This report examines reasons for and offers recommendations to end the consistently found deficit in children's well-being in the southern states of Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and West Virginia--a deficit which places both the children and the future of the region at risk. The report reviews 10 statistical measures of child well-being: (1) children in poverty; (2) children living with one parent; (3) low birth-weight babies; (4) juvenile violent crime arrests; (5) high school dropouts; (6) teens not attending school and not working; (7) infant mortality rate; (8) child death rate; (9) teen birth rate; and (10) teen violent death rate. It calculates the hypothetical additional risk children assume by living in the South, and makes five recommendations to address its posited causes for the southern deficit: (1) instill a sense of community concern for children; (2) invest in the South's infrastructure for the future through basic education, effective government programs, and regional jobs creation strategies; (3) build on the strengths of southern heritage and promote positive change through the development of a mindset embracing both change and tradition; (4) end racial discrimination through strategic responses to dismantle racial inequities; and (5) deal with poverty with reason and compassion through adoption of incentive-based principles. The report includes a selected bibliography on the South and southern culture. (KDFB)