In the last 2 years, 3 states have adopted a statewide Hope Cards are wallet-size cards that provide concise information regarding a court-issued protection order. They typically include the dates of issuance and expiration of the order, information about the issuing court, information about the protected parties, and identifying characteristics of the person against whom the protection order has been issued in a portable format. In 2023 and 2024, 3 states, Florida, New York, and Washington, adopted the program by law. In Florida, clerks of court, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, began issuing cards upon request on October 1, 2025. The Florida law also makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly produce a fake Hope Card. Unlike most states that provide for the issuance of only a physical card, New York’s 2023 law also allows a digital image of the final order of protection as issued in court, delivered via text message, email, or other electronic communication, to be used to present to law enforcement. The state’s Office of Court Administration oversees the program. The state of Washington started their program un the Administrative Office of the Courts on January 1, 2025, these statewide programs join Montana, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, and Virginia.

As a result of sentencing legislation and correctional policies in the late 20th century, the correctional populations in California and other states climbed steeply. By 2009, the United States had reached a peak of incarceration, reflecting more than 1.5 million individuals incarcerated in federal and state prisons. The California County Resentencing Pilot Program was established to support and evaluate a collaborative approach to exercising prosecutorial discretion in resentencing. Nine California counties were selected and provided funding to implement the three-year pilot program. Participants in the pilot were to include a county district attorney office, a county public defender office, and a community-based organization in each county pilot site. This study comprises three components: (1) an analysis of quantitative data collected by the district attorney offices and supplemented with information from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, (2) a qualitative implementation assessment, and (3) a cost study to estimate the resources required to implement the pilot activities. This report focuses on three of four research questions including: (1) What were the key implementation challenges experienced by the programs, and how did prosecutors and public defenders overcome these barriers? (2) What are the characteristics and outcomes of cases identified for possible resentencing at each stage of the resentencing process? (3) What are the costs of the pilot program? Key findings include prosecutor-initiated resentencing filled an important gap in sentencing policies by focusing on crimes against persons, each of the pilot counties developed its criteria for identifying cases eligible for resentencing consideration, and the variation across counties in implementation of the pilot is likewise reflected in the variation in resources used.

Street lighting is often believed to influence street crime, but most prior studies have examined small-scale interventions in limited areas. The effect of large-scale lighting enhancements on public safety remains uncertain. This study evaluates the impact of Philadelphia’s citywide rollout of enhanced street lighting, which began in August 2023. Over 10 months, 34,374 streetlights were upgraded across 13,275 street segments, converting roughly one-third of the city's street segments to new LED fixtures that provide clearer and more even illumination. The research team assess the effect of these upgrades on total crime, violent crime, property crime, and nuisance crime. Results show a 15% decline in outdoor nighttime street crimes and a 21% reduction in outdoor nighttime gun violence following the streetlight upgrades. The upgrades may account for approximately 5% of the citywide reduction in gun violence during this period, or about one sixth of the 31% citywide decline. Qualitative data further suggests that residents' perceptions of safety and neighborhood vitality improved following the installation of new streetlights. The research team’s study demonstrates that large-scale streetlight upgrades can lead to significant reductions in crime rates across urban areas, supporting the use of energy-efficient LED lighting as a crime reduction strategy. These findings suggest that other cities should consider similar lighting interventions as part of their crime prevention efforts. Further research is needed to explore the impact of enhanced streetlight interventions on other types of crime and to determine whether the crime-reduction benefits are sustained when these upgrades are implemented across all of Philadelphia for extended periods.

