This report provides violent victimization rates and numbers by race or Hispanic origin, during the 5-year aggregate period from 2017 to 2021. In addition, the report features an interactive graphic that displays violent victimization data from 2008 to 2021 by race or Hispanic origin. The report found that from 2008 to 2021, the rate of overall violent victimization fell. Over the same time period, the violent victimization rate fell for persons who identified as White, Black, Hispanic, or another race. During the 5-year aggregate period of 2017–21, White persons (19.8 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older) experienced a higher rate of violent victimization than the rate for Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander persons (9.8 per 1,000). This pattern held across all types of violent crime.

This publication explores promising outcomes from the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) for four states (Mississippi, Utah, Louisiana, and Alaska) that received technical assistance from JRI as well as from the Crime and Justice Institute in their efforts. The JRI is an intensive, data-driven approach that allows states to examine and improve their justice systems by implementing proven, innovative, and comprehensive approaches to reduce crime, cut recidivism rates, and shift resources toward more effective public safety strategies. Key indicators of progress toward prioritizing prison resources where they matter is a decrease in overall prison population and an increase in the proportion of a state’s prison population comprised of people convicted of violent offenses versus nonviolent offenses. This report found that data from all four states indicated these policies were working. After passing JRI legislation, prison populations in these states decreased by 21% to 26%, and the incarcerated population in Alaska saw a 14% decrease.

This report describes a study of healthcare training programs that the Community College Research Center conducted to understand the current role that community colleges play in training healthcare workers, including public health workers. In an analysis of 2019-20 data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the authors examine the range and types of healthcare programs offered by postsecondary institutions and the number and characteristics of students who graduate from these programs. Findings from the study provide policymakers and community college leaders a better understanding of the role community colleges currently play and their potential to take on greater responsibility in training healthcare workers. An online interactive data visualization tool using IPEDS data, available from the accompanying blog post, focuses on three areas: 1) Sector comparison: What percent of schools in each postsecondary sector offer instructional programming in healthcare fields? What is the community college market share of schools, programs, and graduates? 2) Community college program access: Which instructional programs are most offered in community colleges? And 3) Community college program graduates: What instructional programs do community college graduates earn credentials in? Using the tool, users can explore each sector and access results by instructional program, state, and urbanicity of campus. Users can also explore the distribution of program graduates by award level and by student race/ethnicity and gender. Some healthcare fields offer greater earnings potential than others. Colleges must be wary of steering potential students into programs that are not highly rewarded in the labor market and, instead, consider building stronger education pathways from lower to higher wage healthcare jobs. Moreover, policymakers and community college leaders need to take active steps to help low-income students and students in racial minorities gain access to programs that lead to family-sustaining wages.

How do employers think about the emerging field of digital wallets, validated skills, and supports for skills-based hiring? Earlier this year, the Alabama Talent Triad and partners convened a focus group of employers and workforce development professionals to answer these questions. The Talent Triad is a comprehensive talent marketplace that incorporates a credential registry, a skills-based job description generator and job posting portal, and a learning and employment record. Convening participants saw the value in the skills-validation enabled by the Talent Triad, streamlining difficult hiring pipelines and supporting more proactive engagement to reach new candidates. Participants noted that the matching facilitated by the Talent Triad would level the playing field for workers from many backgrounds and were excited by the opportunity to have a ready pool of applicants with competencies established. They especially valued the automated matching that would, in one participant’s words, search through “all the people in the system, and show me ten matches.” Participants also valued the ease with which candidates could tailor resumes and understand whether their competencies were a good fit for the job. Multiple times, employers mentioned the benefits job seekers would experience by only needing to enter their information once, rather than prepare tailored resumes—they thought this might reduce job seekers’ length of unemployment and reduce discouraging outcomes. Further, participants saw value in the Talent Triad as a complement to the advancement conversations that are already happening in many companies. They saw the skills profiles in the Talent Triad as supporting upskilling and advancement conversations, removing the need to dig up records or run new reports. Participants reported that they also saw tactical benefits, noting that the platform would help mitigate credential inflation, while encouraging upskilling for incumbent employees.

Median home values in the U.S. Virgin Islands were the highest ($290,600) among the four Island Areas included in the 2020 Island Areas Censuses released today but the biggest jump in home values was in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands from 2010 to 2020. Median home value increased by 48.8% in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands from 2010 to 2020, from $123,800 to $184,200, the largest percentage increase of the four Island Areas (American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), while Guam had the largest dollar increase ($61,700) in median home values, from $216,100 to $277,800. The U.S. Virgin Islands had the lowest percentage increase (14.3%) and American Samoa had the smallest dollar increase ($16,200) over the decade.

This report looks at America’s older veterans, focusing on those who were at least 65 years old in 2021. Using data from the 2021 American Community Survey, 1-year estimates, the report examines the demographics of the older veteran population, including its age and sex structure, and how the size of the older veteran population has changed over time. It explores the most common historical periods when these veterans served, their current family and living arrangements, and their economic well-being. Last, the report looks at the health, disability, and isolation of older veterans—specifically, how many older veterans live alone and are at risk of being homebound. The report found that of the 16.5 million living veterans in the United States, 8.1 million (49%) are 65 years and over. Of all veterans, 1 in 4 is 70 to 79 years old, making this the single largest age group of veterans, while 3 in 4 are at least 50 years old. Results indicated that older veterans are economically advantaged in several ways compared with the older nonveteran population: they have higher median incomes and are less likely to be living in poverty or receiving government assistance. The median income of older veterans was about $39,300 in 2021 compared with about $26,000 for older nonveterans. Additionally, among the population aged 65 or older, veterans are slightly less likely to be socially isolated than other older adults (43% compared with 46%), and are less likely to experience multiple characteristics of isolation.

