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September 20, 2024
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Victims of crime often experience negative physical,
emotional, and financial consequences. It is essential to
understand the various needs of victims and how different
types of services can most effectively support them.
Although stakeholders may implement programs with the best
intentions, using seemingly reasonable approaches, programs
may ultimately not affect victims or even cause them
unanticipated harm. Evaluations of programs and practices
can provide needed data and information to understand
whether, how, and for whom a program works. Evaluations also
play a critical role in guiding policymakers and funding
organizations, program providers, and other stakeholders as
they make important decisions such as whether to continue,
revise, or expand an existing program — or pursue other
practices. Evaluations enable stakeholders to make better
judgments about strengthening the quality of services,
improving outcomes, and allocating resources. They also
increase accountability and transparency in program
implementation. This article explores two types of
evaluations — formative and process — describing when they
should be used and what they should include. It then
discusses three formative and process evaluations funded by
the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) that examined
technology-based victim service programs. These evaluations
provide important information about program operations,
implementation, research capacity, resources, and victim
populations served, and they offer guidance for subsequent
evaluations. Researchers partnered with the local
organization The SAFE Alliance to conduct a formative
evaluation of its SAFEline program. The SAFE Alliance
provides various services for adult and youth victims of
crime and violence, including sexual assault and
exploitation, intimate partner violence, human trafficking,
and child abuse and neglect. Researchers found that the
SAFEline service model and approach were user-centered,
trauma-informed, social justice-oriented, and social
presence-facilitated. Researchers also observed that chat
and text hotlines were crucial to service availability for
crime victims because it provided immediate crisis services
and functioned as a supportive space for victims. In
addition, preliminary analyses of SAFEline service use data
showed that chat and text services increased access to teens
and young adults, Spanish-speaking service users, and
individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice
Programs
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Deficiencies in the quality and interoperability of law
enforcement data have been identified as major problems that
hamper law enforcement decision-making and operations. Data
governance and data management can address these issues by
improving the quality and shareability of data. This report
provides the results of a panel of experts convened to
identify the greatest need to leverage data governance and
data management knowledge to enable major improvements in
the quality, availability, and interoperability of law
enforcement data. Findings from the panel include 1) Data
collection (and policing processes more broadly) focuses on
incidents, criminal investigations, people, and cases.
Thinking about problems and larger crime-generating issues
and potential solutions outside direct policing responses is
not historically supported; 2) Failure to prevent abuse of
emerging technologies (e.g., facial recognition systems)
might lead to loss of access to them. Standard practices on
how to properly use technologies are needed; 3) Improper use
of technologies can create destructive feedback loops in
which certain communities are over-enforced because of
sensor hits (cameras, shot detection), which in turn leads
to more technology and sensor hits; 4) Key parties have not
historically been in the room to make data decisions. An
equity process during planning and implementation is needed
to detect and mitigate any data problems. This needs to
happen explicitly; and 5) There are concerns about
commercial providers using certain data formats for reasons
of their own, locking in agencies with specific vendors, and
charging a lot more for agencies to access their own data or
provide specific data exchanges. Even when two agencies
share the same platform, they often cannot share information
because the data were set up differently.
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Source: RAND Corporation
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Many schools use exclusionary discipline—such as suspensions
and expulsions—to deter students from misbehaving and to
protect students from the harms associated with exposure to
student misbehavior. Research indicates that exclusionary
discipline increases misbehavior and risks of dropout and
juvenile and adult incarceration. Moreover, exclusionary
discipline exerts secondary harm, negatively impacting the
school climate among those who see their peers suspended.
Research has also detected racial disparities in how
exclusionary discipline is applied. Black students are far
more likely to experience exclusionary discipline and its
negative side effects. Black students are nearly four times
more likely than White students to receive an out-of-school
suspension, and Black-White disparities in suspensions and
expulsions emerge in all student subpopulations—across all
demographic groups, educational contexts, and grade levels.
