Violent crime includes the offenses of homicide (composed of murder and non-negligent manslaughter), sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. This report details rates of violent and property crime in the United States based on offenses reported by law enforcement agencies from 2022 to 2023. In 2023, the rate of violent crime in the United States, based on offenses reported by law enforcement agencies, was 387.8 per 100,000 persons. This is a 5% decrease from 2022 (407.3 per 100,000). However, the rate of violent victimization in 2023 was 395.2 per 100,000 persons, which was not statistically different from the rate in 2022. The rate of property offenses decreased 3% from 2,085.6 per 100,000 persons in 2022 to 2,015.2 per 100,000 in 2023. Motor vehicle theft was the only property crime to show an increase in victimization rate, from 271.0 per 100,000 persons in 2022 to 305.4 per 100,000 in 2023.

Each year, the National Center for State Courts surveys the public to assess confidence in state courts, emerging trends, and opportunities for judicial innovation. This 2024 report highlights modest gains in public trust, growing support for artificial intelligence and technology in courts, and increasing interest in alternative legal service providers to bridge the justice gap. Survey results show that public trust and confidence in state courts show a modest gain for the second consecutive year, with 63% of survey respondents reporting being confident in the institution, compared to 61% in 2023. The majority of survey respondents reported that state courts are committed to protecting individual and civil rights and treat individuals with dignity and respect, resulting in the increase in confidence. Researchers also found that most survey respondents would allow trained legal professionals without a law degree to provide certain legal services. Lastly, most survey respondents reported that state courts should increase the use of artificial intelligence if it would make information more accessible, translate court documents into other languages, and transcribe court proceedings from audio recordings.

Nearly half of all women in the United States have experienced intimate partner violence during their lifetime. Abusive partner intervention programs—also known as abuse intervention programs and batterer intervention programs are one of the most common court-mandated interventions for people charged with intimate partner violence. The Trauma-Informed Abusive Partner Intervention Program at the Urban Resource Institute was a 26-week intervention for people charged with intimate partner violence-related offenses in Manhattan, New York. This report presents findings from a process and outcome evaluation of the program. Key findings include that program participants were statistically less likely than comparison group participants to be arrested within 12 months after the intervention, no program participants were convicted of possessing or using a dangerous weapon or engaging in criminal mischief within 12 months after the intervention, and no program participants received a new prison sentence within 12 months after the intervention. In addition, researchers found that toward the end of the program (at week 25 of the mandated 26 weeks), participants mostly held attitudes toward intimate partner violence that demonstrated high understanding of intimate partner violence, its prevalence, and its causes. However, some participants maintained problematic views toward addressing gender norms and roles.

Montana’s Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education developed and implemented a statewide initiative called Montana 10 to meet the needs of Montana’s college students to ensure they enroll in and graduate from public colleges and universities in the state. In particular, Montana 10 seeks to support students in rural areas, who are from low-income families, are first-generation college students, or are Native American through a multifaceted program that combines financial assistance, specialized advising and career services, and academic support, all in a one-stop shop for students. Early findings show that the program’s components were implemented differently across the five colleges in the first two years of the study. The program’s most important components, advising and financial assistance, were in place at all colleges. Financial assistance was implemented consistently across all colleges, as were components like orientation sessions and career services. While advising was named by students and staff as the most important part of Montana 10, advising caseloads and the advising services provided varied by college and by semester. Other components varied across colleges, often due to how the campus outside of the program implemented its freshman seminar courses and tutoring services. Findings also show that all colleges in the study faced staffing challenges and difficulty tracking and using real-time data, which changed how program services were offered from semester to semester. As a result, while advising services were consistently offered, not all students accessed these services.

After decades of slow but steady growth in teacher diversity, the share of teachers of color in the national teacher workforce plateaued at about 20% between 2018 and 2021, raising questions about what could encourage greater progress toward a more racially diverse teacher workforce. Using nationally representative teacher survey data, this study investigates the representation and experiences of public school teachers of color. Researchers find that in recent years, teachers of color were less likely to have access to conditions associated with longevity in the profession: access to comprehensive preservice preparation, sustaining teaching conditions, competitive compensation, and supportive mentoring. Additionally, teachers of color were more likely to owe substantial college debt and experience high levels of debt-related stress. Teachers of color were more likely than White teachers to consider leaving their teaching position, and indeed, Black teachers, in particular, left teaching at higher rates than other teachers.

Concerns about student math performance in the U.S. have grown in recent years, driven by persistent disparities, pandemic-related disruptions, and stagnating or declining national achievement scores. In response, the Center on Reinventing Public Education convened a panel of math experts to identify priority topics in K-12 math education. This brief highlights several findings from experts about conditions to increase access to qualified math teachers for all students and related challenges. Key findings include that adequate staffing is the first step in ensuring that students have consistent access to formal math instruction delivered by professionals trained in the subject, teachers must be equipped with evidence-based knowledge and skills, as well as culturally and linguistically responsive practices that promote understanding across diverse learners, access to focused, coherent math curricula—along with adequate training on their implementation—is essential for effective instruction. Key experts also identified challenges related to access to qualified math teachers, including consensus and debate on effective math teaching, general shortages and vacancy rates concerns, time and resource constraints, and resources for effective math instruction.