Using survey data from the American Educator Panels, the authors examine the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and products among teachers and principals in kindergarten through grade 12 (K–12) and the provision of school guidance on the use of AI during the 2023–2024 school year. The results indicate that 25% of surveyed teachers used AI tools for their instructional planning or teaching. That said, English language arts and science teachers were nearly twice as likely to report using AI tools as mathematics teachers or elementary teachers of all subjects. Nearly 60% of U.S. principals reported using AI tools for their work. Teachers and principals in higher-poverty schools were less likely to report using AI tools than those in lower-poverty schools. In addition, principals in high-poverty schools reported providing guidance for use of AI less often than their counterparts in lower-poverty schools. These results have implications for district and school leaders, as well as AI tool developers and researchers. Key findings in this report include that although one-quarter of teachers overall reported using AI tools, the authors observed variation in use by subject taught and some school characteristics. For example, almost 40% of ELA or science teachers reported using AI compared with 20% of general elementary education or math teachers. Teachers and principals in higher-poverty schools were less likely to report using AI tools relative to those in lower-poverty schools. Eighteen percent of principals reported that their schools or districts provided guidance on the use of AI by staff, teachers, or students. Yet, principals in the highest-poverty schools were about half as likely as principals in the lowest-poverty schools to report that guidance was provided (13% and 25%, respectively).

The budget reconciliation process, introduced in 1974 as part of the Congressional Budget Act, functions as a supplementary tool to the annual budget process. Reconciliation involves two phases: (1), the budget resolution outlines directives for designated committees to craft legislation that meets specified budgetary targets and (2) this legislation, typically combined into a single omnibus bill, is processed under streamlined procedures in the House and Senate. This paper provides recommendations to congressional lawmakers to advance education reforms that right-size federal involvement in education and uphold accountability for taxpayer dollars. Key recommendations include reforms in advancing education choice, reducing higher education spending, and providing accountability to taxpayers.

This report presents selected results from the 2024 mathematics assessment. The report includes national, state, and district results on the performance of fourth- and eighth-grade students. In 2024, the average score at fourth grade was 2 points higher compared to 2022 and 3 points lower compared to the pre-pandemic score in 2019. Compared to 2022, the score increased for middle-performing students at the 50th percentile and for higher-performing students at the 75th and 90th percentiles; there were no significant score changes for lower-performing students at the 10th and 25th percentiles. The average score at grade 4 was higher compared to the first assessment in 1990. In 2024, the average score at eighth grade was not significantly different from 2022 but was 8 points lower compared to 2019. In 2024, the average score of fourth-grade students in Florida was 243. This was higher than the average score of 237 for students in the nation. The average score for students in Florida in 2024 (243) was not significantly different from their average score in 2022 (241) and was higher than their average score in 2003 (234). In 2024, students who were identified as economically disadvantaged had an average score that was 18 points lower than that for students who were identified as not economically disadvantaged. This performance gap was not significantly different from that in 2003 (23 points).

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), those with fewer than 1,000 employees, account for more than 99% of the businesses registered in the United States and are a big part of the U.S. economy, employing nearly half of all workers and generating over $5.9 trillion in economic activity each year. But many of these businesses struggle to find and keep skilled employees, especially as jobs change and new skills are needed. In fact, experts predict that by 2030, almost 40% of the skills people use at work today will be different. Despite these challenges, SMBs often don’t have the time, money, or information they need to invest in training to support their employees in meeting needs of the business today or in the future. This makes it harder for SMBs to compete and grow. This report shares insights from a national survey and conversations with business leaders about the state of workforce training in SMBs. It highlights the biggest challenges, like lack of awareness and limited resources, as well as the benefits, including higher retention, increased advancement, and improved business performance. With many older workers retiring and industries changing fast, now is the time to focus on helping SMBs to train and support their teams for the future. Recommendations include (1) SMB solutions should comprehensively address barriers of information access, time, capacity, and resources; (2) SMBs deserve a tailored understanding of the returns and business benefits to upskilling; and (3) SMBs likely need opportunities to band together to create more demand for upskilling. This could create more reception and responsiveness among local training providers and could help them share the load, especially in building emerging skills.

