This report describes delinquency cases and petitioned status offense cases handled between 2005 and 2019 by U.S. courts with juvenile jurisdiction. In 2019, these courts handled an estimated 722,600 delinquency cases and an estimated 90,500 petitioned status offense cases. The number of delinquency cases processed by juvenile courts decreased 56% in the 15 years between 2005 and 2019. Between 2005 and 2019, the number of cases decreased for all offense categories: property 65%, public order 59%, drugs 47%, and person 45%.Between 2010 and 2019, the volume of juvenile court cases involving burglary or larceny-theft cases decreased (55% and 63%, respectively), and the FBI reported that arrests of persons under age 18 decreased 68% for burglary and 70% for larceny-theft offenses. Unlike most other offenses, the number of juvenile court cases involving criminal homicide increased substantially in the 5-year period between 2015 and 2019 (49%). The FBI reported a 10% increase in the number of juvenile arrests involving criminal homicide between 2015 and 2019.

Incarcerated individuals with mental health disorders are disproportionally sent to restrictive housing (i.e., solitary confinement), which is known to have deleterious impacts on mental health. In response, North Carolina's prison system developed Therapeutic Diversion Units, treatment-oriented units for incarcerated individuals with high mental health needs who cycle in and out of restrictive housing. This analysis compares the impact of restrictive housing and Therapeutic Diversion Units on infractions, mental health, and self-harm among incarcerated individuals. Data were 2016–2019 incarceration records from North Carolina prisons. Outcomes were rates of infractions, inpatient mental health admissions, and self-harm in restrictive housing and Therapeutic Diversion Units. The analytic sample was 3,480 people, of whom 463 enrolled in a Therapeutic Diversion Unit. Compared with Therapeutic Diversion Unit rates, the rate of infractions was 3 times as high in restrictive housing, the inpatient mental health admissions rate was 3.5 times as high, and the self-injury incident rate was 3.5 times as high. Results indicate that Therapeutic Diversion Unit use had strong impacts on infractions, mental health, and self-harm and provide a promising alternative to restrictive housing for individuals with mental health disorders.

This report presents aggregate summary statistics of Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) capacity based on state-level response to the 2018 SLDS survey collection, as well as a data file of individual-level state response. Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) collect, analyze, and use data that span individuals' education experiences from preschool to the workforce. They are designed to help states, districts, schools, educators, and other stakeholders make data informed decisions to improve student learning and outcomes. The study found that K–12 student data were included in 94% of SLDSs (48 of 51 of the participating states and territories) in 2018. The K–12 student data types that were most commonly reported as operational by states and territories are student demographics, grade level, school enrollment and completion, transfer status, homelessness status, dropout history, attendance, and statewide summative assessment scores. More than three-quarters of states and territories (79%) reported that they collect data across multiple agencies in a grades PK-20 plus workforce environment. At least 70% of states and territories reported planned, in progress, or operational automated linkages between K–12 student and K–12 teacher (71%), postsecondary (79%), Perkins Career and Technical Education (83%), and early childhood (80%) data. Nearly three-quarters of states and territories (73%) reported having operational comprehensive data dictionaries for K–12 student data. In addition to the uses discussed above, states and territories indicated that they use data for additional federal and state reports not specific to a sector. Forty-three percent of states and territories reported operational use of data for data quality reports, and 37% of states and territories reported operational use of data for reports to the governor or legislature.

The directionality and longitudinal course between perfectionism and academic achievement throughout adolescence remains unclear as most studies rely on cross-sectional or short-term data and many examine these associations in university students who do not represent the full spectrum of learners. Moreover, most studies are hampered by their reliance on student-reported grades. The authors rectified these issues by examining the longitudinal relation between self-reported perfectionism and teacher-rated academic achievement (grade point average) in a sample of 604 Canadian adolescents followed prospectively from Grade 7 to Grade 12. Using path analysis, results demonstrated a positive relation between academic achievement and perfectionism. In particular, academic achievement positively predicted self-oriented perfectionism at every time point. Academic achievement also positively predicted socially prescribed perfectionism across every time point. At no time point did either form of perfectionism predict academic achievement, highlighting that perfectionism is more likely an outcome of academic achievement, rather than an antecedent. Results also demonstrated that the cross-lagged effect from academic achievement to self-oriented perfectionism was stronger at the transition from middle school to high school compared to pathways in all subsequent years. Overall, such findings imply that adolescents who experience academic success are more likely to experience increases in levels of perfectionism, which may increase their vulnerability to stress.

