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June 28, 2024
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The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the policies,
procedures, and data collection activities of juvenile
courts relating to the referrals and processing of
youth. Mitigation efforts such as stay-at-home orders
and school closures impacted the volume and types of
law-violating behavior by youth referred to juvenile
court. Data submitted to the National Juvenile Court
Data Archive project (archive) provides unique insight
into the impact of COVID-19 on juvenile court caseloads.
The uniqueness of the data collected by the archive
allows for a monthly analysis of court case volume and
processing, which provides insight into any changes in
case processing characteristics both at the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic and over time. This bulletin focuses
primarily on patterns in case processing activities that
occurred in 2020, compared with an average of the case
processing characteristics for the prior 3 years
(2017-2019), but also displays data through 2021.
Juvenile court workloads were most notably impacted at
the onset of the pandemic, between March and May of
2020. The number of delinquency cases decreased from
58,200 in February 2020 to 26,500 in April 2020. The
number of delinquency cases handled by juvenile courts
in March, April, and May 2020 was well below the average
number of cases handled in the same months between 2017
and 2019. The proportion of delinquency cases involving
detention in 2020 was very similar to prior years. While
there was some variation in how cases were handled in
2020, the pattern of informally handled cases (i.e.,
without filing a petition to formally request an
adjudicatory or judicial waiver hearing) in 2021 saw a
return to the pre-pandemic pattern. The number of cases
in which juvenile court judges waived jurisdiction and
transferred the case to criminal court fell considerably
at the onset of the pandemic. Additionally, the number
of cases judicially waived in March, April, and May 2020
was at least 30% below the average number of cases
waived in the same months between 2017 and 2019.
However, beginning in June 2020 and through the end of
the year, the number of cases waived increased and
returned to a level similar to the average of the prior
3 years.
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Source: National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
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This report represents a call to action for criminal justice
actors at the local, state, and federal levels to
recognize the importance of identifying and
appropriately addressing brain injury across the system.
The findings reveal a clear picture of opportunities
across the criminal justice system and the need for
coordinated change. Individuals encountering the justice
system often present with highly complex needs, and over
half have a brain injury history. Implementing best
practices and policy reform around brain injury improves
the outcomes of individuals living with brain injury in
the justice system. Additionally, helping individuals
effectively manage the consequences and symptoms of
their brain injury enhances public safety. Research
indicated the absence of widespread, specialized
training on brain injury among criminal justice
agencies. Many criminal justice professionals
participating in this project identified this training
gap based on their own experiences and expressed a
desire for knowledge and skill-building on this topic
area. The focus group and interview participants
consistently mentioned the importance of specialized
screening for brain injury and having protocols and
processes to easily identify individuals with brain
injury encountering the criminal justice system.
Criminal justice agency representatives participating in
the interviews and focus groups often shared that they
lack guidance around what to do when a person screens
positive for brain injury and how to adapt their
programs, policies, and practices to be responsive.
Brain injury rehabilitation services vary widely from
state to state and can be difficult to find when there
is no direct communication between criminal justice
entities and brain injury service provider
organizations. There should be a clear pathway to get
from screening to services, which requires criminal
justice entities to be aware of what resources exist and
how to best get connected to those resources.
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Source: The Council of State Governments, Justice Center
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Parental incarceration impacts all members of a family unit,
including parents who are incarcerated, their children,
and the parents, legal guardians, or caregivers who are
not incarcerated. Implementing evidence-based programs
and practices tailored to support parents who are
incarcerated and their families is crucial for
addressing their complex needs, mitigating the negative
consequences of incarceration, and promoting positive
outcomes for families. While the landscape of programs
and practices addressing the needs of parents who are
incarcerated and their families is vast and continuously
evolving, this brief discusses examples from the field,
providing a glimpse of the diversity of approaches.
