This report presents counts and rates of allegations of inmate-on-inmate and staff-on-inmate sexual victimization across all types of adult correctional facilities. Highlights from the report include that correctional administrator reported 36,264 allegations of sexual victimization in 2020, a 5% decrease from 2019 (38,132). The rate of total substantiated incidents of sexual victimization in 2020 (1.2 incidents per 1,000 inmates) was not significantly different from the rate for any year since 2014. In 2020, there were 9,321 allegations of inmate-on-inmate sexual harassment, 8,628 of staff sexual misconduct, 7,449 of staff sexual harassment, 6,370 of nonconsensual sexual acts, and 4,496 of abusive sexual contact. During 2019–20, nearly 82% of inmate-on-inmate incidents were reported by the victim, while 38% of staff-on-inmate incidents were reported by the victim.

In 2017, the Collateral Consequences Resource Center (CCRC) began publishing reports on legislative enactments every year, describing and evaluating new laws to reduce the barriers faced by people with criminal records in the workplace, at the ballot box, and in many other areas of daily life. Prior reports found that the legislative momentum in enacting reform laws had decreased in recent years. This report highlights key developments in reintegration reforms from the 2023 legislative session finding that 20 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government enacted 36 separate pieces of legislation and took executive action to restore rights and opportunities to people with an arrest or conviction history. Additionally, few states expanded eligibility for petition-based record sealing. Other states removed marijuana convictions from public view, trimmed barriers to relief by automating the record-sealing application process, reduced waiting periods, or eliminated obstacles represented by outstanding court debt (fines and fees). Further, new laws limited the consideration of criminal records in economic settings, regulating employment and occupational licensing, and removing barriers to restoring a driver’s license. For instance, the U.S. Small Business Administration took steps toward eliminating restrictions on federally guaranteed loans.

A legal desert is a lawyer shortage in a rural community where there are few to no options for legal representation. Lawyers tend to be concentrated in urban areas or may work for the government and not be available for private practice. Transportation and associated costs are a burden to those living in rural areas. This lack of attorneys promotes even more self-represented litigants. While virtual hearings have helped save time, transportation issues, and costs to litigants, some rural areas have no internet service or unreliable service. These areas may even lack cellphone service. Some courts have started improving access to justice in rural communities by implementing unique programs that increase the chances of bringing more lawyers or law school students to rural areas, whether in person or virtually. The University of South Carolina operates the Palmetto LEADER, a mobile law office where law students assist pro bono attorneys providing free legal services to rural and underserved communities. The mobile bus visits locations based on factors like poverty data and access to legal services. The Illinois State Bar Association’s Rural Practice Initiative Committee created two programs, one that connects law students with rural practitioners and the other that places recent graduates in rural law firms. Similarly, the NCSC’s CLEAR initiative examines the burdens on public interest and government organizations in hiring and retaining attorneys and the challenges law school graduates face entering and staying in roles that meet the legal needs of underserved communities. Other states with similar initiatives include Colorado, Georgia, South Dakota, and Ohio.

Extensive research has shown the benefits of integrated K-12 settings, and emerging evidence indicates that the benefits of diversity may also be significant in early childhood education. Children learning in racially, linguistically, and economically integrated settings can show stronger language and learning gains. These gains are larger the earlier children experience integrated education. A study of publicly funded preschools found that nearly half of Black and Latino children are taught in racially isolated schools where 90% of students are students of color. In fact, early childhood education programs are, on average, more racially segregated than elementary schools and high schools. Research shows that early childhood programs are socioeconomically segregated as well as by race and ethnicity. Policymakers can consider actions such as 1) establishing universal early childhood education programs so that family income does not determine where a child can enroll -- in the 2022-23 school year, jurisdictions with universal programs included Florida, Georgia, Iowa, New York, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia; 2) remove major burdens from individual providers such that Head Start and non-Head Start-eligible children can learn together; 3) make preschool available to all 4-year-olds; 4) build a coherent system of governance and administration.

