Decisions made by all early childhood stakeholders must be based on science and evidence – about how our children are doing, the resources communities have, and the needs of children in different areas of the state. Building Bright Futures is a valuable tool to inform those decisions. Data presented in this report cover a myriad of topics – some directly related to children, their health and their learning; others that describe the circumstances and environments in which children live. To that end, this biennial assessment describes the status of Arizona’s children across a variety of sectors in several ways: Our Issue Essay, “The future stability of child care in Arizona will rely on long-term public investments” explains why the child care industry was struggling prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, how the pandemic exacerbated the child care crisis, how the public has benefited temporarily through the largest public investment in child care in US history and where the funding went in Arizona. In addition, a sidebar takes a look at research that explains why quality early care and education matters, along with an initial glimpse of the first year of plans of a 3-year federal Preschool Development Grant that Arizona received. Our Data Summaries paint a picture of the overall status of children statewide in four specific areas: Family Characteristics, Economic Circumstances, Education and Child Health and Well-Being. With the release of 2020 Census data, these summaries provide a new detailed snapshot of information on Arizona’s children. However, the 2020 Census faced unprecedented challenges including being conducted during the height of the pandemic, but data quality reviews of the 2020 Census have concluded that the data are generally reliable and accurate for the overall population. However, the specific groups that have been undercounted in the past were again undercounted, often more severely, which includes data for young children. (author abstract)