THE DIVISION OF YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES (DYFS), THE NEW JERSEY STATE AGENCY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN, HAS A CHILD MASTER CARD (CMC) FOR EACH CHILD UNDER DIVISION SUPERVISION SHOWING THE CHILD'S PLACEMENT HISTORY. RESEARCHERS CONDUCTING A HAND-TABULATED ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST CMC SAMPLE NOTED THAT CASEWORKERS OFTEN RECORDED CHILDREN AS 'MISSING.' THIS PROMPTED A STUDY TO DETERMINE (1) A STATISTICAL PROFILE OF YOUTH WHO HAD RUN AWAY WHILE UNDER DYFS SUPERVISION, (2) AN ANALYSIS OF PLACEMENT HISTORIES TO DETERMINE IF DYFS PLACEMENT PRACTICES HAD STIMULATED RUNAWAY BEHAVIOR, AND (3) AN ANALYSIS OF THE PLACEMENT HISTORIES OF CHILDREN RETURNING FROM LONG-TERM RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT (IN LIEU OF JUVENILE CORRECTION PLACEMENT) TO IDENTIFY WHICH CHILDREN FAIL TO READJUST TO THE COMMUNITY. THE STUDY WAS LIMITED ONLY TO THOSE YOUTH 'MISSING' FROM OUT-OF-HOME RESIDENCES, WHERE IT COULD BE ESTABLISHED THAT THE YOUTH HAD RUN AWAY. FINDINGS SHOWED THAT (1) FEMALES WITH AT LEAST ONE PLACEMENT IN A RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTER RUN AWAY AT THREE TIMES THE RATE OF MALES; (2) ALMOST HALF OF THE CHILDREN WITH AT LEAST ONE MISSING EPISODE IN THEIR PLACEMENT HISTORY FOLLOWING AN OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENT WERE MISSING FOLLOWING PLACEMENT IN A FOSTER HOME; (3) ONLY 10.5 PERCENT WERE LISTED AS 'MISSING' FROM RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT CENTERS; AND (4) RELATIVELY FEW OF THE RUNAWAY YOUTH WITH AT LEAST ONE MISSING EPISODE FOLLOWING AN OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENT HAD PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH PLACEMENT IN A RESIDENTIAL SETTING. THIS LATTER FINDING SUPPORTS THE CONCLUSION THAT AMONG CHILDREN WHO RUN AWAY FROM AN OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENT, MOST ARE IN FLIGHT FROM A FOSTER HOME, AND THIS BEHAVIOR IS PROBABLY NOT DUE TO THE SHOCK OF RETURNING FROM HIGHLY STRUCTURED PLACEMENTS. THESE FINDINGS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED CAUTIOUSLY BECAUSE OF THE SMALL SAMPLE. SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING DYFS RECORDKEEPING ARE OFFERED. TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED, AND THE STUDY PROPOSAL IS CONTAINED IN THE APPENDIX. (RCB)