This annual report examines the current state of school crime and safety in the United States. It covers topics such as active shooter incidents, criminal victimization, bullying, safety and security measures, and criminal incidents at postsecondary institutions. The report presents data collected from students, teachers, principals, postsecondary institutions, and the general population from an array of sources, including the National Center for Education Statistics, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others. The report finds that incidents of nonfatal student and teacher victimization, reports of student bullying, and reports of some unfavorable conditions at school have become less prevalent. At school, the nonfatal criminal victimization rate (including theft and violent victimization) for students ages 12–18 decreased between 2012 and 2022 (from 52 to 22 victimizations per 1,000 students). The percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being bullied during school was lower in 2021–22 than in 2010–11 (19% vs. 28%). 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% vs. 10%) or being physically attacked by a student from their school (4% vs. 6%). Lower percentages of students ages 12–18 in 2021–22 than in 2010–11 reported the following unfavorable conditions at their school: gang presence (6% vs. 18%), being called hate-related words (7% vs. 9%), or seeing hate-related graffiti (23% vs. 28%). The percentage of students in grades 9–12 who reported having been in a physical fight on school property in the previous 12 months was lower in 2021 than in 2011 (6% vs. 12%).

In 2015, the Oklahoma County Detention Center faced an overcrowding crisis. This was compounded by a deteriorating facility, high incidences of violence within the jail, several high-profile lawsuits, and an overall lack of public trust in the county’s justice system. The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with community leaders, created the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Reform Task Force to assess the county’s criminal justice system and make recommendations to safely reduce the jail population and create a more effective justice system. The Vera Institute of Justice conducted the study, which included six recommendations for the county to reduce the jail’s population and promote public safety responsibly. In August 2022, the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Advisory Council (CJAC) requested a follow-up study to identify which recommendations the county implemented, as well as what further improvements in the system are necessary to achieve the task force’s goals. The report included seven findings about the county’s criminal justice system identified during the study. These findings included decreasing jail admissions by 44% since 2015, including the number of arrests for municipal charges and drug and alcohol-related misdemeanors and reductions in the proportion of the jailed population that are held for pretrial. Overall, the county has achieved its primary goal of reducing its population to address overcrowding, as the population is down 46% since its peak in 2015.

The number of English learners in U.S. public schools has increased to 10.4% of the school-age population. As a result, various stakeholders are now collaborating to foster improvements in academic content and English language and literacy development of elementary-grade English learners. Many English learners, especially in English-only classroom environments, face challenges in navigating academic content and developing literacy skills in a language that they are still acquiring. In many school settings, English learners experience limited opportunities for comprehensive learning and development. This disparity is exacerbated by the prevalent practice of removing these students from mainstream content-subject classes for specialized English-as-a second-language instruction, which primarily focuses on oral language proficiency. This exploratory study of a randomized controlled trial examined (a) the differential impact of classroom-based (Tier 1) content literacy intervention on reading and argumentative writing outcomes among Grades 1 and 2 English learners (n=1,236) and their English-proficient peers (n= 4,161) and (b) the mechanisms determining how the intervention yielded effects on English learner. The study was conducted across 30 elementary schools in an urban U.S. school district. The 10-week intervention, comprised of 20 lessons in science and social studies, which was delivered by classroom teachers. The core components were designed to build students’ content and vocabulary knowledge through informational texts and concept mapping and to transfer their outline to argumentative writing and research collaboration. Results show that while the intervention did not significantly improve reading proficiency and basic literacy skills, it significantly bolstered argumentative writing in science and social studies among English learners and their peers.

