Dating violence is a complex issue that includes a variety of abusive behaviors. In the past, dating violence research focused primarily on college-age or young adults; however, there has been a steady increase in dating violence research on adolescent relationships. This literature review discusses research surrounding teen dating violence, including definitions of different types of dating violence, the scope of the problem, risk and protective factors related to perpetration and victimization, short- and long-term consequences, and outcome evidence of programs that seek to prevent or reduce the occurrence of teen dating violence. This review focuses on dating violence that occurs between adolescents in middle and high school (primarily youth ages 12 to 18). The review notes that although rates vary, psychological aggression/abuse is generally found to be the most prevalent type of teen dating violence. There is also a large overlap in youths who experience teen dating victimization and those who perpetrate teen dating violence. However, the numbers do not necessarily explain why teen dating violence is so prevalent. The review concludes that although a diverse body of research has explored teen dating violence, there are a few additional topics that future research may be able to examine, including research to better understand the findings where girls are more often the perpetrator of dating violence and boys the victim and the relationship between teen dating violence, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Early life exposure to environmental lead (Pb) has been linked to decreased IQ, behavior problems, lower lifetime earnings, and increased criminal activity. Beginning in the 1970s, limits on lead in paint, gasoline, food cans, and regulated water utilities sharply curtailed U.S. environmental lead exposure. Nonetheless, hundreds of thousands of U.S. children remain at risk. This study reports on how unregulated private well water is an underrecognized lead exposure source that is associated with an increased risk of teenage juvenile delinquency. The authors build a longitudinal dataset linking blood lead measurements for 13,580 children under age 6 to their drinking water source, individual- and neighborhood-level demographics, and reported juvenile delinquency records. The authors then estimate how early life lead exposure from private well water influences reported delinquency. On average, children in homes with unregulated private wells had 11% higher blood lead than those with community water service. This higher blood lead was significantly associated with reported delinquency. Compared to children with community water service, those relying on private wells had a 21% (95% CI: 5 to 40%) higher risk of being reported for any delinquency and a 38% (95% CI: 10 to 73%) increased risk of being reported for serious delinquency after age 14. These results suggest that there could be substantial but as-yet-unrecognized social benefits from intervention programs to prevent children’s exposure to lead from private wells, on which 13% of the U.S. population relies.

With a rapidly growing population of older adults with chronic illness in U.S. prisons, the number of people who die while incarcerated is increasing. Support for patients’ medical decision-making is a cornerstone of quality care for people at the end of life. This study aims to identify, describe, and analyze existing policies regarding end of life decision-making in U.S. Departments of Corrections. This study performed an iterative content analysis on all available end of life decision-making policies in U.S. state departments of corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This study collected and reviewed available policies from 37 of 51 prison systems (73%). Some areas of commonality included the importance of establishing health-care proxies and how to transfer end of life decision documents, although policies differed in terms of which patients can complete advance care planning documents, and who can serve as their surrogate decision-makers.

Lottery transfers to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund increased in Fiscal Year 2020-21 to $2.24 billion, $328 million (17%) more than the prior year. This increase is due to large jackpots and the introduction of new scratch-off games and play options. Several additional game and product distribution options are available to further increase transfers to education. However, some options could represent expanded gambling. In a number of other states, product distribution methods have been expanded to include lottery courier services. A lottery courier service purchases tickets on behalf of players, typically through a website or mobile application (app). Several lottery courier services are operating in other states, with and without statutory authority. Three courier services have attempted to operate in Florida since 2017, but the Department of the Lottery (department) stopped the couriers’ operations. The Office of Program Analysis and Government Accountability’s (OPPAGA) review of Florida statutes did not identify any law specifically authorizing or prohibiting courier services. The department continues to outperform the legislative performance standard for its operating expense rate, which is the third lowest in the nation. OPPAGA reviewed department procedures for terminating retailers and monitoring and addressing player issues with the Florida Lottery mobile app as well as use of social media to promote the Lottery. The retailer termination process includes accounting for unused scratch-off ticket inventory and other lottery equipment and materials. The new mobile app was launched in June 2020, and the department provides avenues for players to relay mobile app issues. The department also implements quality assurance testing before updating the mobile app. Social media accounts have a large following and emphasize player fun, education, and responsible play.

