New laws provide law enforcement with greater direction and assistance in handling missing children cases by defining the various categories of missing children and mandating specific interventions. Missing children categories include stranger kidnaping, parental abduction, and runaways. The recovery of minors who are suspected victims of stranger kidnaping, parental abduction, or sexual exploitation has been legislated as a priority for law enforcement. Laws have increased penalties for the offense of stranger kidnaping, and the criminalization of actions taken by parents to remove their children from the lawful custody of the other parent or to interfere with the parent's custody rights indicates the seriousness with which legislators regard this conduct. Civil damage actions have been made more available as a source of redress for victimized parents and children. Measures have been adopted to minimize competition and confusion in determining the appropriate court to exercise jurisdiction over a custody dispute. These efforts have eliminated haven States for abducting parents to obtain custody rights in violation of existing custody decrees. Federal and State laws have also increased the exchange of information crucial for the successful recovery of missing children through mandatory reporting laws and the creation of clearinghouses and data banks. Legislators have attempted to redefine the problem of runaways as a matter for social services rather than law enforcement. 60 endnotes.