Get A Skill, Get A Job, Get Ahead (G3) is a state-funded last-dollar scholarship program for students enrolling in eligible associate degree, certificate, and noncredit occupational training programs in the Virginia Community College System in five high-demand fields: early childhood education, healthcare, information technology, public safety, and skilled trades (construction and manufacturing). This brief documents efforts by the system and its colleges to market G3 and support students through the steps required to receive funding. The findings illustrate how G3 has value beyond its core financial aid function as colleges’ G3 marketing activities not only promote potential financial benefits but also serve to nudge students to explore high-demand occupations and create incentives for enrolling in programs of study with better labor market prospects. Key takeaways include making messaging on affordability and feasibility more transparent and encouragement of one-door approaches to student inquiries, enrollment, and program choice.

FraudNet’s primary mission is to facilitate the reporting of allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement of federal funds. It also supports U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits and investigations. This is a summary of FraudNet’s activities for Fiscal Year 2023. The public, including government employees and contractors, submitted 4,044 allegations to FraudNet in Fiscal Year 2023. The number of allegations processed in Fiscal Year 2023 was closer to Fiscal Year 2021 and substantially lower than Fiscal Year 2022. More than half of the allegations received in Fiscal Year 2022 were associated with social media campaigns that resulted in multiple complainants submitting form letters alleging the same fraud. This type of allegation was not prevalent in Fiscal Year 2023. Allegations in Fiscal Year 2023 included topics such as government subsidy fraud, ethics/conflict of interest/misconduct, and employee fraud. Of the total allegations received in Fiscal Year 2023, FraudNet referred 2,042 complaints to approximately 50 other federal entities, including the Department of Defense, Department of Justice, and Department of the Treasury. For 201 allegations, complainants indicated that they had sent the same allegation to entities other than GAO.

This Government Accountability Office (GAO) report examines state efforts to fight fraud in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. The program was one of several temporary federally funded programs created in March 2020 by the CARES Act to expand unemployment insurance benefits. It provided unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for workers not eligible under regular unemployment insurance rules for benefits – such as self-employed workers and independent contractors – who were unable to work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. PUA benefits varied from state to state. States were challenged to rapidly start the program and establish anti-fraud measures. States reported using multiple tools, such as cross-checking IDs with a variety of sources. States also said that they continued improving their tools as the pandemic progressed—such as by adding a check for duplicate banking or address information across claims. In September 2023, the GAO estimated that UI programs during the pandemic—including the PUA program—were subject to an estimated $100 billion to $135 billion in fraud from April 2020 through May 2023.

The National Park Service (NPS) has a multibillion-dollar backlog of deferred maintenance— maintenance that was not performed as scheduled or as needed and was put off to a future time. The NPS’s deferred maintenance was estimated at $23.263 billion for Fiscal Year2023. Although other federal land management agencies also have deferred maintenance, the NPS’s backlog is the largest and has drawn the most congressional attention. During the past decade (Fiscal Year 2014-Fiscal Year 2023), the NPS deferred maintenance grew by $11.769 billion (+102%) in actual dollars and $6.430 billion (+38%) in inflation-adjusted dollars. Many factors might contribute to the growth or reduction of deferred maintenance, including the aging of the NPS assets, availability of funding for maintenance activities, acquisition of new assets, agency management of the backlog, completion of individual projects, changes in construction and related costs, and alterations in the methods used to estimate deferred maintenance. Further, the NPS reported that a 60% actual dollar increase in the backlog between Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021 was due in part to changes in how the agency estimates deferred maintenance. Sources of funding to address the NPS deferred maintenance have included discretionary appropriations, allocations from the U.S. Department of Transportation, park entrance and concessions fees, and donations. Often it is not possible to determine the total amount of funding from these sources that was allocated each year to address deferred maintenance because the NPS does not aggregate these amounts in its budget reporting. Congress has focused on the NPS’s use of funds from Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund provided under the Great American Outdoors Act, including the agency’s project selection priorities, the funds’ impact in addressing the backlog, the reasons for changes in the NPS’s deferred maintenance estimates, and the possibility of reauthorizing deposits to the fund beyond Fiscal Year 2025. Additionally, Congress has also debated the sufficiency of ongoing annual appropriations for the NPS deferred maintenance, as well as appropriations for preventative maintenance that could keep assets from deteriorating to the point that deferred maintenance is accrued. Some Congress members have expressed interest in potential actions to reduce the backlog without additional funding, such as through public-private partnerships or disposal of unneeded assets.