The National Center for Education Statistics has published the common core of data files for the 2020-21 school year. The primary purpose of the common core of data is to provide basic information on public elementary and secondary schools, local education agencies, and state education agencies for each state. It includes both fiscal and non-fiscal data. Data are reported at state, district, and school levels and include staff counts by professional category, and student membership disaggregated by grade, race/ethnicity, and sex. Also included are school-level counts of student eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. Along with the data files, four web tables summarizing select common core of data elements including the number and status of schools and local education agencies, as well as several common core of data indicators, by state are also available. For school year 2020-21, Florida is reported as having 4,219 public schools, of which 687 are charter schools, 611 are magnet schools, and 3,095 are Title 1-eligible schools.

Most administrative holds placed on student accounts prevent them from completing an action, such as registering for classes, receiving a copy of their official transcript or applying for employment. By placing a hold, institutions aim to compel students to connect with academic advisors or pay a financial obligation, among other reasons. However, this also means they affect students’ ability to pursue a college credential, which undermines state education and workforce goals. By developing a broader understanding of administrative holds in their state, policymakers and postsecondary leaders may be in a better position to determine whether any reforms or guidance are necessary and to collaborate with institutions to improve policies and practices. This policy brief features insights from interviews with institutional, system and state leaders on the use of administrative holds; and it provides current policy examples and considerations for leaders as they evaluate these types of policies. Administrative holds may undermine state goals related to increasing completion and attainment rates, meeting workforce demands and providing high-skilled, livable-wage employment for residents. Through an increased understanding of administrative holds, state and postsecondary leaders are in a better position to influence policies and practices that ensure institutions are financially viable while also focusing on the academic and non-academic programs that support the success of all students.

To offset losses in agricultural export sales caused by international trade disruptions and increased tariffs on certain U.S. exported products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 's Farm Service Agency (FSA) distributed payments to farms through the Market Facilitation Program (MFP), a supplemental assistance program. Such programs aid eligible farms that have been affected by various situations or events, including financial hardship or crop damage and loss following natural disasters. The FSA collects demographic information from farmers who participate in programs such as the MFP, including whether they belong to historically underserved groups and their income levels. The authors were asked to review aspects of USDA's implementation and oversight of the MFP. This report examines (1) the USDA's distribution of MFP payments to historically underserved and high-income farmers for both 2018 and 2019 and (2) the extent to which USDA verified farms' compliance with MFP eligibility requirements for both 2018 and 2019. The FSA distributed $23 billion in payments for both 2018 and 2019. The authors found that FSA could have done better at ensuring these payments were accurate. For example, during its spot check on 2018 program payments, FSA should have paid special attention to risk factors including first-time recipients or farms that received program payments of over $250,000. The authors recommended that FSA conduct more reliable reviews in the future.

This policy example on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) is a companion to the report A Blueprint for the Next Generation of Federal Place-Based Policy. The blueprint offers a framework for individuals and teams working to design new place-based programs or strengthen existing programs. It prioritizes equity in both process and outcomes. The blueprint can be applied to programs that focus on neighborhoods, cities and counties, Tribal lands, and multijurisdictional regions—and on different outcomes in these places, including safety, health, education, and the built environment. The blueprint offers a two-step process for policy analysis and program design that starts with high-level, analytical questions that help provide the aspirational framework for then addressing a series of specific design decisions. By offering recommendations across key design decisions, this policy example illustrates how the federal government can engage with cities and counties nationwide and mandate equitable place-based planning around the use of federal resources to overcome the legacy of segregation and disinvestment. Key design questions include determining the federal agency or agencies to implement the program, determining which types of local entities would be eligible for funding, and identifying how the program’s effectiveness will be measured.