This report describes how the Community College Research Center’s thinking about guided pathways has evolved. Guided pathways are plans outlined early on in a college student’s academic career that provide a clear road map of the courses necessary for them to complete a credential. The center’s thinking on guided pathways has changed in five areas: 1) program organization and design; 2) new student onboarding; 3) remediation and academic support; 4) ongoing student advising, and 5) teaching and learning. For each area, the authors discuss what the center has learned from studying the implementation of guided pathways at colleges across the country, parts of the model that were underemphasized or mainly theoretical in 2015, and practices that research suggests are critical to achieving more equitable student outcomes and ensuring community colleges’ survival in a post-COVID environment. Based on the research, the authors believe that colleges should focus on implementing the following reforms, which they think are essential to achieving more equitable student success: 1) Organize all programs by meta-major and backward-map them to ensure they prepare students to secure a family-supporting job or transfer to a four-year college with no excess credits in their field of interest. 2) Redesign the onboarding experience to help all students explore their interests and options, connect with an academic and career community, and develop an individualized educational plan aligned with their career and transfer goals. 3) Ensure that every student is able to take a well-taught course on topics that interest them in their first term. 4) Reorganize advising to enable case management by field, and monitor progress and schedule classes using students’ individualized educational plans. And 5) Integrate active and experiential learning throughout programs, both inside and outside the classroom.

Immigration has always been a force of change in U.S. public education. Each generation of young newcomers prompts state and school district leaders to prepare and adapt. Will the newcomers choose to live in our state or district? How many will register for school? Do schools have the capacity and training to support these students? What are school districts doing that can guide other school districts' response? These questions are relevant now more than ever. In recent years, record numbers of undocumented and asylum-seeking families and children from Mexico and Northern Triangle countries—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—crossed the U.S. southwest border in search of safety and opportunity. Some cross undetected, without registering with immigration authorities and becoming undocumented. Others apply for asylum at the border. Once inside the United States, all children, regardless of immigration status, have the right to a public K–12 education by federal law. Education leaders need unbiased information, data, and good practices so they can be ready to support the newcomers effectively once they enroll in school. From Fiscal Years 2017 to 2019, approximately 575,000 undocumented and asylum-seeking children from Mexico and the Northern Triangle were encountered at the U.S. southwest border. In 2020, approximately 491,000 of these children remained in the United States with unresolved immigration status; 321,000 of these children were enrolled in U.S. K–12 public schools. Approximately 75% of these newcomers settled in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina, and Louisiana. Federal law guarantees these students' right to an education; states and districts can apply for formula grants for assistance, as well as information and networking for support. Case studies in Louisiana and California show that schools apply multiple approaches to meeting the needs of these students, but federal assistance is insufficient, and schools need more teaching materials and better training.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) oversight of $12.4 billion in CARES Act funding included monitoring spending and addressing reporting requirements, but further action is needed to more fully assess program and fraud risks. As of July 2021, HUD obligated 94% of its CARES Act funds, and 34% had been expended. The CARES Act significantly increased funding for some HUD programs—for example the Emergency Solutions Grant program for homelessness assistance received more than 10 times its Fiscal Year 2020 funding. The authors previously reported that programs should update risk assessments when funding or the operating environment changes. To respond to COVID-19, HUD expedited its risk assessment process, and concluded the CARES Act funds did not substantially affect programs' risks or existing controls. While HUD's assessment identified risk factors and short-term steps to address them, it did not include some leading fraud risk management practices the authors previously identified. For example, HUD did not identify programs' new fraud risks or evaluate fraud risk tolerance. Additional risk assessment actions could help HUD better identify and address potential program and fraud risks of its CARES Act programs.

