This report provides estimates of sexual victimization in local jails, provides trend data from Fiscal Years 2011-12 to 2023-24, and provides a list of jails according to their prevalence of sexual victimization. Key findings show that the overall rate of sexual victimization reported by adult inmates increased from 3.2% in 2011–12 to 4.0% in 2023–24, in 2023–24, 2.2% of adult inmates reported sexual victimization by another inmate and 2.3% reported sexual victimization by facility staff, based on their rates of overall sexual victimization in 2023–24. Researchers identified eight jails as having a high rate based on the prevalence of staff-on-inmate sexual victimization in 2023-24, including the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail (California) and the Los Angeles County Century Regional Detention Facility (California), and eleven jails were identified as high-rate facilities based on the prevalence of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization in 2023-24, including Orange County Female Detention Facility (Florida) and San Diego County Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility (California).

This public opinion survey provides real-time insights into public sentiment about the courts and data for understanding the types of administrative reforms and improvements that might enhance public support. Findings include that public trust in the courts is stable, and state courts lead in confidence. But rising concerns about a two-tiered justice system, distrust of artificial intelligence (AI), and barriers from complex, costly processes are driving calls for greater community engagement as well as legal education reform. More Americans than ever see a two-tiered system of justice in their responses to the survey question asking how well state courts provide "equal justice to all." The percentage of Americans agreeing that state courts provide equal justice has slipped from 62% in 2014 to 44% in 2025. Recent qualitative research has revealed that Americans are concerned that politics, money, racial bias, and the cost and complexity of court all contribute to this trust gap. Younger voters are notably more optimistic about the work of state courts than older ones, with the 18-29 age cohort is considerably sunnier in its views of state courts than any other age group. Generation Z voters are three points more likely to agree that state courts are fair and impartial; six points more likely to agree that state courts are transparent and accountable; and nine points more likely to agree that state courts are both innovative and hardworking.

This paper examines the admissibility of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated forensic evidence in criminal trials. The growing adoption of artificial intelligence presents promising results for investigative efficiency. Despite advancements, significant research gaps persist in practically understanding the legal limits of artificial intelligence evidence in judicial processes. This study aims to evaluate whether artificial intelligence-generated evidence satisfies established legal standards of reliability. Preliminary results indicate that artificial intelligence forensic tools can enhance the scale of evidence analysis. However, challenges arise from reproducibility deficits. Courts exhibit variability in acceptance of artificial intelligence evidence due to limited technical literacy and a lack of standardized validation protocols. Liability implications reveal that developers and investigators may bear accountability for flawed outputs. This raises critical concerns related to wrongful conviction.

This policy brief identifies recruitment and professional development as two main focus areas for states interested in supporting their school principal pipelines and developing effective school leaders. It also offers strategies to improve school leader recruitment and retention through innovative state-level examples. When teachers were asked to rank their top sources of stress, several of the sources of stress cited by teachers can be attributed directly to school leadership such as 17% of teachers surveyed said they’re “lacking support from a school administrator.”; 12% of teachers cited “limited voice in decision making at my school.”; and 19% of teachers said they’re “feeling like the goals and expectations of the school are unattainable.” States have taken a variety of approaches to recruit highly qualified and effective school leaders, which often focus on schools experiencing shortages. Studies show that in the recent past, school principals have fewer years of experience than they used to. The average number of years of experience dropped from 10 years in 1988 to around seven years in 2016. This lack of experience is felt most acutely in highest-poverty schools where principals on average had fewer than six years of experience. North Carolina has established a new program which innovates on the traditional school leadership structure by allowing teachers to take on leadership positions while continuing in their teaching roles in a reduced capacity. High-quality professional development is also essential for improving school leader practices, decision-making and sustaining positive school cultures. Ongoing learning opportunities help leaders adapt to evolving student needs, and state action to provide such learning reflects that school leadership education is an ongoing, career-long process that requires broad support. Many states operate academies and statewide institutes that bring principals together in cohort-based learning environments. These programs pair novice leaders with experienced coaches and communities of practice.