These programs and practices are informed by research
that reflects best practices, as well as input from
practitioners and administrators on evidence-based and
promising practices and programs used by the field
collected through a survey. Examples of these programs
and practices include: 1) In-person, contact,
child-friendly visiting, which provides opportunities
for parents who are incarcerated to spend quality family
time together, which helps maintain parent-child
attachment, reduces a child’s sense of abandonment, and
preserves a sense of belonging as part of a family. 2)
Visit coaching which is an individualized model to meet
the needs of the family before, during, and after
visits. Before visits, coaches support parents who are
incarcerated with understanding their children’s needs,
preparing for difficult questions, and coping with
feelings of separation from their children. Coaches can
also work with children and families before visiting a
parent who is incarcerated about what to expect during
the visit process. 3) Free phone calls, video visiting,
and transportation for in-person visits eliminate cost
barriers and make contact accessible for parents who are
incarcerated and their children.
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Source: The Council of State Governments, Justice Center
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This article uses data from the 2019 Parent and Family
Involvement Survey of the National Household Education
Surveys Program (PFI-NHES). The 2019 PFI collected data
about students in kindergarten through grade 12. The
survey explored many aspects of families’ experiences
with schooling, including how parents reported choosing
schools for their children to attend. This report
explores the types of schools that children attended,
whether parents reported considering schools other than
the one their child attends, and the percentage of
students whose parents reported selected reasons as
being “very important” when choosing a school. For the
report, public assigned schools are schools that a local
public school district assigned based on where the
family lived; public chosen schools are public schools
that were different from the school the district
assigned; private religious schools are private schools
that belonged to a particular religion or faith; and
private nonreligious schools are private schools that
were not religious. In 2019, some 79% of all students
enrolled in grades K–12 attended public assigned
schools, 12% attended public chosen schools, 7% attended
private religious schools, and 2% attended private
nonreligious schools. Seventy-two percent of students
who attended private nonreligious schools had parents
who reported considering schools other than the one
their child attends—the highest percentage compared to
students in other school types. Parents who reported
considering schools other than the one their child
attends were provided a list of reasons for choosing a
school and asked how important each reason was to their
choice, from “not at all important” to “very important.”
Seventy-nine percent of students’ parents rated the
quality of teachers, principal, or other school staff as
“very important.” Other factors that were selected as
very important by over half of the students’ parents
were school safety (71%), curriculum focus or academic
programs (60%), and academic performance of students at
the school (53%).
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Source: National Center for Education Statistics
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The demand for improved student academic performance in the
United States has led to a wave of education reform
efforts. In general, accountability legislation, like
the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA),
aims to keep educational institutions accountable for
student academic outcomes by employing performance-based
measures and specific incentives and penalties. Like its
immediate predecessor, No Child Left Behind, the ESSA
legislation focuses on school accountability, test-based
performance, and closing the achievement gap among
student groups. However, unlike previous legislation,
ESSA shifted its reform strategy to allow greater
flexibility for states to design accountability systems
that may include student growth measures and expanded
public transparency reporting to include site-level
per-pupil spending. School accountability changes
ignited through ESSA legislation provides optimism
around flexibility in the design of state accountability
systems and expectations of public transparency as
drivers to support K-12 public-school reform. In this
study, the authors examined whether there was a
relationship between school per-pupil spending and
student academic growth outcomes among seventh grade
school students on Michigan’s statewide assessment.
Findings suggest that after controlling for student and
school characteristics, site-level per-pupil spending
was positively associated with the average student
growth percentile in seventh grade mathematics and
English/language arts. The results from this study and
the existing research literature suggest financial
resources may unlock greater potential for improving the
academic performance of public-school students.