Grow-your-own programs seek to address teacher shortages by recruiting locally. Interest in these programs—which recruit high school students, college students, or career changers—has ballooned over the past decade. These programs offer an attractive model because teacher shortages are typically a local problem and recruiting locally is more likely to yield teachers that are demographically representative of the student body. These factors can support student success, as local teacher shortages can create coordination problems in schools and increase the workload of current teachers, as well as the fact that students benefit from having a teacher who looks like them and understands their background. The Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) is the state’s grow-your-own program, which exposes high school students to teaching as a career through a four-course career and technical education sequence and allows them to dually enroll in courses with credits counting toward high school graduation and a two- or four-year teaching degree. Using the Maryland Longitudinal Data System on cohorts of entering ninth-graders between 2008 and 2013 and observing them for 10 years found that Enrollment in TAM increased the likelihood that both Black and White girls went on to become teachers. White girls induced by TAM to become teachers do so almost exclusively on traditional teaching licenses, and the program increased White girls’ likelihood of earning a bachelor’s degree in teaching. TAM’s effects on Black girls are mostly through alternative pathways into the profession, such as conditional licenses, which require a bachelor’s degree—though not necessarily in teaching—and allow individuals to work as full-time teachers while pursuing requirements for full certification. TAM increased high school graduation rates, with the largest increase for Black girls and a significant effect on White girls. Enrollment in TAM increased wages, with the largest gains accruing to Black girls. These results are encouraging, and although only a small set of students participate—primarily Black and White female students—they provide insight on how school-level adoption of the TAM program influences longer-run outcomes. The analysis shows that grow-your-own programs could offer an avenue to expand the teacher labor force while increasing educational attainment and potential earnings.

The U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) reached a historic milestone in its student performance in the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress, outperforming all states in reading and math in both 4th and 8th grade. The DoDEA is unusual among public school systems in several ways: it is operated directly by the federal government, not governed by an elected or appointed board of education like other systems; DoDEA schools are rooted in the mission, culture, and organization of the armed services; DoDEA enjoys a multiyear budgetary commitment and allocations to modernize its school facilities, whereas other state and district systems must go through annual budgetary cycles and gain voter support for capital projects. The DoDEA has undertaken ambitious initiatives to improve instruction in recent years. One clear example is the adoption and implementation of College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS). DoDEA strategically rolled out CCRS in phases, focusing on standards-based improvement, assessments, and professional development. More recently, DoDEA’s Teacher Hiring Project has focused on ensuring that every classroom has a qualified teacher on the first day of school. This case study of DoDEA has implications for state and district school systems. First, DoDEA’s planning and learning cycle provides a good model for engaging regional and district leaders to build collective commitment and organizational trust. Second, although multiyear budgetary planning is difficult to replicate in other state education systems—which are governed by annual or biannual budgetary approval processes—state legislatures could consider adopting multiyear budget guidelines based on enrollment projections and revenue trends. Finally, DoDEA’s sustained academic progress points to the importance of a steady, long-term focus on a standards-based instructional core.

Micro-credentials are increasingly being adopted across a variety of industries and countries, including the kindergarten through grade 12 education system in the United States, as a way to identify workers with specific skills, knowledge, and competencies. This report presents the results of a study investigating the implementation and impact of teacher micro-credentials intended to improve high school science, technology, engineering, and math teaching and learning in Louisiana. Key findings include that teachers' progress toward earning micro-credentials fell far short of initial expectations. A goal of teachers earning one to two micro-credentials a year may be more feasible than the initial goal of earning five to eight micro-credentials over two years. Most teachers were motivated to try micro-credentials because they viewed them as an opportunity for professional growth. For many teachers, finding enough time was a main barrier to earning micro-credentials because of the demands of their professional responsibilities as a teacher. The disruptions caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic posed a major barrier to completing micro-credentials in the first year of the study. Lingering disruptions caused by the pandemic persisted into the second year of the study. Teachers who successfully earned micro-credentials shared certain characteristics, such as having relevant content knowledge, setting goals, and mapping course content to micro-credentials in advance. Teachers' views on whether micro-credentials aligned with their courses depended on several factors, including what courses the teachers taught, the micro-credentials they attempted, and their efforts to plan in advance to foster this alignment. Teachers commented that micro-credentials provided them with new tools and strategies for their instruction and gave them opportunities to reflect on their current practice. Teachers expressed a desire to work with peers on micro-credentials as a potential mechanism to support their understanding of and progress on micro-credentials. No detectable effects were found on standardized tests of math and science, student course-taking, or attendance. Few teachers completed micro-credentials, which may account for the lack of effects.

