Florida statute directs OPPAGA to study the effectiveness of Florida’s sex offender registration process and public notification provisions. Both federal and state laws facilitate oversight of sexual offenders and predators living in Florida communities, with state agencies and local law enforcement monitoring, registering, verifying, and providing information about sex offenders. Florida is one of 18 states that are substantially compliant with federal sex offender registry requirements. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s sex offender registry lists more than 86,000 offenders and predators, of which over 30,000 reside in Florida communities. OPPAGA found that 63% of offenders on the registry are either confined or do not live in Florida. The number of sex offenders on Florida’s registry who live in other states has grown at a faster rate relative to registered sex offenders living in Florida communities. OPPAGA also found that the transient offender population continues to present monitoring challenges and has grown since 2021. Approximately 7% of registered sexual offenders and 12% of sexual predators living in Florida communities are homeless or transient, with rates varying by county and ranging from 0% to 34%.

Federal law requires the Bureau of Justice Statistics, through its National Prisoner Statistics program, to collect data on specific topics including , characteristics of persons in prison such as education levels and participation in treatment and rehabilitation programs) and report these data annually. The report found that the federal prison population decreased by about 2% from 2022 (158,637) to 2023 (155,972), individuals with prior military service accounted for more than 5% of the total federal prison population, and the number of non-U.S. citizens in federal prison at yearend 2023 was 22,817, down from 2021 (24,031) and 2022 (24,078). About 71% (110,213) of persons at yearend 2023 had a high school diploma, General Educational Development (GED) credential, or other equivalent certificate prior to their admission to federal prison, and an additional 4,168 earned their GED credential or equivalent certificate while in prison during 2023. A total of 5,898 persons received medication-assisted treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration while in custody to treat a substance use disorder, a 145% increase from 2022 (2,412). In 2023, 21,755 federal prisoners participated in the Non-Residential Drug Abuse Program, while 12,598 participated in the Residential Drug Abuse Program

A housing court is a court of limited jurisdiction over certain property and housing cases, such as landlord and tenant disputes. Housing courts have long been viewed as places of last resort. Housing instability does not begin or end in state courts, but they are charged with authorizing evictions. Not every housing dispute results in eviction, and not every eviction case has to result in an eviction order. Preventing evictions when possible and minimizing their harm when not is the goal of the Eviction Diversion Initiative (EDI) diversion initiative site. The EDI is a collaboration network of 24 state and local courts which have worked to connect landlords and tenants with resources to help resolve disputes. Observed trends across the EDI sites include fewer eviction judgments, improved court appearance rates, more sealed eviction records, and stronger connections to resources.

As the U.S. approaches the 10-year mark since the passage of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), it's clear that K-12 education is at a crucial juncture. Despite recent progress, recent analysis of state ESSA implementation reveals gaps both in how states measure school performance and how they support struggling schools. To provide access to high-quality education for all students, state leaders can strengthen their school accountability systems and provide meaningful support to schools that need it most. There are some promising school performance measurement practices across states. For instance, 13 states are using value-table models to measure student growth, which focus on moving students toward grade-level proficiency rather than just comparing them to their peers. This is particularly important because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Indiana’s measure of chronic absenteeism — an indicator used by 35 states — incentivizes schools to support students with the most absences by giving schools credit for every student whose attendance rose by at least three percentage points from the previous year. However, these bright spots are the exception, not the rule. Here are some findings that still need addressing: (1) states could provide clear, summative ratings of school performance on their report card websites, which enables communities to understand how they are performing; (2) eleven states incorporate the performance of student groups into their overall school performance ratings. This means that in 39 states, a school could receive a high rating even if it's not serving certain groups of students effectively; (3) half of states have set criteria for identifying Targeted Support and Improvement schools — those with consistently underperforming student groups — in a way that’s consistent with the intent of ESSA (i.e., to act as an early warning system to catch and support schools struggling to support one or more student groups); and (4) states can consider setting exit criteria for schools identified as low-performing that ensure meaningful and sustainable progress. This prevents schools from exiting a school improvement state without clear evidence that they've truly

