Data were solicited in accordance with the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Summary Data Component Form for 1991. The data were collected from August 15 to October 31, 1992, as the second exercise to develop and refine the approach to collecting national information on child maltreatment. The first section describes the historical background of the design and development of the NCANDS, including the legislative basis for initiating the design. The section that reviews the data collection exercise discusses some of the issues, problems, and major findings that emerged in the implementation of this national data-collection exercise. National child abuse and neglect data tables aggregate data reported by States for 1991, and the analysis of data from the national perspective presents the main findings of various analyses of the data provided by States. Findings from the analyses of other child maltreatment data are also included. The section on State comments provides explanations of the data in the national data tables. Appendixes include information on the State Advisory Group representatives, the State contacts who coordinated the provision of data, the 1991 Summary Data Component Forms and Instructions and Glossary, and the revised 1990 Summary Data Component tables that reflect updates submitted by the States.