As the generative Artificial Intelligent (AI) race heats up, it’s important to examine where in the U.S. the technology might boost or harm workers, or if place even matters. Last fall, the Brookings Institute published a report looking at possible patterns of AI involvement in the labor market, focusing on how generative AI appears set to intersect with particular occupations, regardless of their location. There, the research team found that more than 30% of all workers could see at least 50% of their occupational tasks affected by ChatGPT-4, while 85% of workers could see at least 10% of their tasks affected, with greater impacts possible. Now, the higher-end workers and regions only mildly exposed to earlier forms of automation look to be most involved (for better or worse) with generative AI and its facility for cognitive, office-type tasks. In that vein, workers in high-skill metro areas such as San Jose, Calif.; San Francisco; Durham, N.C.; New York; and Washington D.C. appear likely to experience heavy involvement with generative AI, while those in less office-oriented metro areas such as Las Vegas; Toledo, Ohio; and Fort Wayne, Indiana appear far less susceptible. For instance, while 43% of workers in San Jose could see generative AI shift half or more of their work tasks, that share is only 31% of workers in Las Vegas. In Florida, the range of generative AI exposure varies by county from Suwannee County (with the lowest exposure) to Leon County (with the highest exposure).

Self-employment is deeply connected to American ideals of independence and economic progress and historically has been especially important to older workers. Although high levels of self-employment declined during the 20th century, entrepreneurship is hailed as an important driver of U.S. economic vitality and growth. U.S. workers age 50 and older seem particularly drawn to self-employment, with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showing that workers ages 50+ are the age group most likely to be self-employed. This report provides details on self-employment trends among various age groups and other demographic groups. Key findings include self-employment declined among older workers (from 14.7% in 1994 to 8.7% in 2023), self-employment decrease is sharpest among men age 65 or older (from 42% in 1994 to 29% in 2023), and self-employment declined most among older workers in non-metropolitan areas.

Between 2022 and 2023, deaths from drug overdose (drug poisoning) in the United States decreased. Drug overdoses are a persistent health problem and a large contributor to unintentional injury, which is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. This report describes changes in age-adjusted drug overdose death rates between 2022 and 2023 by state (and the District of Columbia) and selected type of drug. The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths in the United States decreased 4.0% from 2022 (32.6 deaths per 100,000 standard population) to 2023 (31.3). The jurisdictions with the highest rates in 2023 were West Virginia (81.9) and the District of Columbia (60.7), and the states with the lowest rates were Nebraska (9.0) and South Dakota (11.2). Between 2022 and 2023, age-adjusted rates of drug overdose deaths decreased in 20 states (including Florida) and did not change significantly in 25 states. The rate increased between 2022 and 2023 in 6 states: Alabama, Alaska, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Between 2022 and 2023, Florida’s rate for drug overdose deaths decreased from 35.2 to 31.7 deaths per 100,000 standard population.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) uses an electronic health record system to manage patient care. The VA began to deploy its modernized system in 2020, but user concerns led to a pause in 2023. From June 2020 to May 2023, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued four reports on the VA's efforts to implement its electronic health record modernization (EHRM). The GAO made a total of 15 recommendations aimed at improving implementation. Most recently, the GAO's preliminary results show that VA is making incremental improvements. This includes implementing over 1,500 system configuration changes and initiating projects to address user challenges. However, much more remains to be done, such as updating the total life cycle cost estimate that reflects the many EHRM changes and delays, updating the integrated schedule to inform decision-making, and identifying baselines and targets for one of nine metrics to measure the impact of the new system at the live sites.

Measurement-based care (MBC) for behavioral health care, encompassing mental health and substance use disorder treatment services, is a clinical process that uses standardized, valid, repeated measurements to track a client’s progress over time and inform treatment. MBC fosters shared client-provider treatment planning and treatment decision-making processes. Despite the benefits of MBC, including improved client outcomes and quality of care, adoption has been slow. This study explores MBC reimbursement options and identifies potential financing solutions for increasing the use of MBC across diverse community behavioral health care settings. The study findings show that a fee-for-service payment approach is a minimally used reimbursement method for MBC for behavioral health care. In addition, value-based payment arrangements carry the potential to improve the financing of MBC but are not commonly used. Other findings include barriers to financing MBC for behavioral health services, such as a lack of payer alignment, reimbursement mechanisms that do not adequately support MBC practices, and challenges related to Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code use.