Choosing a program of study is one of the most important decisions community college students make–one that has lasting effects on students’ educational progress, career path, and financial security. This report examines students’ program selection process, the level of certainty they felt about their initial and sometimes subsequent program choice, and the factors that influenced their decision-making. Although many students expressed high levels of certainty about their program choice, half changed programs at least once, and some reported that their feelings of certainty fluctuated over time. Of the 42 students in the interview sample, 21 remained in the same program from their initial enrollment in Fall 2023 until the interviews in Summer 2025. Among the other half of students who changed programs, nearly all 18 changed to a program in a different two-digit classification of instructional programs code. A variety of factors can influence which program students choose and how certain they feel about their choice, including students’ perceptions of the following: their talents and skills, program fit and enjoyment, what family and peers think, and expected labor market and earnings outcomes. In total, 12 students who did not change their program said that they were very certain about their choice both initially and at the time of the interviews. Of the eight students who changed programs, they all stated that they felt certain about both their initial program choice and the program in which they were enrolled at the time of the interviews. These students reported that not enjoying the program, struggling academically in program courses, or becoming concerned about employment opportunities were factors that influenced their change in programs.

This report describes the status of pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teacher pay, benefits, and intentions to leave using surveys of nationally representative samples of pre-K teachers in U.S. public schools. Survey results provide a snapshot of public school–based pre-K teacher labor market conditions from spring 2025 and examine aggregate-level changes between 2024 and 2025 in seven types of employer-provided benefits, annual base salaries, and teachers’ intentions to leave their jobs. According to survey responses, pre-k teacher base salaries rose by about $1,600, on average, between 2024 and 2025 in inflation-adjusted terms. However, not all pre-K teachers saw a base salary increase. Around one-half of pre-K teachers experienced a salary increase (of $3,000 on average), and the other one-half of pre-K teachers experienced a salary decrease (of $1,600 on average). Survey results also show that pre-K teachers received fewer employer-provided benefits (e.g., paid parental leave and overtime pay) in 2025 compared with 2024. Lastly, the share of pre-K teachers who intended to leave their jobs fell by around one-quarter between 2024 and 2025.

In this report, OPPAGA evaluated existing state-level housing rehabilitation, production, preservation, and finance programs to determine consistency with relevant state housing policies and effectiveness in providing affordable housing. OPPAGA also examined the degree of coordination between Florida’s housing programs and between state, federal, and local housing activities. Key findings include that Florida’s housing programs are consistent with 28 state housing strategy policies in that at least one state housing program implements each policy, state housing programs contribute to the production and preservation of affordable rental properties and homeownership opportunities, and state-level entities and local governments coordinate to support affordable housing efforts throughout the state. These coordination activities include aligning regulations with affordable housing programs, providing feedback opportunities, participating in workshops, and leveraging multiple sources of funding.

Online shopping has a large impact on Florida’s economy. It also has a significant effect on Florida’s freight systems. Traditionally, shoppers chiefly purchased items from brick and mortar stores. Those stores have infrastructure that allows large freight vehicles to deliver merchandise easily using the interstate highway system. This “last mile” of freight delivery is predictable and accessible for freight operators. However, these predictable freight patterns have been disrupted with the advent of online shopping, which necessitates freight delivery directly to customers’ homes. This report aims to understand how societal trends related to e-commerce drive freight demand and to provide an approach for addressing the current last-mile component in the supply chain. Key findings show that travel effects tended to differ by product type, and overall, e-commerce tended to exhibit complementary effects on travel. This suggests that transportation planners should expect that as e-commerce continues to grow and delivery demand increases, there will be an increase in freight and passenger trips in residential areas. Considering that food delivery platforms like DoorDash and GrubHub now provide delivery services and increase the complexity of transportation activities in residential areas, there is a need for the design of more complex network systems and vehicle routing strategies to mitigate the traffic effects. Lastly, equity issues for households with low income and technology savviness in suburban areas may arise as stores get converted to warehouses.

