Although many California children are growing up in circumstances favoring school performance, many others are inhibited by poor health, poverty, low-quality child care, and other factors external to schools. This report assembles a set of indicators depicting California children's quality of life. Data are included on physical and mental health, physical safety, sexual behavior, and academic achievement. The report also evaluates adult-controlled children's settings--families, day care facilities, schools, and neighborhoods--and addresses the systems serving children, such as health and welfare services, justice systems, and private organizations. The size, composition, and trends of California's changing population are emphasized throughout the report. There is a growing disparity, largely along racial/ethnic lines, between advantaged and disadvantaged children. Since 1980, the income gap between the poorest and "other" families has increased. There is great inconsistency in the quality of publicly financed, insititutional child care. Also, California lacks a systematic means of gathering data about children's well-being and of establishing, coordinating, and evaluating programs designed to meet children's needs, particularly preschoolers. Except for schooling, child care, and some preventive health programs, most state policy is directed at children with manifest and severe problems. From the 1940s to the 1970s, California led the nation in its commitment to serving children's needs. That leadership has faded over the past decade. The new problems facing children reflect the changing family structure, the impact of immigration, and the emergence of a small group of very disadvantaged parents whose children are at great risk of inadequate physical, emotional, academic, and social development. Appendices and numerous chapter references are included. (MLH)