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Source: Educational Policy
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The research team’s conversations with faculty, staff, and
administrators at nine partner institutions, including
Palm Beach State College, help to clarify the numerous
successes and challenges of supporting student learning
in online courses during COVID-19. While broad-access
colleges and universities moved proactively to adapt to
a nearly fully online environment through investments in
technology hardware and software and professional
development that they have continued to develop, they
are still seeking to address persistent disparities in
outcomes by course modality and by race, gender, age,
and other student characteristics. The pandemic may have
also supported a growing consensus among higher
education institutions and their instructors and staff
to provide more support for students’ sense of
belonging, mindsets, self-efficacy, and likelihood to
seek help. The Postsecondary Teaching with Technology
Collaborative theorizes that a SDL (self-directed
learning) framework could be a particularly useful
resource for faculty to help students better manage
their learning in online settings. The analysis suggests
institutions have multiple strengths that they can build
upon to more intentionally and fully implement SDL
supports across the institution, both inside and outside
of classrooms.
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Source: Community College Research Center
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This paper studies the effects of automation in economies
with labor market distortions that generate worker
rents—wages above opportunity cost—in some jobs. The
authors show that automation targets high-rent tasks,
dissipating rents and amplifying wage losses from
automation. It also reduces within-group wage dispersion
for exposed groups. Automation-driven rent dissipation
is inefficient and reduces (and could even negate) the
productivity gains from automation. Using data for the
U.S. from 1980 to 2016, the authors find evidence of
sizable rent dissipation and reduced within-group wage
dispersion due to automation. Using these estimates and
accounting for equilibrium effects, the authors estimate
that automation accounts for 52% of the increase in
between-group inequality in the U.S. since 1980, with
rent dissipation being responsible for a fifth of this
contribution. The authors also estimate that inefficient
rent dissipation offset 60%–90% of the productivity
gains from automation since 1980.
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Source: Blueprint Labs
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In the past 10 years, both the financial industry and the
consumers it serves have experienced significant change.
Some of the more significant changes include
technological advancements that sent people online for
their banking needs, criminals whose tactics have become
increasingly sophisticated, and a global pandemic that
saw more than a twofold increase in financial
exploitation. To better understand how consumers’
banking practices and experiences have changed, the
authors surveyed more than 2,000 adults ages 18 or older
in June and July 2023. Results showed that one in two
respondents were a victim or intended victim of
financial exploitation. More than 60% of victims 50+
were more likely to trust their financial institution
based on how it handled financial exploitation, compared
to just 41% in 2014. More than nine in 10 (92%) adults
50+ want the employees of their financial institution to
be trained to recognize and stop financial exploitation,
up from 85% in 2014. The majority of respondents 50+ are
at least somewhat more likely to use a financial
institution recognized as having taken proven steps to
prevent exploitation. The insights from this research
provide focus areas and priorities for financial
institutions to cater to the diverse needs of consumers,
regardless of age, thus fostering trust and resilience
against financial exploitation. Financial institutions
should embrace a dual approach that caters to older
adults’ preference for personal interaction while
leveraging advancements in digital banking services.
Increasing trust, effectively addressing financial
exploitation, and offering age-friendly banking services
will be pivotal in retaining older customers and
attracting younger ones. Trusted organizations and the
development of comprehensive financial caregiving
services will further enhance the industry’s appeal and
will contribute to the overall well-being of older
customers.
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Source: AARP Public Policy Institute
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The annual National Healthcare Quality and Disparities
Report is mandated by Congress to provide a
comprehensive overview of the quality of healthcare
received by the general U.S. population and disparities
in care experienced by different racial and
socioeconomic groups. Quality measures are grouped into
six priorities: patient safety, person-centered care,
care coordination, effective treatment, healthy living,
and care affordability. The report is based on more than
250 measures of quality and disparities covering a broad
array of healthcare services and settings. This year's
report focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on U.S.
healthcare and healthcare systems. In 2021, overall life
expectancy decreased for the second year in a row,
further expanding a life expectancy gap between U.S.
residents (76.1 years) and people who live in peer
countries. The leading contributors to the drop in life
expectancy in 2021 were COVID-19 (which contributed 50%
of the decrease in life expectancy), unintentional
injuries (15.9%, a plurality of which were drug
overdose), heart disease (4.1%), liver disease (3.0%),
and suicide (2.1%). Substantial disparities in life
expectancy exist among people of different racial and
ethnic backgrounds. As of January 2023, overall
healthcare workforce participation has returned to
levels reported in January 2020. Additionally, many
rural Americans lack access to primary care services and
hospital care, as 174 rural hospitals closed. In 2021,
publicly sponsored health insurance accounted for 40.4%
of all healthcare consumption. Private health insurance
accounted for 29.9%, and out-of-pocket spending
accounted for 10.7%.
