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IN THIS ISSUE:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Crime Against Persons with Disabilities, 2009–2019 – Statistical Tables

Justice System Interactions Among Autistic Individuals: A Multiple Methods Analysis

The Perils of Probation: How Supervision Contributes to Jail Populations


EDUCATION

Critical Infrastructure Protection: Education Should Take Additional Steps to Help Protect K-12 Schools from Cyber Threats

Policy Principles Supporting the 13th Year Concept

Self-Assessment Guide for University Prevention Programs Focused on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment


GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

Edge of Tomorrow: Decarbonizing the U.S. Power System

Navigating a Big Transition: Military Service Members' Earnings and Employment After Active-Duty Service

On the Horizon: Planning for Post-Pandemic Travel


HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES

Benefits Received by Veterans and Their Survivors: 2017

Risk Factors for Veteran Food Insecurity: Findings from a National U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Food Insecurity Screener

Experiences of Work-Family Conflict and Mental Health Symptoms by Gender Among Physician Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic



November 19, 2021

Criminal_Justice
CRIMINAL JUSTICE

This report compares the victimization of persons with and without disabilities living in households, including distributions by sex, race and Hispanic origin, age, and disability type. Disabilities are classified according to six types: hearing, vision, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care, and independent living. The report also includes crime characteristics, such as reporting to police. The report finds that persons with disabilities were victims of 26% of all nonfatal violent crime, while accounting for about 12% of the population. Additionally, persons with cognitive disabilities had the highest rate of violent victimization (83.3 per 1,000) among the disability types measured.

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Increasing attention has detailed negative outcomes among interactions between autistic individuals and criminal justice system officers, including police, across the U.S. The purpose of this study is to identify the experiences of autistic individuals and their caregivers across their interactions with the criminal justice system through quantitative and qualitative analyses of responses from a statewide survey in one large, northeastern state. Qualitative findings show a diverse array of experiences between autistic individuals and the justice system as victims, offenders, and witnesses with both positive and negative experiences reported. The percent of qualitative responses in which respondents indicated being an offender or a victim in the criminal justice system were equal (25%). Out of those who indicated they were victims, some reported they were victims of assault or abuse (25%), sexual violence (25%), stolen or damaged property (21%) and/or that they were bullied (12%). About half of the responses from individuals who indicated they were offenders in the criminal justice system were related to police being called. Quantitative findings show increased risk for justice interaction with a co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses, gender, age, and other factors. The findings from this study present important future directions for research, policy, and practice.

Source: Crime & Delinquency

In 2019, one in 73 adults in the United States was on probation. Probation has been viewed traditionally as an alternative and solution to the problem of mass incarceration. However, as the number of people on probation has grown massively and probation supervision has become more punitive over the past few decades, recent reports have focused on how probation is actually contributing to mass incarceration. But there is little information about probation’s impact on jail populations in particular. To remedy this, the authors obtained detailed data from nine cities and counties participating in Safety and Justice Challenge, a national initiative that seeks to address over-incarceration by changing the way the United States thinks about and uses jails. This report explores how probation drives jail populations in racially disparate ways—through stringent and difficult to meet probation conditions that can result in revocation and through the detention of people awaiting violation hearings. Increasingly large numbers of people are having their probation supervision revoked and are then being sentenced to incarceration. Two sites—St. Louis County, Missouri, and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania—reduced the number of people on probation in their jails by funding support services and providing for early termination.

Source: Vera Institute of Justice

Education
EDUCATION

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of schools across the nation, many K-12 schools moved from in-person to remote education, increasing their dependence on information technology and making them potentially more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Education facilities, including K-12 schools, is one of the nation's critical infrastructure subsectors. Several agencies have a role in protecting the subsector. The objective of this report is to determine the extent that federal agencies have assisted schools in protecting themselves from cyber threats. According to data from K-12 Security Information Exchange, schools publicly reported 62 ransomware incidents in 2019, compared to 11 ransomware incidents reported in 2018. However, the U.S. Department of Education has not updated its 2010 plan and has not determined whether sector-specific guidance is needed for K-12 schools to help protect against cyber threats. Department of Education officials stated that the department has not updated the sector plan and not determined the need for sector-specific guidance because U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has not directed it to do so. However, as previously stated, the department is responsible for updating its sector plan and determining the need for guidance. As a result, K-12 schools are less likely to have the federal products, services, and support that can best help protect them from cyberattacks.

Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office

State leaders are looking to increase post-secondary credential attainment to build the depth and breadth of their high-skilled labor force, and the concept of the 13th year has emerged as a model that can help do just that. The 13th year allows students to continue public schooling for an extra year beyond 12th grade at no additional cost, and graduate with both a high school diploma and an industry-relevant, transfer-ready associate degree. Based on research, there are four policy principles that are key to wide-scale implementation of the 13th year concept: (1) equitable student access; (2) high-quality programs; (3) robust student support; and (4) cross-sector program design. This paper explores these four principles and outlines examples in Colorado, Texas and Washington, which have codified policies that create a permissive policy landscape for 13th year implementation.

