The Center for Child and Family Policy was established at Duke University on July 1, 1999, following several years of planning by faculty members representing numerous disciplines and the full campus. The Center was approved as a university-wide Center for an initial five year period. The Center's mission was initially framed broadly to bring academic scholarship to bear on problems facing children and families in contemporary society, through its activities of research, teaching, service, and policy development. In reality, though, its initial tasks were to define its mission more specifically, to build a critical mass of support within the university, to establish partnerships with community and government agencies, and to obtain external funding for its activities. Four years later, the Center had grown three comprehensive programs of policy-relevant activity, in areas of adolescent problem behaviors, education reform, and early childhood adversity. The Center has clearly succeeded in its first tasks of forging a mission, building internal faculty support, and obtaining external funding. The next five-year period represents a new challenge of refining the Center's identity and maturing the Center into a stable force that contributes both to Duke University's mission and to society. With that challenge in mind, the Center undertook a strategic planning process that culminated in this report. The process included: (1) meetings with the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the Center's internal Advisory Board; (2) review of the missions and scope of 22 similar centers at other universities, including site visits to Columbia University and Yale University; (3) consultation with a planning expert; (4) group and individual meetings with Center faculty members, Research Scientists, and administrative staff members; and (5) written input by Center staff and faculty members. The Center's goal is to become a new model of how universities can exert an impact on society, one that will be readily apparent to policymakers. This goal is embraced by the overall Strategic Plan for Duke University. (Contains 2 footnotes.) [This document was prepared by the Center for Child and Family Policy.]