Sports betting tax revenues have skyrocketed in recent years as more states have participated. The national total of state sales tax revenue from sports betting soared 382%, from $190 million in the third quarter of 2021 (when data collection began) to $917 million in the second quarter of 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Summary of State and Local Tax Revenue. Sports betting became possible in May 2018 when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. Since then, a majority of states have legalized some form of sports betting; including online, mobile, retail sports betting and pari-mutuels (such as wagers made on horse-racing). Sports betting is a growing industry, and the tax revenue it generates helps fund public schools, roads, highways, law enforcement and gambling addiction treatment. New York’s online sports betting market went live January 2022. The state applies a 51% tax rate to gross gaming revenue and regularly collects over $200 million in revenue per quarter. Ohio’s legal sports betting market went live January 2023, and took in $39 million in the first quarter of that year. North Carolina’s sports betting market went live in March 2024. The state collected $38 million during the second quarter of 2024. Illinois increased its tax rate from a flat 15% on adjusted gaming revenue to a graduated rate between 20% and 40% in January 2025. Delaware, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Vermont adopted online sports betting in recent years; Missouri followed suit in December 2025. States have varying tax rates on sportsbook revenues, ranging from 6.75% (Iowa, Nevada) to 51% (New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island). Typically, the higher the rate, the larger the portion of a state’s total tax revenue that comes from sports betting.

These reports allow users to explore behavioral health data for each state using information from the 2021-2023 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. The topics addressed in the reports include substance use, substance use disorders, mental health, and suicidal thoughts. In 2021-2023, among people aged 12 or older in Florida, 20.4% engaged in binge drinking in the past month. This estimate was similar to the U.S. census division average (20.5%) but lower than the national average (21.7%). In 2021-2023, among people aged 12 or older in Florida, 13.3% used cigarettes in the past month. This estimate was lower than both the U.S. census division average (15.1%) and the national average (14.7%). In 2021-2023, among people aged 12 or older in Florida, 14.0% used illicit drugs in the past month. This estimate was similar to the U.S. census division average (14.1%) but lower than the national average (15.9%). In 2021-2023, among people aged 12 or older in Florida, 9.3% had an alcohol use disorder in the past year. This estimate was similar to the U.S. census division average (9.8%) but lower than the national average (10.4%).

More than 1.2 million people in the United States live and receive care in nursing homes, with most residents being older adults ages 65 or older. This dashboard provides quarterly snapshots of national and state data related to the experiences of nursing home residents, staffing, and facility characteristics. Following established seasonal patterns, cases and hospitalizations for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus declined by 70% or more in summer 2025, compared to spring 2025. However, COVID-19 rates rose during the summer, with the number of cases more than doubling to nearly 44,000 (about 35 per 1,000 residents), and the number of hospitalizations increased to about 2,500 (about 2 per 1,000 residents). Staffing levels varied by state: Alaska had the highest rate with 6.9 total hours per resident per day, more than twice as many as Texas, which had the lowest with 3.4 hours per resident per day. Turnover in the nursing home industry is high. Nationally, nursing staff averaged 47% turnover over the last year (with a high of 62% in Vermont and a low of 33% in Hawaii).  Lastly, 5.4% of residents had pressure ulcers (state range from less than 4% in Hawaii and Idaho to more than 8% in Washington DC).  Pressure ulcers are often associated with poor care and inadequate staffing.

Adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to have important implications for health care delivery and workforce. AI can shape patient education and engagement, streamline documentation, and assist clinicians with information synthesis. However, there are limited data on real-time trends of AI adoption in the health care sector and how this compares with other sectors of the economy. To fill this knowledge gap, researchers compared AI use in health care vs other sectors from 2023 to 2025. Between September 2023 and May 2025, the mean AI use in health care by firms was 5.9% and increased over time. In 2025, AI use in health care (8.3%) was still lower than in other sectors, such as finance and insurance (11.6%); education (15.1%); professional, scientific, and technical services (19.2%); and information services (23.2%). The estimated break point in AI use trends in the health care sector was December 30, 2024, to January 12, 2025. At this transition, the slope shifted significantly from nearly flat in 2023 through 2024 to gradually increasing — a 481.5% change. Within health care, the largest gains were for outpatient and ambulatory care, where the percentage of firms using AI increased from 4.6% in 2023 to 8.7% in 2025. Nursing and residential care facilities experienced more limited growth: 3.1% in 2023 to 4.5% in 2025.