Acknowledging the connection between children's well-being in their early years and their later academic success, this report card documents the well-being of young children in California with regard to their early care and education, health, family economic resources, and child safety. The report identifies state improvements and areas where improvement is still needed, compares California to other states, and offers strategies for improving young children's chances to thrive. The report's introduction highlights important findings of the report related to the proportion of children living in poverty, the significant racial disparities, and the numbers of children experiencing food insecurity or lacking health insurance. Following the introduction, the report discusses young children's well-being in the following areas: (1) education, including the cost of quality early care and education programs, preschool enrollment, per pupil expenditures for K-12, and academic achievement; (2) health, including health insurance coverage, infant health, and oral health; (3) family economics, including children in low-income or poor families, housing, before- and after-school programs, and food programs; (4) child safety, including domestic violence, child abuse, foster care, and child mortality. Throughout the sections of the report are descriptions of promising or successful programs to meet young children's needs. The final section of the report presents a vision for each area and offers recommendations for state policy changes to improve young children's overall well-being as well as recommendations for community action. The report concludes with a list of members of the California Report Card advisory committee and the Children Now board of directors. (Contains 62 endnotes.) (KB)