Florida Statute directs OPPAGA to conduct an annual study to evaluate the effectiveness and cost efficiency of pretrial release programs in Florida. This report gathers information pertaining to the funding sources of each pretrial program, the nature of criminal convictions of defendants accepted into the programs; the number of failed court appearances by defendants accepted into each program; the number of warrants issued subsequently by defendants in each program; and program compliance with statutory reporting requirements. OPAGA found that, in 2023, program expenditures totaled over $47 million, with county funds comprising 96% of pretrial program budgets statewide. Of the pretrial programs that responded to OPPAGA’s survey, all reported a rate of less than 7% for participants failing to appear in court. In addition, pretrial programs generally complied with statutory reporting requirements, with 31 programs providing OPPAGA with weekly registers and 31 programs providing an annual report; however, many programs did not include all of the statutorily required data elements in the registers or annual report.

This report examines data from 23 states where juveniles (defined as persons ages 12 to 17) were charged in adult criminal courts between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014. It focuses on the 23,553 cases where the most serious charge was known at arrest and case disposition. The report covers cases filed in adult criminal courts against juveniles at several stages throughout the court process: most serious charge at arrest, method of disposition, case outcome, and sentencing. It also presents statistics on the demographic characteristics of these juveniles. For one-third of persons ages 12 to 17 charged in adult criminal courts, the most serious offense was a property crime both at arrest (32%) and at disposition (33%). Most persons ages 12 to 17 charged in adult criminal courts were male (75%). Across offense types, the most serious charge at disposition differed from the most serious charge at arrest in up to 15% of the cases for persons ages 12 to 17. At case disposition, 65% of persons ages 12 to 17 charged with a felony in adult criminal courts were convicted, compared to 25% of persons charged with a misdemeanor.

Despite the growing recognition of the need for targeted interventions, there is a significant gap in the availability of comprehensive, accurate, and consistent data on Native youth in the justice system. The absence of this data impedes effective policymaking, program design, and the ability to track the outcomes and needs of this vulnerable population. This report examines the current state of data collection and reporting related to Tribal youth involvement in Minnesota’s juvenile justice system. Key findings include the average age of detained Native youth was 15 years old, with 17 years old being the most common age at intake, the length of detention for Native youth varied greatly, with most youth (mode = 1 day) having short stays but a small subset facing much longer periods of confinement, with an average stay of 46 days, and juvenile detention facilities generally lack formal, standardized policies for notifying Tribes about detained Native youth.

While investments in schooling generate large private and external returns, negative peer interactions in school may generate substantial social costs. Using data from four national sources (Uniform Crime Reports, National Incident-Based Reporting System, National Crime Victimization Survey, National Electronic Injury Surveillance System) and a variety of identification strategies, this study comprehensively explores the effect of in-person schooling on contemporaneous juvenile violence. Using a proxy for in-person schooling generated from anonymized smartphone data and leveraging county-level variation in school calendars — including unique, large, localized changes to in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic — the research team found that in-person schooling is associated with a 28% increase in juvenile violent crime. A null finding for young adults is consistent with a causal interpretation of this result. The effects are largest in larger schools and in jurisdictions with weaker anti-bullying policies, consistent with both concentration effects and a peer quality channel.

Leveraging rich data on the universe of Texas high school graduates, this research estimates how the relationship between geographic access to public two- and four-year postsecondary institutions and postsecondary outcomes varies across race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status. The research team finds that students are sensitive to the distance they must travel to access public colleges and universities, but there are heterogeneous effects across students – particularly with regard to distance to public two-year colleges (i.e., community colleges). White, Asian, and higher-income students who live in a community college desert (i.e., at least 30 minutes driving time from the nearest public two-year college) substitute towards four-year colleges and are more likely to complete bachelor’s degrees. Meanwhile, Black, Hispanic, and lower-income students respond to living in a community college desert by forgoing college enrollment altogether, reducing the likelihood that they earn associate’s and reducing the likelihood that they ultimately transfer to four-year colleges and earn bachelor’s degrees. These relationships persist up to eight years following high school graduation, resulting in substantial long-term gaps in overall degree attainment by race-ethnicity and income in areas with limited postsecondary access.

One of the biggest challenges schools across the United States face at the start of 2025 is the persistently high levels of student chronic absenteeism. Having skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest data shows it remains almost double pre-pandemic levels, with approximately one in four students missing more than ten percent of school days each year. Frustratingly, for everyone involved, including school leaders, teachers, families and students themselves, schools have only seen marginal decreases in the years since the pandemic. Decades of evidence point to the importance of families in student motivation, engagement, and outcomes. One significant review of evidence showed that the way parents and caregivers interact with their students at home was two times more predictive of students’ interest and learning in school than socioeconomic status. One of the best ways to understand students’ experiences and engagement is to ask them. In this report, the authors share what they have learned from children in the U.S. about their engagement and experiences of school through a survey of over 65,000 third through twelfth grade students. The authors also share what parents’ perspectives are on their own children’s schooling experiences from a survey of almost 2,000 parents who have children between third and twelfth grade. Both surveys are nationally representative by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity. Findings include that only 26% of 10th graders say they love school but 65% of parents with 10th graders think they do. Only 44% of 10th graders say most of the time they learn a lot in school while 72% of parents with 10th graders think they do. Only 29% of 10th graders say they get to learn things they are interested in while 71% of parents with 10th graders think they do. Only 33% of 10th graders say they get to develop their own ideas while 69% of parents with 10th graders think they do. Only 42% of 10th graders say they use their thinking skills rather than just memorizing things while 78% of parents with 10th graders think they do. Only 39% of 10th graders say most of the time they feel they belong at school while 62% of parents with 10th graders think they do.