This brief provides monthly poverty estimates for 2022, using data from the 2023 Survey of Income and Program Participation. The survey is a nationally representative, longitudinal survey administered by the U.S. Census Bureau that provides comprehensive information on the dynamics of income, employment, household composition, and government program participation. The monthly poverty rate is the percentage of people in poverty in a given month using income and a monthly threshold. The episodic poverty rate is the percentage of people in poverty for 2 or more consecutive months. Only those in the poverty universe all 12 months are included in the universe for episodic poverty. The monthly poverty rate was 12.6% in January, and it did not significantly change throughout 2022. More than 1 in 6 individuals (16.0%) were in poverty for at least 2 consecutive months. About one-fourth of Black, non-Hispanic and Hispanic individuals were in poverty for at least 2 consecutive months (23.6% percent and 22.6%, respectively).

Compared to most other modes of freight and passenger transportation, railroads consume energy more efficiently and pollute less. Nevertheless, because most trains rely on diesel engines for power, they can generate harmful air pollutant emissions, especially around rail yards where engines often idle, and greenhouse gases. Reducing emissions from U.S. railroads is of interest to many in Congress as part of the nation’s overall strategy to reduce air pollution and reach long-term greenhouse gas reduction targets. The railroad industry has pursued various strategies to reduce emissions. Depending on their operating needs, railroads are considering mature technologies (e.g., wayside electric power) or emerging ones (e.g., battery or hydrogen power) to accomplish this goal. Trains could be entirely battery powered, producing no emissions when operating, or use a configuration known as hybrid diesel-electric battery where a diesel engine also charges a battery similar to that in a gasoline hybrid automobile. Advantages of battery power include minimal need for new or modified infrastructure, though charging stations would be needed for 100% battery operations, and electrical transmission lines may require upgrades. Fully electric trains produce no emissions of their own, generally drawing power from overhead wires (an overhead catenary system) or from an electrified third rail running alongside the tracks. Both methods require the construction of electric power substations along the route, adding to up-front infrastructure costs. Hydrogen fuel cells use either liquid or gaseous hydrogen reacting with oxygen to produce electricity; the reaction produces only heat and water as by-products. Some internal combustion engines can also use hydrogen fuel (instead of diesel), producing no carbon emissions during operation. However, today, the manufacture of almost all industrial hydrogen produces greenhouse gases.

Domestic violence and sexual assault can contribute to housing instability for survivors. The 2013 reauthorization of the federal Violence Against Women Act expanded protections for survivors in federal-assisted rental housing. The GAO was directed to review housing providers’ emergency transfer plans. Emergency transfers can be either internal (moving a survivor to a unit for which they would not be considered a new applicant) or external (moving a survivor to a unit for which they would be considered a new applicant).This report examines the extent to which selected housing providers adopted emergency transfer plans, challenges to and strategies for completing emergency transfers, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) support and oversight of housing providers’ efforts. GAO analyzed emergency transfer policies from a non-generalizable sample of 60 housing providers, randomly selected within size and urban and rural classifications. The report found that most housing providers (45 of 60) adopted emergency transfer plans for relocating domestic violence or sexual assault survivors, as required by federal regulations. However, not all providers specified how transfers would take place. Additionally, three providers required survivors to provide additional information to be eligible for a transfer, which may delay a transfer approval and potentially put survivors at risk. Other challenges to transferring survivors include differing program eligibility requirements based on program objectives, limited coordination among housing providers on vacant units, and a limited number of appropriate units. To address these challenges, some housing providers reported utilizing strategies such as sharing data on vacant units, prioritizing survivors from waitlists, and streamlining application processes. The GAO made seven recommendations to HUD, including providing directions on how to implement emergency transfers and revising the form used to assess private property managers’ compliance with Violence Against Women Act requirements.

