The number of persons under correctional supervision in the U.S. declined 22% during the past decade, from 6,994,500 in 2011 to 5,444,900 in 2021. About 1 in 48 U.S. residents (2%) were under some form of correctional supervision (incarcerated in prison or jail or supervised in the community on probation or parole) at the end of 2021, down from 1 in 47 in 2020. From 2020 to 2021, the number of males in the total correctional population declined less than 1% (down 28,300), while the number of females decreased 3% (down 32,800). In the total correctional population, the number of black persons declined by 72,000 (4%) from 2020 to 2021, while the number of white persons increased by 20,000 (1%) and the number of Hispanic persons was stable. The rate of persons on community supervision fell to a 21-year low in 2021 (1,440 per 100,000 adult U.S. residents), after declining each year since its peak in 2007 (2,240 per 100,000). The rate at which persons were in prison or jail increased for the first time since 2005, rising from 660 per 100,000 U.S. residents in 2020 to 680 per 100,000 in 2021, though it remained below the rate preceding the COVID-19 pandemic (810 per 100,000 in 2019). While the total community supervision population decreased 4% from year-end 2020 to year-end 2021, the incarcerated population increased 5% due to a 16% growth in the number of persons held in local jails.

This report found that at year-end 2021, an estimated 3,745,000 adults were under community supervision (probation or parole), down 136,600 from January 1, 2021. Additionally, an estimated 1 in 69 adult U.S. residents were under community supervision at the end of 2021, the lowest rate since 1987. During 2021, the probation population increased in 18 states, including Florida which increased by 2.9%. Females made up 24% of the probation population whose sex was reported in 2021, similar to the 25% in 2011. Of the 70% of adults on probation in 2021 whose race or ethnicity was known, 54% were white and 30% were black. Among adults on probation whose most serious offense was known, the percentage on supervision for a violent offense rose from 18% in 2011 to 26% in 2021. Most of this increase was among adults with a violent offense other than domestic violence or a sex offense. Similar percentages were on probation for drug offenses in 2011 and 2021 (about 25% each). The rate of persons on parole fell to 310 per 100,000 adult U.S. residents in 2021, after decreasing every year since 2015. During 2021, the parole population fell in 44 states, including Florida and the District of Columbia, and the U.S. federal system’s term of supervised release, while 6 states had an increase in the parole population. Females made up a similar percentage of adults on parole whose sex was known in 2011 (11%) and 2021 (12%). Among adults on parole in 2021 with a known race or ethnicity, 44% were white, 37% were black, and 16% were Hispanic. Among adults on parole whose most serious offense was known, a larger percentage in 2021 (36%) than in 2011 (28%) had been incarcerated for a violent offense. A smaller share was on parole for a drug offense in 2021 (30%) than in 2011 (33%).

This report presents data from the most recent Survey of Prison Inmates on employment of state and federal prisoners in the 30 days prior to arrest for the offense for which they were incarcerated. It compares the differences in characteristics of those state and federal prisoners who were employed. The report finds that more than 6 in 10 state (61%) and federal (63%) prisoners were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest for the offense for which they were incarcerated, with about half (49% state and 54% federal) having a full-time job. However, persons in state and federal prison (59% in each) with one or more prior incarcerations were less likely to be employed than those in state (69%) and federal (73%) prison with no prior incarcerations.

The U.S. Department of Education Charter Schools Program (CSP) provides grants to open or expand charter schools. Charter schools are publicly funded, semi-autonomous schools of choice. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that charter schools that received CSP grants generally had higher enrollment growth compared to similar charter schools that did not receive grants. Specifically, GAO’s analysis found about 1.3 to 1.6 times higher enrollment growth, on average, for CSP grant-recipient charter schools within 12 years after receiving the grant. Enrollment growth was higher among middle schools, urban schools, and schools with higher proportions of non-White or low-income students. The GAO's analysis found that, compared to traditional public schools, charter schools—whether they received CSP funding or not—enrolled smaller percentages of students with disabilities designated as receiving services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Researchers have identified potential factors that may contribute to enrollment patterns. For example, students with disabilities and parents may already be connected to programs in traditional public schools. Further, according to researchers, parents may lack information about charter schools, such as the services available at these schools and charter schools may use practices that discourage students with disabilities from applying.

Ongoing teacher shortages have led to the creation of a wide range of pathways into the profession, featuring varying types and amounts of training. The majority of first-time teachers in Texas are now entering the profession either through alternative certification routes that often include little to no student teaching or without any certification at all, resulting in a workforce that has experienced increasingly little pre-service clinical practice before taking on responsibilities for teaching children. This report reviews the emerging research and describes the substantial efforts Texas leaders and institutions are making to address concerns about workforce preparation and stability. Additionally, the report provides nine actionable, research-based policy recommendations to improve teacher preparation and retention, including subsidizing access to high-quality preparation teaching programs, and supporting expansion and ongoing implementation of high-quality, high-retention pathways such as teacher residency programs.