Research demonstrates that stark racial disparities in
discipline are not a function of racial disparities in
student misbehavior, nor of how students sort into schools.
Instead, disparities are largely driven by school practices.
In response, schools have implemented restorative practices,
which include proactive practices to inculcate conflict
resolution skills and strengthen community bonds (e.g.,
through community-building circles) and responsive practices
to resolve conflicts and repair relationships (e.g., through
mediation and harm-repair circles). This study examines the
effects of restorative practices on academic, disciplinary,
behavioral, and health outcomes by combining data regarding
the practices in 485 middle schools with detailed school
attendance and student outcome data for approximately 2
million middle school students. Researchers track student
exposure to these practices over time and analyze how
exposure to restorative practices affects outcomes at the
individual and school levels, controlling for student and
school characteristics. Researchers found that exposure to
restorative practices improved students’ academic
achievement and reduced suspension rates and duration.
Researchers also found that the effects of restorative
practices on academic outcomes were positive for all
students while stronger for Black and Latino students, thus
reducing discipline gaps and achievement gaps. However,
access to restorative practices was not equitable across
student groups even after controlling for a range of other
school-level factors.
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Source: Learning Policy Institute
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The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted student
achievement, with declines rivaling those after Hurricane
Katrina. These losses widened achievement gaps between
historically marginalized students and their peers. Three
years later, achievement remains behind pre-pandemic levels
for many students. This paper examines 2022-23 academic
recovery efforts across eight school districts, including
tutoring, small group instruction, after-school, extended
year, double-dose, digital learning, and expert teacher
interventions. Across 22 math and reading interventions,
most were delivered to fewer students and for less time than
planned. Researchers found positive effects for one tutoring
program on math scores and two tutoring programs on reading
scores, ranging from 0.22 to 0.33 standard deviations. Each
of these programs served a very small share of the
district’s students and was unlikely to play a major role in
district-wide academic recovery. Finally, we find that
having an expert teacher with high evaluation scores as
opposed to a non-expert teacher significantly improves
student achievement by 0.06 standard deviations in math and
0.11 standard deviations in reading. While highlighting the
promise of intensive academic interventions, key findings
underscore the challenges districts face in scaling such
interventions to match its recovery needs. The field needs
better evidence regarding the successful implementation of
large-scale interventions.
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Source: Center for Education Policy Research
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More than one million high school students enroll in some
type of dual enrollment college coursework in partnership
with a college or university every year. The benefits of
participating in one of these programs have been well
documented, but so too have the gaps in participation among
Black and Hispanic students, English learners, students with
disabilities, and other groups not well served in the high
school to college transition. Furthermore, there is uneven
access to well-taught dual enrollment coursework that is
aligned with postsecondary academic and career pathways that
high school students may want to pursue. With the expansion
of dual enrollment programs in recent years, researchers
have documented how college and K–12 practitioners are
reforming dual enrollment to focus on broadening its
benefits for all students. In this report, researchers
provide research-based recommendations for states and
systems to strengthen dual enrollment, including expanding
access, strengthening on-ramps to postsecondary pathways,
and building and sustaining strong partnerships. This report
also provides six general mechanisms to implement these
recommendations, including legislation, funding, regulation,
guidance, engagement, and resources. Key recommendations
include setting statewide goals and measure progress,
rethinking eligibility requirements, and reducing tuition
and non-tuition costs to students and families through state
funding.