This paper examines the intergenerational effects of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on poverty and public assistance use. The EITC was established in 1975 as a temporary subsidy for workers earning less than $10,000. The original credit was worth up to $500 and could only be claimed by families with children. Since its inception, the credit has been expanded several times. It was made a permanent fixture of the tax code in 1978, and the credit was indexed to inflation beginning in 1987. The credit amount was greatly expanded in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As of 2021, the maximum federal credit was worth up to $6,728 for a family with three children, $5,980 for a family with two children, and $3,618 for a family with one child. In percentage terms, these credits are worth up to 45% of a household’s annual earnings for a family with three or more children, up to 40% of annual earnings for a family with two children, and up to 34% of annual earnings for a family with one child. Accounting for inflation, the maximum federal EITC benefit has increased by more than $2,000 since 1975, with larger increases for families with two or more children. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the authors find that increased exposure to the EITC in childhood reduces the use of public assistance in adulthood, such as the supplementary food program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and other public assistance, and reduces the likelihood of being in poverty (<100% of poverty) or near poor (<200% of poverty) by about 7 percentage points. Additionally, the authors find that the EITC has the largest effect on those who grew up with family income in the second quartile of the income distribution (25th through the 50th percentile, an average income of about $45,000 in childhood measured in 2017 dollars), who were more likely to receive the EITC in childhood relative to children growing up with family income in other quartiles in the income distribution. Similarly, the authors find stronger effects among those whose parents had relatively strong labor force attachment and whose parents had some college education, but no college degree. However, the authors find little evidence that the EITC reduces poverty among children who grew up in families in the very bottom of the income distribution, whose parents earned about $32,000 per year. The authors conclude that the results are indicative of intergenerational effects of exposure to the EITC as it relates to poverty, public assistance use, earnings, and employment for children growing up in the second income quartile (average family income of about $45,000 in childhood).

Use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has increased among some adults. Reducing the use of any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, is a Healthy People 2030 objective (Healthy People 2030). E-cigarettes have the potential to benefit some adults who smoke and are not pregnant if they are used as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes or other tobacco products. However, concerns exist about dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes. Use of e-cigarettes among young adults is also a concern because nicotine adversely impacts brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s. This report uses 2021 National Health Interview Survey data to describe the percentage of adults aged 18 and over who currently use e-cigarettes by selected sociodemographic characteristics and dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes. Key findings include that in 2021, 4.5% of adults aged 18 and over were current electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) users, with e-cigarette use highest among adults aged 18–24 (11.0%). Current e-cigarette use varied by race and Hispanic origin; among all adults aged 18 and over, the percentage of White non-Hispanic adults (5.2%) was higher than Asian non-Hispanic (2.9%), Black or African American non-Hispanic (2.4%), and Hispanic or Latino (3.3%) adults. E-cigarette use among adults aged 18 and over generally declined with increasing family income. Adults aged 18–24 and 25–44 were more likely to be dual users of e-cigarettes and cigarettes compared with adults aged 45 and over.

This report describes the percentage of adults who had an injury that limited their usual activities in the past 3 months (an activity-limiting injury) by selected sociodemographic characteristics from the 2020 and 2021 National Health Interview Survey. The report found that in 2020-21, about 6% of U.S. adults had an activity-limiting injury in the past 3 months. White non-Hispanic adults were most likely to have had an activity-limiting injury (6.6%), followed by Black non-Hispanic (4.9%), Hispanic (4.6%), and Asian non-Hispanic (3.2%) adults. The percentage of adults who had an activity-limiting injury in the past 3 months was higher among adults with some college (6.1%) and a college degree or higher (6.3%) than among adults with less than a high school diploma or GED (5.1%). Additionally, the percentage of adults who had an activity-limiting injury in the past 3 months varied by region and urbanization level.

Individuals with Down syndrome are living longer than they used to. This increase in life expectancy presents novel challenges, including increased prevalence of Alzheimer's disease among those with Down syndrome and related changes to caregiving needs. Information about the impacts of longer lives and increased Down syndrome – Alzheimer’s disease (DS-AD) prevalence is lacking. This information is needed to inform both investment in research development programs for new treatments for DS-AD and policies related to health care and caregiving for aging adults with Down syndrome. To begin addressing the knowledge gap, the authors developed a multistate population simulation and projection model to study trends in DS-AD and the associated impact on caregiving. The results of the study demonstrate the potential for investment in Down syndrome and DS-AD to increase years of life without DS-AD among those living with Down syndrome, with concomitant improvements in caregiving time investments. Specific projections depend on assumptions about Down syndrome longevity, which itself might improve with increased research investment. The magnitude of the caregiving impact is notable, given that, unlike in the general population, Down syndrome caregiving is ongoing for many individuals with Down syndrome whether or not the patients have Alzheimer's disease. Prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease among adults aged 65 and older is about six times higher among Americans with Down syndrome than in the general population (65% versus 11%).