Since 2006, the Office of Family Assistance, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded and overseen federal funding for four cohorts of healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood grant programs. The healthy marriage grantees promote healthy marriages and relationships through eight legislatively authorized activities, such as marriage and relationship education and development of skills for job and career advancement. Responsible fatherhood grantees’ legislatively authorized activities promote responsible parenting, healthy marriage, and economic stability. This report shares some of what was learned after visits to selected grantees to explore their experiences in implementing these grant programs, with a focus on approaches to staffing programs and working with partners. For strong staffing approaches, the report recommendations include using data to support staff decision making and minimizing staff turnover. For working with partners, the report recommends leveraging existing partnerships and cultivating partnership links over time.

Children with disabilities are at increased risk of experiencing stressful life events. These events include various forms of abuse, neglect, and household instability, such as exposure to violence, parental or guardian incarceration, and living with someone with mental illness or alcohol or drug problems. Stressful life events experienced in childhood may have lifelong effects on physical and mental health outcomes, as well as socioeconomic outcomes, including educational attainment and employment. This report presents disparities in four stressful life events among children aged 5–17 years by disability status using 2019 National Health Interview Survey data. Key findings include that in 2019, 17.2% of children with a disability had been exposed to violence in their neighborhood compared with 5.3% of children without a disability. The percentage of children aged 5–17 years who had lived with a parent or guardian who served time in jail or prison was higher for children with a disability. Among children aged 5–17 years, 21.6% of those with a disability and 7.5% of those without a disability had lived with someone who was mentally ill or severely depressed. In 2019, 17.6% of children with a disability had lived with someone with an alcohol or drug problem, compared with 8.6% of children without a disability. The percentage of children who had experienced two or more of the four stressful life events was higher among those with a disability.

This report demonstrates the ability of data from the National Hospital Care Survey (NHCS) linked to the National Death Index (NDI) to provide information on inpatient hospitalizations and in-hospital and post-acute mortality among patients hospitalized for a specific condition, in this case pneumonia. Nearly 77,000 adult patients were hospitalized for pneumonia in the 2016 NHCS and were eligible for linkage to NDI. Overall, 35% of patients hospitalized with pneumonia died either in the hospital or within 1 year of discharge. Pneumonia patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit and eventually discharged had a 41% increased risk of death within 30 days of discharge than those not admitted to intensive care unit, after adjusting for sex, age, and length of stay (adjusted risk ratio is 1.41, 95% confidence interval is 1.35–1.48). Results in this report also showed that only 5% of deaths among patients hospitalized for pneumonia listed pneumonia as an underlying or contributing cause of death. Studies have also found pneumonia to be an infrequent contributing cause of death for pneumonia patients who died in the hospital or post-discharge. Lastly, these linked data allow for the assessment of risk of death using both patient and hospitalization characteristics. For example, pneumonia patients who were admitted to ICU were four times more likely to die in the hospital than patients not admitted to ICU; even among patients who were discharged alive, admission to ICU predicted risk of death within 1 year. This aligns with previous studies that have shown increased risk of mortality among pneumonia patients admitted to ICU or as length of ICU stay increased.

The authors aimed to investigate if declines in youth’s mental health during lockdown were dependent on housing condition among 7,445 youth (median age ~ 20 years) from the Danish National Birth Cohort, with data collected at 18 years of age and again three weeks into the first national lockdown (April 2020). They examined associations between housing conditions (access to outdoor spaces, urbanicity, household density, and household composition) and changes in mental health (mental well-being, Quality of Life (QoL) and loneliness). The authors report results from multivariate linear and logistic regression models. Youth without access to outdoor spaces experienced greater declines in mental well-being, and correspondingly greater odds of onset of low mental well-being. Youth in higher density households vs. below median or living alone vs. with parents only also had greater odds of onset of low mental well-being. Living in denser households, as well as living alone was associated with onset of low quality of life. Living alone more than doubled odds of onset of loneliness compared to living with parents. Youth living alone, in denser households, and without direct access to outdoor spaces may be especially vulnerable to mental health declines.