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Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality
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The opioid crisis is an ongoing and urgent public health
emergency, with 80,401 opioid overdose deaths in 2021,
despite effective, life-saving medications. Collectively
referred to as medications for opioid use disorder
(MOUD), these medications—buprenorphine, methadone, and
naltrexone—have become the standard for opioid use
disorder recovery. MOUD use has been associated with
reductions in health care use, including both inpatient
and outpatient care, as well as decreased overdose
mortality. Despite its effectiveness and the treatment
need, MOUD remains underused. A recent study found that
nearly 90% of those with OUD did not receive MOUD.
Barriers to MOUD access persist despite ongoing efforts
to improve capacity, including policy changes. MOUD
access is further complicated by the many individuals
with co-occurring OUD and mental health disorders; an
estimated 25% of adults with OUD having a co-occurring
serious mental illness. Complexities in navigating
multiple systems (e.g., primary care, specialty
substance use disorder care, mental health care) pose
additional barriers for adults with co-occurring
disorders, requiring improved understanding of how to
increase access and treatment utilization. Because
individuals with co-occurring disorders are more likely
to receive treatment for mental health than an SUD, and
given the high OUD prevalence in community mental health
treatment facilities (MHTFs), MHTFs are a potentially
important MOUD access point. Increasing MOUD delivery in
physical health care settings has been a priority, with
less attention to increasing delivery in MHTFs, which
has the potential to improve access to the more than 13
million individuals with co-occurring disorders who
receive care in such settings annually. Certified
Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), an
important subset of MHTFs, are required to provide a
range of streamlined behavioral health care services.
This cross-sectional study performed a phone survey
between April and July 2023 among a representative
sample of 450 staff at community outpatient MHTFs within
20 states most affected by the opioid crisis, including
all CCBHCs. Analyses found that 34% of MHTFs offered
MOUD in these states. Facility-level factors associated
with increased odds of offering MOUD were:
self-reporting being a CCBHC, providing integrated
mental and substance use disorder treatment, having a
specialized treatment program for clients with
co-occurring mental and substance use disorders,
offering housing services, and laboratory testing.
Facilities that accepted state-financed health insurance
plans other than Medicaid as a form of payment had
increased odds of offering MOUD and facilities that
accepted state mental health agency funds had reduced
odds. These results suggest that further study is needed
to report MOUD uptake, either through increased
prescribing at all clinics or through effective referral
models.
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Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
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The opioid overdose crisis requires strengthening treatment
systems with innovative technologies. How people use
telehealth for opioid use disorder (OUD) is evolving and
differs in rural versus urban areas, as telehealth is
emerging as a local resource and complementary option to
in-person treatment. In this report, the authors
assessed changing trends in telehealth and medication
for OUD (MOUD) and pinpoint locations of low telehealth
and MOUD access. Using national data from the Mental
health and Addiction Treatment Tracking Repository
(2016-2023), the authors identified 495 specialty
outpatient SUD treatment facilities in the United States
that offered both telehealth and all three MOUD
medication types (methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone)
in 2023, clustered in the eastern United States.
Analyses indicate that telehealth in facilities that did
not offer MOUD shifted from more telehealth in rural
facilities in earlier years to more telehealth in urban
facilities in later years. Treatment facilities that
offer both telehealth and all three MOUD medication
types may improve access for hard-to-reach populations.
The authors stress the importance of continued health
system strengthening and technological resources in
vulnerable rural communities, while acknowledging a
changing landscape of increased OUD incidence and MOUD
demand in urban communities.
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Source: RAND Corporation
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