This report is part of a series of annual publications which provide official estimates of school crime and safety from a variety of data sources, including national surveys of students, teachers, principals, and post-secondary institutions. The report presents data on different types of student victimization, measures of school conditions, and student perceptions about their personal safety at school. This report found that for students ages 12-18, the rate of non-fatal criminal victimization (including theft and violent victimization) at school in 2019 was not significantly different than the rate in 2010. From 2019 to 2021, the rate at school decreased from 30 to 7 victimizations per 1,000 students. Lower percentages of public school teachers in 2020-21 than in 2011-12 reported being threatened with injury by a student from their school (6% versus 10%) and being physically attacked by a student from their school (4% versus 6%). However, higher percentages of public schools in 2019-20 than in 2009–10 reported problems with student cyberbullying (16% versus 8%) at least once a week. Lower percentages of students in grades 9–12 in 2019 than in 2009 reported the following issues: having been in a physical fight on school property in the previous 12 months (8% versus 11%); carrying a weapon on school property during the previous 30 days (3% versus 6%); and using alcohol on at least 1 day during the previous 30 days (29% versus 42%).

This report, published for over 40 years by the National Center for State Courts with the support of state court administrative offices across the United States, serves as the primary record of compensation for state judicial officers and state court administrators. The website tracks judicial salary information since 1974, highlights recent special reports, and provides the most recently published salary information. General jurisdiction trial court judges’ salaries averaged $143,989 in July 2014 and $176,430 in July 2023, an increase of 22.5% or around 2.3% a year. Every state other than Nevada has reported a salary increase in this decade. South Carolina has increased judicial salaries the most over the last decade from $136,905 in July 2014 to $212,987 in July 2023, an increase of 56%. Additionally, Utah, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Washington salaries have increased by over 40%. Intermediate appellate court judges averaged $153,128 in July 2014 and $192,170 in the July 2023 data, a change of 25% or about 2.5% a year.

Employment is an important factor in determining an individual’s success upon reentering the community following incarceration. However, individuals who have been involved with the criminal legal system face structural disadvantages in finding high-wage employment, such as difficulty establishing work history or education credentials or developing the skills needed in today’s job market; they must also confront the stigma associated with having a criminal record. In 2019, the California Board of State and Community Corrections awarded a grant from the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act grant program to launch the Skills and Experience for the Careers of Tomorrow (SECTOR) program. The SECTOR program provides employment and training services, cognitive behavioral interventions, and connections to mental health and substance use disorder services for people with previous legal system involvement. The SECTOR program uses a sector-based approach, consisting of five core components: job readiness services, cognitive behavioral interventions, labor market demand-driven skills training and paid work experience, financial assistance, and job placement assistance. The model anticipates that behavioral health, well-being, employment, and earnings improvements will reduce future interactions with the criminal legal system. This report includes an implementation study and an outcomes study. The implementation study describes how the community-based organizations implemented the SECTOR program, whether it was implemented as intended, and whether it met its intended service quality and outcome goals. The outcomes study tracks one-year outcomes for the cohort of participants enrolled between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021 (the study period and first year of operation), focusing mainly on employment and criminal legal system contact and whether SECTOR successfully connects individuals to mental health and substance use disorder services. The evaluation found that the SECTOR program offers a promising approach to help participants with previous criminal legal system involvement in finding employment in high-growth sectors.

This report provides 2018-19 rates for grade K-12 student participation in homeschooling, full-time virtual education, and both combined (“instruction at home”) from the 2019 Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program. The report finds that in 2019, an estimated 2.8% of students ages 5-17 were homeschooled, and 1.2% were in full-time virtual education. Overall, about 3.7% received instruction at home (either homeschooled or in full-time virtual education). White students were homeschooled more often than Black or Hispanic students (4.0% versus 1.2% and 1.9%), and students in grades 6-8 were homeschooled more often than students in grades 9-12 (3.4% versus 2.3%). Students living in rural areas were homeschooled more often than students living in other areas (4.7% versus 2.2% to 2.5%). The most commonly reported reasons for homeschooling were concern about the school environment (80% of homeschooled students had parents who reported this reason), wanting to provide moral instruction (75%), wanting to emphasize family life together (75%), and dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools (73%).