The second quarter of 2021 combined tax revenues for property, sales and gross receipts, and income taxes increased 32.5% to $450.4 billion from $340.0 billion in the same quarter of 2020. The estimated total for the second quarter of 2021 state and local property tax revenue increased 6.2% to $165.7 billion (±3.6 billion) from $156.0 billion (±3.4 billion) collected in the same quarter of 2020. Individual income tax collections in the second quarter of 2021 showed an increase of 72.7% to $137.7 billion (±1.1 billion), from $79.7 billion (±0.9 billion) collected in the same quarter of 2020. General sales and gross receipts tax revenue increased 30.0% to $123.0 billion (±2.2 billion) in the second quarter of 2021, from $94.6 billion (±2.6 billion) collected in the same quarter of 2020. Corporation net income tax revenue for the second quarter of 2021 was $24.0 billion (±0.2 billion), an increase of 148.9% from the $9.6 billion (±0.1 billion) collected in the same quarter of 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened appreciation for the critical role frontline workers play in keeping businesses running and communities safe. Business leaders increasingly recognize that listening to workers isn’t just an equity imperative; workers hold unique expertise that can improve business performance. Engaging workers and creating the conditions for them to fully contribute not only unleashes productivity, but reveals that the high cost of turnover need not be tolerated as a cost of doing business. Workforce organizations can serve as a key catalyst in unlocking worker expertise and engagement in ways that strengthen job quality, equity, and the business bottom line. In recent years, many workforce leaders have expressed interest in learning how to conduct their own worker-focused research and have asked for tools to help them build worker input into the design and delivery of programs and business services. In response, the authors have developed two beta tools: a guide to conducting worker focus groups and a tool for conducting worker surveys. The authors are currently conducting pilots with workforce organizations and businesses across the country, where workforce professionals are testing these tools and supporting employers to make job quality improvements. They will continue updating these tools, but given that many requests have been received, the authors are publishing them in beta form so that other organizations around the country can test and learn about using these tools.

This report presents selected highlights from 2020 final birth data on key demographic, health care utilization, and infant health indicators. General fertility rates (births per 1,000 women aged 15–44), age-specific birth rates (births per 1,000 women in specified age group), low-risk (nulliparous, term, singleton, cephalic births) cesarean delivery, and pre-term (less than 37 weeks of gestation) birth rates are presented. The U.S. general fertility rate declined 4%, from 58.3 to 56.0 births per 1,000 women aged 15–44, from 2019 to 2020; rates declined for non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Hispanic women. Birth rates declined among women of all age groups 15–44 between 2019 and 2020 with the largest declines for women under age 25. The low-risk cesarean delivery rate rose from 25.6% in 2019 to 25.9% in 2020 with increases for each race and Hispanic-origin group. The U.S. pre-term birth rate declined from 10.23% to 10.09% from 2019 to 2020.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) changed how Medicare pays for physician services, moving from a payment system that largely rewarded volume and complexity of health care services to the Quality Payment Program, which is a payment incentive program intended to reward high-quality, efficient care. Providers participate in the Quality Payment Program through one of two tracks: Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or advanced alternative payment models. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administers the MIPS under the Medicare program. Under this system, MIPS-eligible providers receive a final score based on their performance on certain measures in four categories, such as quality and cost of care. This final score is compared to a performance threshold and is used to determine if providers receive a negative, neutral, or positive payment adjustment applied to future Medicare payments. Providers may receive a larger positive adjustment if their final score surpasses a higher threshold, known as the exceptional performance threshold. In addition, eligible providers who do not submit required performance data may receive a negative adjustment. Analysis of CMS data shows that final scores were generally high and at least 93% of providers earned a small positive adjustment in 2017 through 2019, with the largest payment adjustment in any year being 1.88%. Median final scores were well above the performance threshold across each of the 3 years. About 72% to 84% of providers earned an exceptional performance bonus, depending on the year. Stakeholders interviews identified challenges such as that the design of the program may incentivize reporting over quality improvement, with providers choosing to report on quality measures on which they are performing well, rather than on measures in areas where they may need improvement. Strengths were also identified such as how bonus points, such as those that may be added to the final scores for small practices, helped increase scores for certain providers who might otherwise be disadvantaged.