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Source: Community College Research Center
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Contracted disability examinations are a critical source of
information that the U.S. Department of Veterans Benefits
Administration often uses to decide eligibility and the
level of benefits for veterans with service-connected
disabilities. When a veteran files a claim for disability
compensation, the department may request medical
examinations to gather evidence about a veteran’s
disabilities. As of July 2024, 93% of these exams are
conducted by contractors. The department uses several
techniques to oversee the quality of contracted disability
examinations. The department’s oversight techniques for
contracted exam quality are intended to prevent, detect, and
correct exam errors. This study examines the extent to which
the department manages the quality of contracted disability
exams. The study also provides a preliminary analysis of
selected stakeholders’ views on the department’s oversight
of exam quality. The GAO found that one of the techniques
for error correction does not have clear and complete
procedures. Specifically, the department provides
contractors with information on the types of exams with the
most errors, and contractors use this information to create
action plans intended to improve the quality of these exams.
The department developed written procedures for reviewing
these quality action plans; however, the GAO found that
these procedures do not specify how the department will 1)
verify that contractors complete the corrective actions in
their plans; or 2) assess whether these actions improve exam
quality over time. The GAO provides several recommendations
to improve the clarity and completeness of its procedures
for reviewing contractors, including routinely verifying
that contractors complete the corrective actions in their
quality action plans and determining the extent to which
these actions help improve exam quality.
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Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office
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Homeownership can help households accumulate wealth and
promote financial stability, particularly amid elevated
inflation. But climate-fueled extreme weather events
threaten to undermine households’ ability to maintain
homeownership. Disasters such as flooding, tornadoes, and
wildfires can severely damage a property, reduce its value,
and increase the likelihood of mortgage default. Homeowner’s
insurance provides financial protection against physical
damage to a property. As a result, it can help households
and the property they own recover from catastrophic weather
events. Given rising climate risk, the unpredictability of
future warming, inflation, skyrocketing construction costs,
and state rules about insurers’ ability to raise premiums,
private-sector providers of homeowner’s insurance are
raising premiums and suspending cover in some areas, notably
California and Florida. Higher insurance premiums contribute
to growing affordability concerns because of high home
prices and interest rates. This study provides an overview
of the median annual homeowner’s insurance premium by income
group and neighborhood climate risk and the share of
households that report zero homeowner’s insurance by income
and neighborhood climate risk by income group and
neighborhood climate risk. The study found that lower-income
homeowners (i.e., those whose household incomes are up to
200% of the federal poverty level) appear to be the most
vulnerable and pay higher insurance rates compared to
higher-income homeowners in 2021. In addition, the overview
of homeowner’s insurance confirms the growing financial
vulnerability emerging for families in the event of a
climate catastrophe.
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Source: Urban Institute
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Electricity systems worldwide are under pressure due to
aging infrastructure, rising demand for electricity, and the
need to decarbonize energy supplies at pace. Artificial
intelligence (AI) applications have the potential to help
address these pressures and increase overall energy
security. For example, AI applications can reduce peak
demand through demand response, improve the efficiency of
wind farms, and facilitate the integration of large numbers
of electric vehicles into the power grid. However, the
widespread deployment of AI applications could also come
with heightened cybersecurity risks, the risk of unexplained
or unexpected actions, or supplier dependency and vendor
lock-in. The speed at which AI is developing means many of
these opportunities and risks are not yet well understood.
The study aims to provide insight into the state of the art
of AI applications for the power grid and the associated
risks and opportunities. Researchers conducted a literature
review to find examples of relevant AI applications to
determine the state of the art of these applications in the
United States, the European Union, China, and the U.K.
Researchers also used a Python-based power system model
called PyPSA to explore how different AI applications can
improve energy security. To map the risks, researchers
created a risk taxonomy and invited external stakeholders
from policymaking and research organizations to participate
in a back-casting exercise to discuss the key enablers that
would contribute to certain positive and negative outcomes.
Key findings include the effectiveness of AI-driven load
shifting in strengthening energy security, an increase in AI
development and deployment related to energy applications,
and several risks associated with deploying AI applications
in the electricity system.
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Source: RAND Corporation
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This report presents 2022 fetal mortality data by maternal
race and Hispanic origin, age, tobacco use during pregnancy,
and state of residence, as well as by plurality, sex,
gestational age, birth weight, and selected causes of death.
