were not appropriate to aggregate. However, the

legislation requires that OJJDP attempt to develop a single estimate of

missing children.

The applicant must discuss the legislative requirement, and develop

procedure and criteria for arriving at a single estimate of missing

children that is methodologically sound and meaningful for interpretive

and policymaking purposes.

Project Implementation Plan

The applicant must develop and provide a detailed time-task plan

that covers all activities and includes expected dates for the delivery

of products to OJJDP. The time-task plan should clearly identify major

milestones related to each activity.

Project Activities

The major activities to be undertaken for this project are outlined

below:

Refine definitions and measures for all NISMART case

types, taking into consideration all the suggestions and alternatives

provided in the referenced material.

Develop survey/screening questions for interviewing both

children age 12-17 years old and parents/caretakers. This activity

includes developmental pre-testing to ensure that questions elicit

reliable and valid answers from the appropriate respondents, and to

ensure that questions are appropriate for the mode of interviewing.

Develop and pre-test an integrated incident report

instrument for all case types.

In accordance with legislative mandates, develop criteria

for arriving at a single estimate of missing children.

Establish and convene advisory board meetings.

Establish methods of quality control of the data.

Prepare the information collection package for submission

to the Office of Management and Budget for clearance.

Recruit, hire, and train data collectors.

Collect data and assure its quality.

Perform data cleaning and processing tasks.

Analyze data and compare to NISMART I, as appropriate.

Write draft and final reports.

Develop a marketing, product, and dissemination strategy

for both the study results and the data set.

References

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, Section

404(b)(3), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5773 (b)(3).

Finkelhor, D., Hotaling, G., & Sedlak, A. (1990). ``Missing,

Abducted, Runaway & Thrownaway Children in America, First Report:

Numbers & Characteristics, National Incidence Studies,'' OJJDP,

Washington, DC.

Collins, J., Messerschmidt, P., McCalla, M., Iachan, R., & Hubbard,

M. (March 1994). ``Planning the Second National Incidence Studies of

Missing, Abducted, Runaway & Thrownaway Children. Final Report.

OJJDP Grant 92-MC-CX-0018.

Plass, P. (June 1993). ``Distinguishing Between Keepings and Takings

in the Definition of Family Abductions: Lessons from NISMART I and

Advice for NISMART II.'' Paper presented following planning

symposium in Washington, DC.

Mead, K. (February, 1993). ``NISMART II Planning Grant Literature

Review''. Research Triangle Institute: North Carolina.

Dietz, P. (June 1993). ``Assessment of the Definitions of Runaway

and Thrownaway Episodes used in NISMART I, and Recommendations for

NISMART II''. Paper presented following planning symposium in

Washington, DC.

Dietz, P. (June 1993). ``Summary of the Discussion Regarding Runaway

and Thrownaway Definitions for NISMART II''. Paper presented

following planning symposium in Washington, DC.

* References are available from the Juvenile Justice

Clearinghouse, 1-800-638-8736.

Eligibility Requirements

Pursuant to the provisions of title IV (The Missing Children's

Assistance Act) of the 1974 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 5775, applications will not be accepted from

for-profit agencies. In submitting applications that contain more than

one organization, the relationships among the parties must be set forth

in the application. As a general rule, organizations which describe

their working relationship in the development of products and the

delivery of services as primarily cooperative or collaborative in

nature will be considered co-applicants. In the event of a co-applicant

submission, one co-applicant must be designated as the payee to receive

and disburse project funds and be responsible for the supervision and

coordination of the activities of the other co-applicant. Under this

arrangement, each organization must agree to be jointly and severally

responsible for all project funds and services. Each co-applicant must

sign the SF 424 and indicate its acceptance of the conditions of joint

and several responsibility with the other co-applicant.

Applications which include non-competitive contracts for the

provision of specific services must include a sole source justification

for any procurement in excess of $25,000. The contractor may not be

involved in the development of the statement of work. The applicant

must provide sufficient justification of not offering for competition

the portion of work proposed to be contracted.

Applicants must demonstrate sufficient experience in conducting

research and data analysis to complete this project. Extensive

knowledge of survey research methods is essential. The successful

applicant must have experience in designing and carrying out research

that presents difficult challenges for conceptualizing the research,

defining and measuring the phenomenon, administering the study and

conducting data analysis. The organization must have personnel with the

necessary communications skills and organizational ability to carry out

this project effectively and in a competent and timely manner. Further,

applicants must demonstrate adequate substantive knowledge in the areas

of missing children and child victimization, which require special

study methods to produce reliable, valid data. Applicants must also

have an understanding of related law enforcement and social services

operations.

Applicants must demonstrate the management capability, fiscal

integrity, and financial responsibility to carry out this project. This

includes but is not limited to having an acceptable accounting system

with sufficient internal controls, compliance with grant fiscal

requirements, and the capability to implement a project of this nature.

Selection Criteria

1. Statement of the Problem. (10 Points)

Each applicant must describe the problem addressed in this program

in a clear problem statement. The applicant must demonstrate an

understanding of the substantive and technical issues related to

NISMART II and for future periodic studies.

2. Definition of Objectives. (10 Points)

The applicant should provide a clear and definitive statement of

the applicant's understanding of the goals and overall objectives of

the project.

3. Project Design. (35 Points)

The overall program design must be appropriate, methodologically

sound, and constitute an effective approach to meet the goals and

objectives of this project. The applicant must provide adequate

justification for research strategy, and demonstrate the

appropriateness of the methods for achieving the project's objectives

and goals.

4. Management Structure. (15 Points)

The management of the project must be consistent with the project

goals and tasks described in the application. The project

implementation plan will be evaluated to determine: the adequacy and

appropriateness of the project management structure and activities

specified in the project implementation plan; the extent to which the

applicant has demonstrated in the time-task plan and program design

that it will complete the major milestones of the project on time; and

evidence of commitment or collaboration and cooperation with other

related research projects.

5. Organizational Capability. (25 Points)

Both the personnel of the organization as well as the technical

capabilities of the organization must be sufficient to accomplish the

tasks of the project. Staff members must demonstrate that they have

sufficient substantive and technical experience. The clarity and

appropriateness of position descriptions, required qualifications and

staff selection criteria relative to the specific functions set out in

the project implementation plan must also be demonstrated. The

organization must demonstrate, based on its past experience and current

capabilities, that it has adequate management and personnel resources

to ensure the successful completion of the project.

6. Reasonableness of Costs. (5 Points)

Budgeted costs are reasonable, allowable, and cost effective for

the activities proposed, and are directly related to the achievement of

the project objectives. All costs must be fully justified in a budget

narrative.

Award Period

Funding will be for 2 years of this 3-year project.

Award Amount

The award amount will not exceed $1,500,000 for the first 24

months.

Due Date

Applications must be received by mail or delivered to OJJDP by

October 30, 1994, at Room 782, 633 Indiana Avenue, NW, Washington, DC,

20531.

John J. Wilson,

Acting Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention.

[FR Doc. 94-22876 Filed 9-14-94; 8:45 am]

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