Florida’s 4,500 at-grade highway-rail grade crossings are essential to providing mobility for both rail and vehicular traffic throughout the state. However, these crossings have approximately 350 fatal and severe injury crashes every year. In response, the Florida Department of Transportation investigates the effectiveness of existing safety countermeasures and additional measures that can be taken to further improve safety at these crossings. This report focuses on a crash analysis to identify contributing factors to crashes at highway-rail grade crossings, such as human, infrastructure, and operational factors. The research identified several contributing factors to highway-rail grade crossings crashes, such as human behavior, infrastructure design, and operational challenges. In addition, findings show that effective countermeasures like signing and pavement markings, quadrant gates, delineators, fencing, geometric improvements, education, enforcement, and flashing beacons can assist in reducing crashes every year. Certain technologies, such as transportation systems and transportation systems management and operations technologies, can enhance both safety and mobility.

Digital real estate tools can streamline the homebuying process, from house shopping online to getting a mortgage approved faster. However, their use of artificial intelligence has raised questions about potential effects on homebuyers and the housing market, particularly regarding compliance with fair housing and other consumer protection laws. This U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) examines (1) the use of selected products, (2) their potential benefits and risks, and (3) agency oversight of compliance with fair lending and relevant consumer protection laws for the products. The GAO found that property technology encompasses a wide range of digital tools used in real estate and is used in nearly every phase of the homebuying process. These products can simplify homebuying and reduce costs for homebuyers, but also pose risks, particularly related to artificial intelligence. In addition, fair lending and other consumer protection laws and regulations may apply to property technology products. For example, agency oversight generally has not focused specifically on the products, with the exception of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Specifically, the agency has conducted examinations specifically focused on products such as automated mortgage underwriting systems and automated valuation models. As a result, the GAO recommends that the agency provide written direction to the enterprises clarifying how they are to comply with fair lending requirements and how the agency will supervise their compliance.

Higher annual gains in private-sector average hourly earnings occurred in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect across the economy, reaching $1.37 in 2024. This article seeks to isolate the effect that each major industry had on the annual change in total private earnings in 2024. Annual gains in average hourly earnings of all employees in the private sector averaged $1.11 from 2015 through 2024, though a clear shift to higher gains occurred in 2020. From 2015 to 2019, the annual gain in hourly earnings averaged $0.75. In the 5-year period that followed, the annual gain averaged $1.46, nearly double the average gain of the prior 5-year period. Although the gain trended lower in the last 2 years, falling to $1.37 in 2024, it remained elevated. From December 2023 to December 2024, professional and business services experienced the largest increase in hourly earnings of all major industries with a gain of $2.11. This was followed closely by information ($1.90), financial activities ($1.84), utilities ($1.81), and construction ($1.65). In contrast, retail trade saw the lowest increase of $0.64, followed by wholesale trade ($0.72), leisure and hospitality ($0.80), and transportation and warehousing ($0.84). In the same period, professional and business services had the largest contribution of all major industry sectors to the total private-sector gain, accounting for 26.7% in the total gain.

Rising living costs compel many older individuals to keep working. These costs are even pulling some retirees back into the labor force. A range of employment indicators has revealed a mixed picture of the U.S. labor market in recent months. While some of the latest data show positive job growth in some industries, many industries continue to shed jobs. For example, new federal data show a notable decline in hiring. Specifically, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) September employment report showed that the economy lost 4,000 jobs in August. However, the following monthly employment report showed an increase of 119,000 jobs in September. Many of the industries that have lost jobs so far in 2025 employ either high numbers or a high share of older workers. A recent AARP paper shows that men ages 50 and older are most likely to work in professional and business services, manufacturing, mining, and construction. Notable job losses in the professional and business services industry in recent months include widespread layoffs at high-profile tech firms as companies restructure and leverage artificial intelligence applications for many tasks, and within financial firms due to rising market volatility and economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, in September, manufacturing jobs declined for the fifth consecutive month, though the construction industry added jobs after three previous months of job losses. Women ages 50 and older are most likely to work in the health care industry, which has so far remained a reliable area of job growth in 2025. However, job growth has slowed in other industries employing significant numbers or shares of older women, including professional and business services, educational services, and retail.

Children with chronic conditions like asthma depend on regular, sustained treatment to prevent symptoms and avoid emergency care. For these children, daily routines coordinated by parents and caregivers are a critical part of treatment. A recent study showed that when daily routines were disrupted with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, adherence to asthma control medication declined substantially. Drawing on national pharmacy claims data covering nearly all U.S. prescriptions, researchers found that children’s use of asthma control medications declined sharply during the first year of the pandemic—especially for the youngest patients. By December 2020, adherence among preschool-aged children was down roughly 40% compared to 2019. Adults, by contrast, increased adherence to their own medications, underscoring that the decline was concentrated among children with asthma rather than a general fall in medication use. These patterns point to a distinct vulnerability in pediatric health care: treatment for chronic conditions often depends on family schedules and attention that can be easily disrupted.

Individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders treated with second-generation antipsychotics are at heightened risk for obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes, contributing to increased cardiovascular morbidity and premature mortality. Early intervention with glucagon-like peptide–1 receptor agonists may help mitigate long-term cardiometabolic risk. This study evaluates the efficacy of adjunctive semaglutide on glycemic control, weight-associated outcomes, and cardiometabolic risk factors in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders receiving clozapine or olanzapine and exhibiting early glycemic abnormalities. The study findings show that greater reductions in body weight, waist circumference, and fat mass were observed among patients using semaglutide. No differences in lipid levels, liver function, blood pressure, or psychiatric symptoms were observed. Gastrointestinal adverse events were common but mild and transient; psychiatric adverse events were similar across the sample groups. Results of this randomized clinical trial show that adjunctive semaglutide significantly improved glycemic control and weight outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. These findings support the use of glucagon-like peptide–1 as a potential early intervention strategy to reduce cardiometabolic risk in this vulnerable population.