The 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress results reflected the largest decline in fourth and eighth grade math scores in 30 years and may highlight ongoing opportunity gaps among historically underserved racial and socioeconomic student groups. Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, math achievement lagged as shown by international comparisons. In 2019, U.S. fourth graders ranked 15th among 64 participating educational systems worldwide. Between 2011 and 2019, the U.S. had the second largest score gap between students at the 10th and 90th percentiles among 47 participating countries. While some states have amped up their K-3 literacy systems and aligned instruction with the science of reading, early mathematics has often received less policy attention. Some states that have taken policy actions to support mathematics learning for early childhood education include West Virginia (requiring the state board of education to develop rules to establish an approved list of assessments in mathematics for K-3 students), Colorado (requires the department of education to annually publish and update a list of evidence-informed curricula and assessment options for math), and Alabama (created the Postsecondary Mathematics Task Force responsible for developing guidelines for educator preparation of early childhood and elementary math instruction).

This research describes the roles that salary and work hours play in teachers' intentions to leave their jobs and how these factors relate to teacher well-being. The research indicates that teacher dissatisfaction with hours worked, salary, and working conditions appears to drive poor well-being and lead teachers to consider leaving their jobs. In addition, recent gains in racial and ethnic diversity in the teacher workforce could be in jeopardy because Black teachers were more likely to consider leaving their jobs than White teachers were; many cited low pay as their top reason. The research found that on average, teachers reported working 15 hours per week longer than required by contract. One out of every four hours that teachers worked per week, on average, was uncompensated. Teachers who said that their base salary was inadequate desired, on average, a $17,000 increase in base pay. Black teachers reported working more hours per week and were less satisfied than White teachers with their base salary. The authors recommend increasing teacher pay, reducing hours worked, and improving working conditions to boost teacher retention.

The odds of finding a potential mate in the United States were in men’s favor in 2019; there were 89.8 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau analysis. States or state equivalents with among the five highest and the five lowest unmarried sex ratios show where unmarried men outnumber women and vice versa. Ratios greater than 100 indicate more unmarried men than women, while ratios less than 100 indicate more unmarried women than men. States with ratios above 100 include Alaska (117.0), North Dakota (106.7), Wyoming (106.1), South Dakota (103.2), and Colorado (101.9). The states / territories with the lowest ratios include Maryland (82.9), Alabama (82.4), Delaware (82.0), Puerto Rico (81.3), and the District of Columbia (80.0). In Florida, the ratio is 86.2. Although the overall sex ratio for unmarried adults in the United States was about 90 men per 100 women, the 30-to-34 age group had the highest ratio at nearly 121 men to 100 women. This is likely due to men having a higher median age at first marriage (30.1) than women (28.2). In other words, because men typically marry later, on average, there are more of them available to marry at younger ages. This pattern reverses at older ages, but likely for a different reason. The 55-and-over age group had the lowest unmarried ratio, with approximately 57 men per 100 women. This is likely driven by a shorter life expectancy for men than women, which produces disproportionately high counts of unmarried women at older ages — many who may be single simply because they outlived their spouse.

Traffic congestion wastes time and money and can also jeopardize drivers' safety. Moreover, congestion-related challenges are projected to increase. Deploying intelligent transportation systems (ITS) is one way that state and local transportation agencies have attempted to address issues related to traffic safety and congestion. Intelligent transportation systems consist of sensors, computer hardware and software, and communications systems that, for example, automatically change the timing of traffic signals. This report describes (1) ITS technologies selected state and local government agencies have deployed and (2) the benefits identified from using ITS to manage traffic, and the associated factors and challenges of ITS use. According to U.S. Department of Transportation 2020 surveys of state and local agencies, some technologies are widely deployed on arterials (roads with traffic signals) or freeways, while others are less widely deployed. Examples of widely deployed technologies include dynamic message signs, which provide information to travelers; technologies that detect vehicles and other roadway users to provide information on traffic flow; and emergency vehicle preemption, which provides green lights to emergency vehicles. Examples of technologies deployed by less than 30% of survey respondents include adaptive signal control technology and ramp meters that control vehicle access to freeways. The authors found that ITS can provide benefits related to traffic congestion and safety, but various factors and challenges can limit the extent of these benefits. For example, officials said that after a crash, ITS enables them to get emergency services to people and to clear lanes more quickly. Because blocked lanes can lead to secondary crashes, these activities reduce post-crash congestion and improve safety. One study of crash data from 2011 to 2018 on five corridors found that adaptive signal control technology, which is designed to keep traffic flowing smoothly, led to a reduction in crashes of about 5%. Many state and local officials told the U.S. Government Accountability Office that their ability to realize such benefits depends on sustained funding and leadership. In addition, these officials described challenges to operating their ITS, such as procurement and obsolescence issues, interoperability problems with ITS-related equipment, and staffing-related challenges.