The National Center for Education Statistics administered the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) long-term trend reading and mathematics assessments to 13-year-old students from October to December of the 2022–23 school year. This report compares performance on the NAEP long-term trend reading and mathematics assessments for age 13 students during the 2022–23 school year to previous assessment results, focusing on results obtained in the 2019–20 school year. Results reflect the performance of a nationally representative sample of 8,700 thirteen-year-olds in each subject. Performance comparisons are based on statistically significant differences between assessment years and between groups. This report found that in the 2022-23 school year, the average scores for 13-year-olds declined four points in reading and nine points in mathematics compared to the previous assessment administered during the 2019–20 school year. In mathematics, the scores for age 13 students declined compared to 2020. This ranged from six to eight points for middle- and higher-performing students to 12 to 14 points for lower-performing students, with larger declines for lower performers in comparison to their higher-performing peers. In 2024, the average score of Florida eighth-grade students in mathematics was 267. This was lower than the average score of 272 for students in the nation. For reading, Florida eighth graders had an average score of 253; lower than the average score of 257 for students in the nation. For both mathematics and reading Florida’s scores were lower than 27 other states.

Many localities have recently started to invest in collecting and using data to provide public services. The broad movement toward data-driven policy in municipalities across the country is a positive step toward addressing inequalities through well-informed policy decisions. However, the authors also believe it is important to evaluate whether this increase in collection and using data has led to increased agency for communities in the data collection process. Data can be a powerful resource for communities to both push for resources and policy reforms that can help improve their overall well-being and to address challenges they are facing. However, data can define and redefine narratives for marginalized communities, often in ways that limit their agency and policymaking leadership. There are many ways of creating knowledge, and enabling community leadership elevates important community-based experiences and data. Communities are interested in having more influence on the early stages of the research processes so they can help to identify existing problems and develop policy and community-level interventions that address them. This study concluded that it is possible to transform research models and ecosystems so that communities have greater control over research agendas and data governance issues that have a direct impact on their well-being.

Since 1996, the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant has provided $16.5 billion annually in federal funding to states to help support low-income families and address community needs. Recent information from state auditors and the U.S. Department of Justice highlight concerns about whether vulnerabilities in TANF create opportunities for program participants and others to misuse or divert funds. In July 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) completed its first TANF fraud risk assessment using its Fraud Risk Assessment Portal. It identified and assessed 21 fraud risks. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) categorized these 21 fraud risks into nine broad categories, which include billing fraud, misuse of award funds, conflict of interest, and personally identifiable information theft. GAO is making seven recommendations to HHS, including to develop clear guidance and standard procedures for regular risk assessments, communicate with state and local stakeholders, and improve the Fraud Risk Assessment Portal design. HHS concurred with five recommendations and did not fully concur with two on the portal.

This research used several imputation methodologies to predict the race/ethnicity and gender of individuals who faced an eviction filing in the Cleveland Housing Court between January 2016 and June 2023. The analysis of the imputed data assesses racial/ethnic and gender disparities in eviction filings and case outcomes, the geographic distribution of eviction cases and outcomes, and prolific evictors and the composition of tenants receiving filings from these landlords. Each year, millions of people engage with the civil legal system for a range of matters, including evictions, traffic violations, small claims, probate, debt collection, divorce, and child custody and support. Civil court case outcomes can have significant impacts on the lives of these individuals, their families, and their communities. Black people and women disproportionately face eviction: 64.4% of eviction filings are against Black people while 51.9% of all tenants in the Cleveland Housing Court’s jurisdiction are Black; 59.7% of eviction filings are against women while 51.4% of all tenants in the court’s jurisdiction are women. Defendants without legal representation were far more likely to have a financial judgment rendered against them, with 16.6% of unrepresented defendants receiving financial judgments compared to only 2.26% of represented defendants. Although the findings indicate clear racial/ethnic and gender disparities regarding who enters the eviction court system, the analysis of eviction case outcomes did not reveal clear racial/ethnic or gender disparities after an individual entered the system. However, data limitations prompted us to analyze a subset of outcomes, including whether defendants (tenants) or plaintiffs (landlords) had legal representation; whether a writ of eviction was filed or issued, a move was scheduled, or a second cause hearing was held; whether a financial judgment occurred and the amount; and whether wage garnishment occurred. Future analyses should explore additional outcomes of interest.