The pandemic has revived the longstanding debate about the effect of online versus face-to-face instruction on student achievement. The goal of this paper is to provide new evidence on the impact of online versus face-to-face instruction on student learning outcomes using data from a public university. Results indicate that students in face-to-face courses perform better than their online counterparts with respect to their grades, the propensity to withdraw from the course, and the likelihood of receiving a passing grade. However, this investigation also reveals that instructor-specific factors, such as leniency in grading or actions towards preventing violations of academic integrity, play a significant role in determining the studied relationship. Without accounting for these instructor-specific factors, the relationship is severely biased, causing one to mistakenly conclude that online instruction is better for student learning than face-to-face instruction. The analysis further documents a rise in grades associated with COVID-19-triggered changes to student assessment policies embraced by universities as well as instructors adopting a more flexible approach to grading. While these developments led to an increase in grades for all students overall, those who began Spring 2020 in face-to-face courses appear to have benefitted more generously from them. Finally, an auxiliary analysis shows that living in neighborhoods with better broadband technology is associated with a larger increase in grades among students who had to switch from in-person to online instruction during COVID-19. This finding supports the argument that unequal access to technology might have caused learning disparities to get deepened during the pandemic.

As the share of U.S. adult children living with their parents increases, it is important to understand how children who boomerang back home impact their parents in their pre-retirement and post-retirement years. The authors use data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine the effects of boomerang children on their parents’ labor market expectations and choices, as well as on their wealth, health, and life satisfaction. Event study analysis suggests that boomerang children return home due to short-term instabilities, such as negative shocks to marriage, income, and employment. The authors find that boomerang children are associated with a small increase in their parents’ subjective probability of working after age 65. However, there is no clear statistically significant evidence that they impact parents’ current or future labor market choices; nor is there any evidence that they affect parents’ wealth, health, or life satisfaction.

In a previous report, the authors evaluated the implementation potential of decarbonization plans from 50 of the country’s largest cities. This report summarizes specific funding and financing policies found in these 50 cities to provide a glimpse into the variety and scale of local climate finance innovations. Adopted before the passage of the federal Inflation Reduction Act, these strategies focus on locally driven efforts and innovations rather than new federal funding streams. One of the more common financial strategies is the use of property assessed clean energy (PACE) programs to incentivize building efficiency upgrades. Enabled by state-level legislation, PACE programs are currently allowed in 39 states, including Florida. The authors found that in addition to PACE programs, cities are using a variety of other financial strategies to pay for decarbonization activities, including funding partnerships, one-time investments, and utilizing local financing authorities.

To support the U.S. Department of the Air Force's (DAF's) goal of building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce, researchers reviewed the academic literature and conducted interviews with representatives from private-sector organizations that were ranked as top employers for diversity. The authors detail promising practices regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in talent management that might be relevant to DAF efforts. The authors found that there has been a trend to include more voluntary, self-guided, and experiential diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings. However, measures of progress continue to focus on traditional measures of representation or participation rather than changes in knowledge, skills, or behaviors.

This report presents results from the 2021 National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey (N-SUMHSS), an annual census of facilities providing substance use and mental health treatment. Conducted by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the N-SUMHSS is designed to collect data on the location, characteristics, and utilization of substance use and mental health treatment facilities throughout the U. S. and its territories. Data from this report can be used by behavioral health services providers; researchers; and federal, state, and local governments to understand the substance use and mental health treatment resource landscape, identify treatment gaps, and support evidence-based planning. This report found that treatment facilities were predominantly operated by private non-profit and private for-profit organizations and most commonly provided outpatient care. The report notes that facilities of all types provided suicide prevention services. Eighty-five percent of substance use treatment/mental health facilities and 70% of mental health facilities provided suicide prevention services as compared to 46% of substance use treatment facilities.

In this research brief, the authors assess associations between social vulnerability (i.e., external stressors negatively affecting communities) and the provision of evidence-based diabetes prevention and management activities (e.g., National Diabetes Prevention Program) in South Carolina counties with high burdens of diabetes and heart disease. The authors found that about half of health care practices reported implementing the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) (51%), and about one-third of practices reported implementing diabetes self-management education and support (34%). Additionally, practices in areas with higher social vulnerability related to socioeconomic status and household composition and disability were less likely to report implementing the NDPP. The analysis results suggest that social vulnerability may have differential effects on the provision of evidence-based diabetes prevention and management activities in South Carolina. These findings support calls to identify upstream social factors contributing to adverse health outcomes and provide several potential points for intervention.