This report presents selected state-level estimates of violent and property victimization for the 3-year aggregate period of 2017–2019 in the 22 most populous U.S. states. The 22 most populous states accounted for 79% of the U.S. person population and 75% of the violent victimizations captured by the National Crime Victim Survey. Seven states, including Florida (13.2 per 1,000), had lower rates of violent victimization than the country overall (21.6 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older). During 2017–2019, the overall property crime rate in the United States was 105.9 victimizations per 1,000 households. Property crime rates were lower than the U.S. rate in 12 states including Florida (71.7 per 1,000). During 2017–2019, the rate of burglary victimization ranged from 9.4 to 30.3 victimizations per 1,000 households in the 22 largest states. Of these states, eight, including Florida (14.9 per 1,000) had burglary victimization rates that were lower than the nation’s.

Millions in the United States have criminal records. Many of these records are eligible for some sort of concealment from public view, commonly known as expungement or sealing. In this paper, the authors analyzed criminal records in four counties in Pennsylvania and several counties in Kansas to determine the number of records eligible for such remedies. In Pennsylvania, the analysis included both expungement, defined here as petition-based suppression of information, and sealing, defined here as suppression that the government (usually the judicial system) undertakes without petitions. Kansas law only allows for petition-based expungement. The analysis found approximately 100,000 charges eligible for expungement in Kansas and 180,000 charges eligible for expungement in Pennsylvania, supporting prior research that identified a so-called second chance gap. The authors also assessed which statutory reforms would provide the biggest bang for the buck, i.e., would render the largest number of cases or charges eligible for a record-clearing remedy. This analysis found that elimination of criteria related to legally imposed financial obligations would render a surprising number of files eligible for information suppression.

The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014 included new requirements and incentives to strengthen the link between its Title II—adult education—and the overall workforce development system. This report from a national evaluation of Title II examines the extent to which local adult education providers' instructional approaches and coordination with other agencies in 2018–19 reflected this link and highlights the challenges providers reported collecting related performance data. The report found that providers widely reported offering the types of instruction WIOA encourages to link adult education to workforce development in 2018–19, but learner participation in these offerings was less widespread. Additionally, the majority of providers reported coordinating with workforce partners to provide instruction and transition services, but more than a quarter of providers reported that partnering to provide occupational skills training was very challenging and 15% of providers indicated that partnering to provide transition services was very challenging.

This report presents findings from a literature review and nationally representative surveys of teachers and principals conducted via the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels to understand the state of infrastructure to support elementary social studies instruction during the 2021–2022 school year. In this report, infrastructure is defined as the policies in place at the state, district, and school levels that, when combined, create an environment to support teachers' instructional practices and, therefore, student learning. The authors find that the infrastructure to support elementary social studies instruction is often missing or inadequate. State standards vary in quality, there is less assessment and accountability, teachers receive less professional development and feedback from principals, and also less guidance around curriculum materials. Importantly, the lack of infrastructure for social studies instruction is in sharp contrast to that provided for other core subject areas and has important consequences for how teachers approach this subject. Additionally, only half of elementary principals said their schools had adopted published curriculum materials to support kindergarten through grade 5 (K–5) social studies instruction. However, principals in elementary schools with a more comprehensive suite of supports for social studies, such as teacher evaluation, professional learning activities, and guidance around materials, were more likely to report the presence of shared social studies teaching practices.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), vehicles have become safer for occupants over time, in part by providing better protection in crashes. However, certain demographic groups continue to face greater risks of injury or death in crashes. Specifically, research indicates that in crashes with similar conditions, females are at greater risk of death and of certain injury types, such as to the lower legs, than males. In addition, vehicle occupants who are older are at greater risk than those who are younger, and occupants with a higher body mass index face some greater risks than those with a lower index. Crash tests using crash test dummies provide information to improve vehicle safety, determine compliance with NHTSA's vehicle safety standards, and inform consumer safety ratings. However, some characteristics of dummies currently used for NHTSA's crash tests may limit the extent to which the information the dummies provide helps mitigate greater risks faced by certain demographic groups. For example, currently used dummies represent a limited range of body sizes, do not reflect some physiological differences between males and females, and do not have sensors to collect data in the lower legs. Limited ways in which dummies are used in crash tests—such as where the dummy sits and the speed of the crash—also may reduce the effectiveness of the information dummies provide in mitigating risks to certain demographic groups. The NHTSA recognizes this issue and has taken steps to address limitations in the information dummies provide in crash tests, but gaps remain. Efforts have not fully responded to risks or consistently met milestones. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends the NHTSA develop a comprehensive plan to address existing risks and limitations in the information dummies provide.