Trends in fetal mortality are also examined. A total of
20,202 fetal deaths at 20 weeks of gestation or more were
reported in the United States in 2022. The 2022 U.S. fetal
mortality rate was 5.48 fetal deaths at 20 weeks of
gestation or more per 1,000 live births and fetal deaths, 4%
lower than in 2021 (5.73) and a new historic low for the
United States. The fetal mortality rate in 2022 for deaths
occurring at 20–27 weeks of gestation was 2.79, a 5% decline
from 2021 (2.95). For deaths occurring at 28 weeks of
gestation or more, the rate in 2022 was 2.71, a 3% decline
from 2021 (2.80). In 2022, the fetal mortality rate was
highest for Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
non-Hispanic (10.36) and Black non-Hispanic (10.05) females
and lowest for Asian non-Hispanic females (3.70). Fetal
mortality rates were highest for women ages 40 and older,
for women who smoked during pregnancy, and for women with
multiple gestation pregnancies. Five selected causes (1.
Fetal death of unspecified cause; 2. Fetus affected by
complications of placenta, cord, and membranes; 3. Fetus
affected by maternal complications of pregnancy; 4. Fetus
affected by maternal conditions that may be unrelated to
present pregnancy; and 5. Congenital malformations,
deformations and chromosomal abnormalities) accounted for
90.0% of fetal deaths in the 43-state and District of
Columbia reporting area.
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Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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In 2022, 84.2 million adults and 6.1 million adolescents
were diagnosed with a mental health disorder or substance
use disorder. Health centers are community-based clinics
that offer primary care to underserved communities. In 2022,
health centers offered mental health disorder services to
2.7 million patients and substance use disorder services to
about 299,000 patients. This report presents rates for these
disorders by age group for visits to health centers by
people age 12 and older, based on the 2022 National
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey - Health Center Component.
In 2022, the health center visit rate for people age 12 and
older with an mental health disorder only was 50.5 visits
per 1,000 people. This was higher than rates for people with
a substance use disorder only (10.3 visits) and both a
mental health disorder and substance use disorder (12.8).
Similar patterns were observed across all age groups, with
rates for mental health disorders only higher than rates for
substance use disorders only and both mental health disorder
and substance use disorder. Rates for adolescents ages 12–17
with a substance use disorder only (0.6) and with both an
mental health disorder and substance use disorder (1.1) were
the lowest. Rates for adults ages 26–49 (13.3) and 50 and
older (11.9) with a substance use disorder only were higher
than rates for young adults ages 18–25. Similarly, rates for
adults ages 26–49 (19.0) and 50 and older (12.0) with both a
mental health disorder and a substance use disorder were
higher than rates for young adults ages 18–25. Rates for
mental health disorders only were not significantly
different across age groups.
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Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Many states continued to see improvements in health
insurance coverage rates for all age groups between 2019 and
2023, according to the American Community Survey. Uninsured
rates dropped in 17 states for children, 42 states for
working-age adults, and in one state (Florida) for adults
aged 65 and older from 2019 to 2023. However, fewer states
saw drops in uninsured rates than from 2013 to 2019, when
rates declined in 37 states for children, in all 50 states
and the District of Columbia for working-age adults, and 14
states for older adults. Some findings include that 1) the
uninsured rate for children increased in six states:
Alabama, Louisiana, New Mexico, South Carolina, Texas, and
Washington; 2) Medicaid coverage for children declined in
seven states: Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland,
Texas and West Virginia. It increased in five: Iowa,
Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Wyoming; 3) uninsured
rates for working-age adults declined in 14 states and
increased in three: Connecticut, Iowa, and New Jersey; 4)
Medicaid coverage for working-age adults increased in 11
states and decreased in four: Arkansas, Idaho, New
Hampshire, and West Virginia; and 5) private coverage for
adults 65 years and older declined in 24 states, driven by
declines in direct-purchase coverage.
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Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau
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