In 2018, DoorDash, the food delivery service, launched Project DASH, to aid food banks, food pantries, and other social impact organizations in using DoorDash logistics to power the delivery of charitable food and other essential items. This research evaluates the effectiveness of Project DASH’s home delivery partnerships, which helps anti-hunger organizations to deliver food directly to clients and improve access to charitable food. The authors analyze survey responses from approximately 400 home delivery clients, largely from the San Francisco Bay Area, alongside a survey of all Project DASH anti-hunger organization partners and several interviews with partner staff and home delivery clients. This research finds that home delivery removed food access barriers by helping the majority (97.8%) of clients save money and by providing charitable food to 78.4% of clients who faced chronic health conditions and mobility challenges. Additionally, home delivery filled food access gaps, as less than half (44.0%) of respondents reported receiving charitable food before receiving home delivery was available. However, home delivery clients identified communication challenges, as Project DASH partners primarily serve older adults who may struggle to communicate on the app-driven platform.

This report presents 2021 infant mortality statistics by age at death, maternal race and Hispanic origin, maternal age, gestational age, leading causes of death, and maternal state of residence. Trends in infant mortality are also examined. A total of 19,928 infant deaths were reported in the United States in 2021, up 2% from 2020. The U.S. infant mortality rate was 5.44 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, essentially unchanged from the rate of 5.42 in 2020. The neonatal mortality rate was essentially unchanged from 3.56 in 2020 to 3.49 in 2021, but the post-neonatal mortality rate increased from 1.86 to 1.95. The overall infant mortality rate increased for infants of Asian non-Hispanic women and declined for infants of Dominican women in 2021 compared with 2020; changes in rates for the other race and Hispanic-origin groups were not significant. Infants of Black non-Hispanic women had the highest mortality rate (10.55) in 2021, followed by infants of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander non-Hispanic and American Indian or Alaska Native non-Hispanic (7.76 and 7.46, respectively), Hispanic (4.79), White non-Hispanic (4.36), and Asian non-Hispanic (3.69) women. By gestational age, infants born very preterm (less than 28 weeks of gestation) had the highest mortality rate (353.76), 170 times as high as that for infants born at term (37–41 weeks of gestation) (2.08). The five leading causes of infant death in 2021 (congenital malformations (20% of infant deaths), disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight (15%), sudden infant death syndrome (7%), unintentional injuries (7%), and maternal complications (6%) were the same as in 2020. Infant mortality rates by state for 2021 ranged from a low of 2.77 per 1,000 live births in North Dakota to a high of 9.39 in Mississippi. Florida’s rate was 5.90 per 1,000 live births.

This guidance document updates the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) 2018 document and outlines best practices for the implementation and operation of recovery housing, a support services designed for individuals initiating and sustaining recovery from substance use issues. These best practices are intended to serve as a tool for states, governing bodies, providers, recovery house operators, and other interested stakeholders to improve the health of their citizens, reduce incidence of overdose, and promote recovery housing as a key support strategy in achieving and sustaining recovery. The guide presents 11 best practices for supporting recovery housing including, establishing and sharing written policies, procedures, and resident expectations and promoting person-centered, individualized, and strengths-based approaches to ensure that the individual’s strengths, needs, preferences, and goals are at the center of decision-making.

Early-life socioeconomic status (SES) and adversity are associated with late-life cognition and risk of dementia. This study examines the association between early-life SES and adversity and late-life cross-sectional cognitive outcomes as well as global cognitive decline, hypothesizing that adulthood SES would mediate these associations. The population sample was a racially and ethnically diverse cohort of non-Hispanic/Latino White (48%), Black (27%), and Hispanic/Latino (19%) participants from Northern California. The authors estimated early-life (e.g., parental education, whether participant ever went hungry) and adult (participant’s education, main occupation) SES factors and their associations with cross-sectional and longitudinal cognitive outcomes of episodic memory, semantic memory, executive function, and spatial ability. The authors found that early-life sociocontextual factors are more strongly associated with cross-sectional late-life cognitive performance compared to cognitive change; this effect is largely mediated through associations with adulthood SES. Adulthood SES mediated a large percentage (68–75%) of the total early-life effect on cognition.