Source: Education Commission of the States

In 2019, as part of an initiative to reduce rates of unwanted sexual contact at military service academies, the U.S. Department of Defense funded the development of an assessment tool to help military service academies assess whether they are aligned with best practices to eliminate sexual assault and harassment. The assessment was based on a literature review and expert feedback and consisted of 63 criteria that represent what right looks like in sexual assault and harassment prevention. These criteria form the basis of this guide, which is intended to help civilian universities and colleges assess their own programs to prevent sexual assault and harassment. The guide provides detailed, step-by-step instructions for determining how an institution's efforts align with best practices in sexual assault and harassment prevention and how its programs can be improved.

Source: RAND Corporation

Government Operations
GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

The power sector is key in efforts to de-carbonize the economy. In the United States, the power sector has reduced emissions significantly over the last 15 years or so, due to a combination of relatively flat load growth, coal-to-gas switching, and increases in wind and solar deployment. Renewable energy is now in the awkward adolescent stage – big enough to know it will be a central part of the integrated grid, but not there yet. Renewables play a key role in several studies and models presenting potential paths to achieve a power system that is reliable, affordable, and fully or substantially de-carbonized. However, under current policies, power sector emissions could also flat-line over the next 30 years, given high load growth (as other sectors electrify), fewer coal plants that can be retired, additional nuclear power retirements, and continued growth of low-cost natural gas. Voluntary de-carbonization commitments made by utilities, if actually realized, could help lower emissions further, but there is still a gap remaining to get to net-zero.

Source: Aspen Institute

Improving enlisted service member transitions from active duty to civilian life calls for better information about how service members fare in their transitions. The authors examined the relationship among enlisted service members' military occupations, personal characteristics, and civilian employment outcomes over the first three years after separation from active duty. The authors use detailed empirical analysis of more than 1 million service records, matched to employment and earnings after separation. The data encompass all separations from the armed forces from 2002 through 2010. The authors find that post-service earnings were frequently lower than active-duty earnings, showing that transition support is generally needed. Additionally, the results indicated that earnings varied markedly in relation to the former service member's military occupation, and that individuals with higher levels of education and more favorable separation codes had higher earnings after separation.

Source: RAND

Transit agencies played an essential role in ensuring the mobility of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with a challenging environment, agencies operated buses and trains day in, day out, moving millions of people, especially essential workers who kept society going, even at the height of the health crisis. Even though agencies experienced a dramatic loss of riders during the pandemic, they were resilient and creative in moving forward. With good planning, effective operations, and strong communication, agencies can adjust their services to attract more riders. To evaluate transit agencies’ responses to the pandemic and their future plans, the authors collected data from operators, deployed a nationwide survey of staff, and conducted detailed case studies of five agencies. The authors amassed information on how demographic, employment, and travel trends may change in the coming decades. Finally, they developed recommendations for agencies to leverage best practices to ensure their ability to provide equitable access to mobility in the coming decades.

Source: American Public Transportation Association

Health and Human Services
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

This report discusses benefits that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides to veterans and their survivors, as well as complementary programs administered by other branches of the federal government. These cash and non-cash benefits allow veterans and their survivors to access affordable health care, meet monthly living expenses, buy homes, and pursue post-secondary education. Estimates from the 2018 Survey of Income and Program Participation show that in 2017 almost one-half of veterans (46.7%) received at least one benefit. Nearly all veterans had health insurance in every month of 2017 (94.9%) with coverage through a variety of public and private health insurance sources. Just over three-quarters of veterans own or are in the process of purchasing their home. Among veterans with a mortgage, one-third have a loan secured through the VA.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Food insecurity is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. The U.S. Veterans Health Administration began universal food insecurity screening in 2017. This study examined prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among veterans screened. Food insecurity was associated with medical and trauma-related comorbidities as well as unmet social needs including housing instability. Additionally, veterans of color and women were at higher risk for food insecurity. Findings can inform development of tailored interventions to address food insecurity such as more frequent screening among high-risk populations, onsite support applying for federal food assistance programs, and formal partnerships with community-based resources.

Source: Public Health Nutrition

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed increased strain on health care workers and disrupted childcare and schooling arrangements in unprecedented ways. As substantial gender inequalities existed in medicine before the pandemic, physician mothers may be at particular risk for adverse professional and psychological consequences. This prospective cohort study included 276 U.S. physicians enrolled in the Intern Health Study since their first year of residency training. The primary outcomes were work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms during August 2020. Depressive symptoms between 2018 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) were compared by gender. This study found significant gender disparities in work and family experiences and mental health symptoms among physician parents during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may translate to increased risk for suicide, medical errors, and lower quality of patient care for physician mothers. Institutional and public policy solutions are needed to mitigate the potential adverse consequences for women’s careers and well-being.

Source: JAMA Network


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