In its introduction, the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) 1995 report on the state of America's children highlights the opposing pulls toward community or chaos in the treatment of children in contemporary American society. The introduction lists 17 things adults and parents can do to conduct a personal audit to determine whether they are contributing to the crises faced by children or to the solutions they urgently need. The rest of the report focuses on (1) the new federal climate; (2) family income; (3) health; (4) child care and early childhood development; (5) hunger and nutrition; (6) violence; (7) housing and homelessness; (8) children and families in crisis; (9) teen pregnancy prevention and youth development; and (10) education. Each chapter contains lists and tables and recommendations for improvement in the national situation of children. The appendix contains 29 tables that detail trends by year and provide comparisons of children in each of the 50 states and in major cities. An extensive index (approximately 450 entries) accompanies the document. (DR)