This report presents final 2022 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. Data are presented and interpreted for infant deaths and infant mortality rates using the 2022 period linked birth/infant death file, which is based on birth and death certificates registered in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. A total of 20,577 infant deaths were reported in the United States in 2022, up 3% from 2021. The U.S. infant mortality rate was 5.61 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, a 3% increase from the rate of 5.44 in 2021. The neonatal mortality rate increased 3% from 3.49 in 2021 to 3.59 in 2022, and the post-neonatal mortality rate increased 4% from 1.95 to 2.02. The overall infant mortality rate increased for infants of American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic, White non-Hispanic, and Dominican women in 2022 compared with 2021; 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 (10.90) in 2022, followed by infants of American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander non-Hispanic (9.06 and 8.50, respectively), Hispanic (4.89), White non-Hispanic (4.52), and Asian non-Hispanic (3.51) women. Mortality rates increased from 2021 to 2022 among preterm (less than 37 weeks of gestation) infants (33.59 to 34.78) and for infants born term (37 to 41 weeks of gestation) (2.08 to 2.18). The five leading causes of infant death in 2022 were the same as in 2021: congenital malformations (19.5% of infant deaths), disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight (14.0%), sudden infant death syndrome (7.4%), unintentional injuries (6.6%), and maternal complications (5.9%). Infant mortality rates by state for 2022 ranged from a low of 3.32 in Massachusetts to a high of 9.11 in Mississippi.

This study examines trends in the numbers, percentages, and rates of first and second and higher-order births to teenagers younger than age 20 and for those ages 15–17 and 18–19 by race and Hispanic origin. Data for this analysis are from the National Vital Statistics System birth data files from 2000 and 2022. Analyses are limited to births to females younger than age 20. Changes in the numbers, percentages, and rates of total, first, and second and higher-order teen births from 2000 to 2022 were calculated for all teenagers and for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic teenagers. The number of first-teen births declined by 67%, and the number of second and higher-order teen births declined by 79%, while the population of female teenagers increased by 7% from 2000 to 2022. The declines were greater for younger teenagers compared with older teenagers. First and second, and higher-order teen birth rates declined 69% and 80%, respectively. Similar declines were found for each race and Hispanic-origin group. In 2000 and 2022, first and second and higher-order birth rates were lowest among White teenagers. First birth rates were highest among Hispanic teenagers in 2000 and for Hispanic and non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native teenagers in 2022. In 2000, second and higher-order birth rates were highest for non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic teenagers; second and higher-order birth rates were more similar by race and Hispanic origin group in 2022.

The Medicare Advantage program is an increasingly popular option among Medicare beneficiaries, with enrollment growing steadily from 19% in 2007 to 51% of total Medicare enrollment in 2023. Medicare Advantage allows beneficiaries to choose a private health plan available in their area. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides risk-adjusted per member per month payments to these health plans based on a quality-based star rating system. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 introduced quality-related payments to plans under Medicare Advantage to incentivize health plans to deliver higher-quality care for beneficiaries. Conversely, the Medicare program at large faces financial pressures as overall enrollment grows and health spending outpaces inflation. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission noted that the quality bonus payments are one of several factors contributing to overpayments in Medicare Advantage. This report assesses the distribution of contracts’ star ratings in 2015 and 2023 to determine the thresholds for defining high and low-scoring plans and show how average star ratings have increased over time. The institute also examines the characteristics of beneficiaries in 2015 through 2020 with access to high-scoring versus low-scoring plans to examine geographic variation in access to high-quality plans and identify regions across and within states where access to high-quality plans is comparatively more limited. The findings indicate that some program recipients do not have access to the additional benefits funded under quality-based programs in certain areas across states.