In the 2022 reporting period, a total of 6,957,919 clients received mental health treatment services provided or funded by state mental health agencies. The data were provided by 49 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories (Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of Palau). One state (Maine) and five territories (American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) did not submit data for 2022 and are therefore excluded from this report. Among clients receiving mental health treatment services in 2022, 26.7% (N = 1,853,636) were children (age 0 to 17) and 73.3% (N = 5,096,219) were adults (age 18 and older). The rate per 100,000 population of clients receiving mental health treatment services in 2022 by age group was 2,549 for children and 1,942 for adults. Among children receiving mental health treatment services in 2022, 52.0% (N = 961,891) were male and 48.0% (N = 889,060) were female. Among adults, 44.7% (N = 2,275,338) were male and 55.3% (N = 2,812,734) were female. The rate per 100,000 population of children receiving mental health treatment services by sex was 2,585 for males and 2,504 for females. The rate per 100,000 population of adults in 2022 by sex was 1,765 for males and 2,107 for females. Among children receiving mental health treatment services in 2022, 73.1% (N = 1,271,371) had a serious emotional disturbance. Among adults receiving mental health treatment services in 2022, 74.2% (N = 3,547,088) had a serious mental illness. Among all clients receiving mental health treatment services in 2022 with at least one mental health diagnosis, the most common diagnosis was depressive disorders (31.4%, N = 1,851,295) followed by anxiety disorders (28.3%, N = 1,669,979). The rates per 100,000 population were 552 per 100,000 for depressive disorders and 498 per 100,000 for anxiety disorders. In 2022, 10 states (California, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Maryland, and New Mexico) accounted for 55.6% (N = 3,282,083) of clients with mental health diagnoses receiving mental health treatment services in the United States.

This report uses data from the National Health Interview Survey and National Health Interview Survey–Teen to estimate the prevalence of self-reported social and emotional support among teenagers ages 12–17 years, describe differences in health and well-being outcomes by level of support received, and compare teen- and parent-reported estimates for social and emotional support overall and by selected teen and family characteristics. The percentage of teenagers who self-reported always or usually receiving social and emotional support by selected demographic characteristics, and potential differences in health outcomes by level of support, were estimated using data from the National Health Interview Survey–Teen collected from July 2021 through December 2022. In addition, data from the same time period from the National Health Interview Survey were used to compare parent-reported estimates of their teenager’s social and emotional supports with the teenager’s self-reported estimates. In 2021–2022, 58.5% of teenagers reported always or usually receiving the social and emotional support they needed. Differences were seen by several demographic characteristics including sex, race and Hispanic origin, sexual or gender minority status, highest parental education level, and family income level. Teenagers who always or usually received support were less likely to report poor or fair health, anxiety or depression symptoms, very low life satisfaction, and poor sleep quality. Parents consistently reported higher perceived levels of their teenager’s social and emotional support compared with the teenager’s self-report.

Family-centered care recognizes families as central to child health and well-being and prioritizes clinician collaboration with families to ensure optimal pediatric care and outcomes. Clinician interpersonal sensitivity and communication skills are key to this approach. In this cross-sectional study, participants from diverse clinical disciplines completed an online survey between June 2020 and February 2021. Participants included physicians, surgeons, nurses, and allied and mental health professionals. Burnout and confidence responding to families’ psychosocial needs were associated with clinicians’ perceptions of family-centered care. In the past month, 141 participants (67%) reported at least 1 symptom of emotional exhaustion, 62 (30%) reported at least 1 symptom of depersonalization, and 170 (80%) endorsed at least 1 area of personal accomplishment at work. Participants reported using approach-based coping (eg, positive reframing) more frequently than avoidance-based coping. Overall, out of 7 total points possible, the mean mental health knowledge score for the sample was 2.35 (1.56) points. Only 3 participants (1%) answered all 7 questions correctly. These findings suggest that targeted interventions to address these factors may benefit clinicians and also potentially strengthen the practice of family-centered care in pediatric and congenital heart settings.