The Governors Highway Safety Association’s (GHSA) annual Spotlight on Highway Safety report offers the first look at state and national trends in 2022 pedestrian traffic deaths based on preliminary data provided by state highway safety offices. According to this analysis, drivers in the United States struck and killed 3,434 people in the first half of 2022 – up 5%, or 168 more deaths, from the same period the year before. This projection follows a 40-year high in pedestrian deaths in 2021. Over the past ten years, pedestrian deaths in the first half of the year skyrocketed from 2,141 in 2013 to 3,434 in 2022 – a 60% increase, or nearly 1,300 additional lives lost. Overall traffic fatalities have also been surging since the start of the pandemic. Pedestrian deaths have surged 18%, or 519 additional lives lost, between the first half of 2019 and 2022. Nationally, there were 1.04 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people in 2022, up significantly from 0.90 in 2019; Florida had the highest pedestrian fatality rate at 1.99 deaths per 100,000 people. Pedestrian fatalities increased in 24 states during the first half of 2022, with Florida having the largest increase from 414 deaths in 2021 to 443 deaths in 2022. The data analysis also found that three states – California, Florida and Texas – accounted for 38% of all pedestrian deaths in the first six months of 2022 but are home to 28% of the U.S. population. These states have warmer climates, which tend to increase travel on foot, as well as many urban areas where pedestrians and motor vehicles are more likely to share the road.

In this brief, the authors use program data reported by Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds recipients and qualitative interviews with local program administrators to gain a deeper understanding of how localities are directing the funds to affordable housing development and preservation efforts and what challenges and opportunities they have encountered in using the funds for this purpose. The authors found that unencumbered, flexible funds helped meet important local housing needs, including those of households with very low incomes. Additionally, localities used a range of strategies to increase affordable housing supply, including development, preservation, and investing in housing trust funds. Furthermore, most localities used competitive processes to award funding to developers and community organizations, and some incorporated a strong focus on equity and community engagement in the project selection process. Based on these findings, the authors also highlight several implications for federal policymakers and provide recommendations for how future federal funding can be structured to reduce barriers for localities attempting to address affordable housing needs.

law requires states to provide safe and stable out-of-home care for children in foster care until they are safely returned home, placed permanently with adoptive families, or placed in other planned, permanent living arrangements. This report examines the States’ efforts to ensure that these missing children are properly reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). During the audit period of July 1, 2018, to December 31, 2020, state agencies did not always ensure that children missing from foster care were reported to NCMEC as required by federal statute. Of the 100 missing children episodes in the sample, the state agencies reported 33 episodes to NCMEC in a timely manner (i.e., within 24 hours after the state agency received information that the child was missing) in accordance with federal requirements. However, 45 missing children episodes were never reported to NCMEC, and 22 missing children episodes were not reported in a timely manner (i.e., were not reported until 2 calendar days or longer after the state agency received information that the child was missing). Five of the 100 missing children episodes were in Florida; 4 were not reported timely and 1 was reported properly to NCMEC. The authors estimated 34,869 missing children episodes during the audit period were never reported to NCMEC and an additional estimated 16,246 missing children episodes during the audit period were not reported within 24 hours after the state agencies were notified that the child was missing. State agencies generally lacked adequate systems to readily identify whether or not they had reported missing children episodes to NCMEC accurately and in a timely manner. State agencies that do not properly report missing children episodes to NCMEC increase the risk that the children may not be safely and swiftly recovered.

The Children’s Bureau, within the Administration for Children and Families (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), is funding a multiphase grant program to build the evidence base on what works to prevent homelessness among youth and young adults who have been involved in the child welfare system. This program is called Youth At-Risk of Homelessness (YARH). YARH focuses on three populations: (1) adolescents who enter foster care from ages 14 to 17, (2) young adults aging out of foster care, and (3) homeless youth and young adults up to age 21 with foster care histories. There are three phases, YARH-1, YARH-2, and YARH-3. This brief describes the tools and processes the six YARH-2 grantees implemented to identify and screen youth and young adults who might be eligible to participate in their comprehensive service models.

This work examines how the health care delivery system in receiving communities meets the needs of migrants experiencing the effects of climate change (termed climate migrants) in three sites in the U.S. Gulf region between 2005 and 2022. The sites were Houston, Texas, where migrants relocated from Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Orlando, Florida, where migrants from Puerto Rico relocated after Hurricane Maria in 2017; and Lafourche and Northern Terrebonne Parishes, where migrants from southern coastal areas have relocated in response to ongoing sea level rise and environmental degradation. The authors found that service providers in receiving communities have been hampered by information challenges, financial resource limitations, and lack of centralized coordination; climate migrants’ ability to access health services is contingent on broader social and economic factors before, during, and after migration; and during the period of study, health systems adapted and evolved to meet the needs of climate migrants. Policy recommendations include addressing both mental and physical health issues that might result from the intersection of migration stress and stress from other hazards; supporting the coordination of organizations that can address upstream social and economic issues that can exacerbate health issues for climate migrants; and planning for climate migrants by reviewing plans for service delivery, coordination of health services with social services provided by supporting organizations, and augmenting data systems to better monitor the health needs of this population.