As 2024 came to a close, the U.S. Census Bureau projected the U.S. population would be 341,145,670 on New Year’s Day, an annual increase of 2,640,171 or 0.78%. By comparison, just before the nation’s independence nearly 250 years ago, the 13 colonies had about 2.5 million residents. The projected world population on January 1, 2025, is 8,092,034,511, up 71,178,087 (0.89%) from New Year’s Day 2024. During January 2025, 4.2 births and 2.0 deaths are expected worldwide every second. The Census Bureau’s International Database (IDB) created in the 1960s now produces population projections for 227 countries and equivalent areas, plus 16,919 subnational areas. Population size (by single year of age and sex) and components of change (fertility, mortality and migration) are available for each calendar year through 2100. The IDB was last updated in November and is set to be updated again next November. The United States is expected to remain the world’s third most populous country in 2025. As of July 2024, the top 10 most populous countries were India (1,409,128,296); China (1,407,929,929); the United States (336,673,595); Indonesia (281,562,465); Pakistan (252,363,571); Nigeria (236,747,130); Brazil (220,051,512); Bangladesh (168,697,184); Russia (140,820,810); and Mexico (130,739,927).

Precise measurements can support major improvements in medicine, defense, and research. Quantum sensors have the potential to make a wide variety of measurements with unprecedented precision. Quantum sensors are the most developed type of quantum technology. Since the mid-20th century, commercialized quantum sensors include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and atomic clocks, which are used in GPS. The report explores potential opportunities to utilize quantum sensors for various purposes and fields. It found that quantum sensors could help the military overcome jamming and detect stealth technology, reduce costs and environmental impacts of extracting subterranean mineral deposits, oil, or groundwater, and lead to more precise measurements of the human body, such as new ways of imaging brain activity or determining protein structures.

Access to an employer-based retirement plan is critical for building financial security later in life. While Social Security remains the bedrock of American retirement security, almost all workers will need additional resources to supplement that income and provide money for unexpected expenses. Yet, nearly half of American employees in the private sector—roughly 56 million—work for an employer that does not offer either a traditional pension or a retirement savings plan. That 47% includes workers at all levels of earnings, education, and backgrounds. All of them would benefit from the ability to use payroll deduction to save for retirement, and few households eligible to contribute to an Individual Retirement Account outside of their job regularly do so. This report offers key figures about Americans’ access to workplace retirement savings programs. About 47% of American workers ages 18 to 64 in 2022 were employed by businesses that do not offer any type of retirement plan. In Florida, about 59% of private sector workers ages 18 to 64 in 2022 were employed by businesses that do not offer any type of retirement plan. About 71% of Hispanic workers, 61% of Black workers, and 53% of Asian American workers in Florida lack access to an employer-provided retirement plan. Together, they accounted for about 56% (2,509,000) of the roughly 4,419,369 employees without a workplace retirement plan. In addition, 60% of all men and 59% of all women do not have access to an employer provided plan.

Thousands of infants are diagnosed as deaf or hard of hearing each year. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a program that tracks infants' screening for and diagnosis of hearing loss. The program connects families with early intervention services to help prevent developmental delays. The HHS required states to submit diversity and inclusion plans that target underserved populations to address disparities in access to these services. But HHS hasn't asked states to set goals for or report on their progress with addressing disparities. The U.S. Government Accountability Office is making two recommendations to the Health Resources and Services Administration: (1) require state Early Hearing Detection and Intervention programs to set performance goals that can be used to measure progress in addressing any identified disparities in access for underserved populations; and (2) assess the results of state Early Hearing Detection and Intervention programs' access disparities performance and use it to inform future plans. HHS agreed with these recommendations.

This report presents data on national estimates of substance-related emergency department (ED) visits from 53 participating Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) hospitals in 2023. The data includes (1) all drug-related ED visits, (2) the top substances involved in drug-related ED visits, (3) opioid-related ED visits by type, and (4) polysubstance-related ED visits. There were an estimated 7,590,202 drug-related ED visits in the U.S. in 2023. The rate of all drug-related ED visits was 2,266 per 100,000 individuals. The frequency of visits increased by 5.8% compared to estimates in 2022. Rates of all drug-related ED visits from participating hospitals were highest among the following characteristics: males (2,668 per 100,000) and not Hispanic or Latino individuals (2,391 per 100,000). Approximately two-thirds of all drug-related ED visits were individuals aged 26 to 44 and 45 to 64. After accounting for the underlying population, rates were highest among individuals aged 18 to 25, 26 to 44, and 45 to 64. The proportion of all drug-related ED visits was highest among White (58.9%) individuals compared to other races, after accounting for the underlying population, Black individuals had the highest rate (4,053 per 100,000). Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander individuals (0.2% [NH/PI]) represented the smallest proportion of drug-related ED visits. After accounting for the underlying population, they had a similar rate compared to White individuals (1,736 per 100,000 [NH/PI]; 1,775 per 100,000 [White]) and significantly higher rates compared to American Indian or Alaskan Native (AI/AN), Asian, and Multiracial individuals (935 per 100,000 [AI/AN]; 429 per 100,000 [Asian]; 708 per 100,000 [Multiracial]). The rate of drug-related ED visits was similar across U.S. Census regions.