Cesarean delivery is major surgery associated with higher costs and adverse outcomes compared with vaginal delivery. For the first time, in 2022 more than one-half of births in Puerto Rico were delivered by cesarean (50.5%). In recent decades, cesarean delivery rates in Puerto Rico have been 40%–70% higher than rates in the U.S. mainland and up to 78% higher than rates for Hispanic mothers in the U.S. mainland. This report explores differences between the cesarean delivery rates for Puerto Rican mothers giving birth in Puerto Rico and the U.S. mainland in 2023, by maternal age, gestational age, source of payment for the delivery, and state of occurrence. Key findings include that the cesarean delivery rate for Puerto Rican mothers in Puerto Rico was 50.9% in 2023, 51% higher than that for Puerto Rican mothers in the U.S. mainland, 33.8%. In 2023, cesarean delivery rates for Puerto Rican mothers in Puerto Rico were higher for all maternal age groups than rates for Puerto Rican mothers in the U.S. mainland. Cesarean delivery rates for most gestational age categories were higher for Puerto Rican mothers in Puerto Rico than in the U.S. mainland in 2023. Cesarean delivery rates for Puerto Rican mothers in Puerto Rico were higher than in the U.S. mainland for all sources of payment categories. The cesarean delivery rate for Puerto Rican mothers in Puerto Rico was higher than for Puerto Rican mothers in nearly all states and the District of Columbia.

This study examined whether county-level characteristics influenced the ability of a simulated patient to secure an appointment with a provider of a treatment practitioner, either a buprenorphine-waivered prescriber or an opioid treatment program. An over 40% increase in overdose deaths within the past 2 years and low levels of engagement in treatment call for a better understanding of factors that influence access to medication for opioid use disorder (OUD). The authors leveraged data from a randomized field experiment comprised of simulated pregnant and non-pregnant women of reproductive age seeking treatment for OUD among 10 states in the United States. The authors employed a mixed-effects logistic regression model with random intercepts for counties to examine the relationship between appointments received and salient county-level factors related to OUD. The sample comprised 3956 reproductive-aged callers; 86% reached a buprenorphine-waivered prescriber and 14% an opioid treatment program. One additional opioid treatment program per 100,000 population was associated with an increase in the likelihood that a non-pregnant caller receives an OUD treatment appointment from any practitioner. When opioid treatment programs are highly concentrated within a county, women of reproductive age with OUD have an easier time securing an appointment with any practitioner. This finding may suggest greater practitioners' comfort in prescribing when there are robust OUD specialty safety nets in the county.

This guide aims to support researchers and policy partners in systematically examining child care subsidy payment policies at the local level and to foster learning across communities (states, territories, Tribes, and local communities). It addresses family payment policies and provider payment policies. Given the large investment of public funds in and the important intended outcomes of the federal Child Care and Development Fund program, it is vital to examine questions that help inform current and future child care subsidy payment policies and practices. The variations in environments, child care subsidy policies, and practices across the partnering states, territories, and Tribes present an opportunity for learning more. On the other hand, these variations sometimes make it challenging to identify opportunities for learning across communities. The logic model presented in this report provides a common framework to study the implementation and outcomes of local child care subsidy payment policies. It includes a visual representation and definitions of actors, inputs and activities, experiences, outputs, and intended and unintended outcomes. It depicts and discusses the important influences of power, voice, and trust; and diversity and equity. It then contextualizes these factors within societal, governmental, and environmental factors; and changes over time. The guide also provides reflective questions to support research and policy staff to engage in discussions to identify and map key elements of the logic model for enhancing the understanding of child care subsidy payment policy implementation and outcomes in their communities.