This report assesses the health and wellness resources available to law enforcement agencies and the most commonly offered resources, depending on agency size. In 2022, 60% of all general-purpose law enforcement agencies (i.e., municipal, county, and regional police departments; most sheriffs’ offices; and primary state and highway patrol agencies) and 93% of agencies employing 100 or more full-time sworn personnel (i.e., deputies and officers) offered at least one formal wellness program to full-time sworn personnel. Specifically, more than 7 in 10 agencies employing 100 or more full-time sworn personnel offered formal peer support programs (83%), coping skills to manage trauma (72%), and suicide awareness (70%). In addition, over 90% of agencies offered confidential alcohol and chemical dependency treatment programs (94%) and psychological and mental health care treatment programs (93%). During the data collection period, early 80% of general-purpose agencies mandated response protocols after critical incidents that occurred on duty (e.g., officer-involved shooting). Lastly, about 6 in 10 (62%) general-purpose agencies provided either mandatory or optional training to sergeants or equivalent first-line supervisors on potential warning signs of depression and suicide risk.

As the United States debates once again what it wants from its criminal justice system, the role of the American prosecutor is under scrutiny. After the explosion of prosecution and incarceration rates that occurred over the past half-century, most observers agreed that the American criminal justice system had become too large, locking up scores of people too often and for too long. Much of the debate around the construction of the American carceral state has focused on the increased power of the prosecutor and the ever-more aggressive approach to charging decisions and sentencing recommendations. Over the past decade, in response, voters have elected “progressive prosecutors” in many jurisdictions. The results of this phenomenon are mixed. This article deals not with traditional prosecutors nor with “progressive prosecutors” but with absent prosecutors. Many states have addressed the dramatically increased size and cost of the system by allowing for low-level offenses to be adjudicated by police officers, with no involvement by any public prosecutor. This practice violates basic principles of due process and the separation of powers. Moreover, it allows for the unchecked and unnecessary expansion of the criminal justice system without forcing that system to internalize the costs of its operations. This article proposes alternatives to the current system of low-level criminal adjudication that can address public safety while also avoiding the net-widening effects of the current system.

When people return to their communities following incarceration, access to safe, affordable housing is critical for successful reentry. Stable housing underpins a person’s ability to find employment, establish community ties, reconnect with family, and avoid recidivism. Despite this urgent need, many people encounter systemic barriers to accessing housing. Research consistently demonstrates that stable housing significantly influences reentry outcomes. It serves as a foundation for employment stability, family reunification, community integration, and reduced recidivism. Formerly incarcerated people experience homelessness at rates nearly 10 times greater than the general population. By continuing to refine more inclusive policies and implementation approaches, such as making application and appeals process information more accessible and providing staff more specific training, public housing authorities can better fulfill their mission of providing safe, affordable housing to community members, including those with conviction histories.

Rural schools often operate with limited access to academic, social, and mental health resources—constraints that can make it difficult to fully support student success. In California’s West Kern County, a cross-district collaborative took a unique approach. By pooling resources and coordinating the implementation of community schools, participating districts strengthened student supports, expanded access to services, and improved both student outcomes and overall well-being. Bringing small, rural districts into a community school consortium enabled them to pool and coordinate otherwise out-of-reach resources, strengthening their capacity to expand student access to academic and social supports. This consortium fostered a number of positive outcomes, including growth in student math and literacy achievement and notable reductions in chronic absence. Dedicated community school staff, ongoing professional learning, and collaborative leadership were central to high-quality community school implementation and improved student outcomes. Consortium-level facilitators played a key role in enabling effective cross-district and county-level partnerships, helping align districts, nonprofits, and service providers.

After just one year of coherence-focused coaching support, 100% of kindergarten and first-grade students at one school showed growth in reading, with average gains that doubled typical annual growth rates. The Missouri Rural Schools Early Literacy Collaborative includes two interconnected work streams that together create coherence across the full ecosystem of early literacy instruction. First, to strengthen the state’s pipeline for literacy coaches, the education nonprofit TNTP partnered with a local university to develop an early literacy coaching certificate aligned to state requirements and the science of reading. Second, TNTP directly coached 50 K–1 teachers while simultaneously building the capacity of school administrators to sustain and scale the work over years to come. After the first year of coaching support in kindergarten and first grade, the growth in these Missouri schools is striking. In Dent-Phelps R-3 Schools in Salem, the percentage of first graders reading at grade level soared from 25.5% to 89.4% between fall and spring in the 2024-25 school year. In Newburg Elementary School, 100% of kindergarten and first grade students demonstrated growth on reading assessments, making gains that, on average, doubled typical annual growth rates. As a result of this aligned approach—linking preparation, practice, and leadership—the state has asked TNTP to replicate this coaching model across 60 schools.

For a wide variety of people learning English in the United States—referred to as multilingual learners in this report—community colleges provide access to key educational programs. Although little is known about this growing population of students and the factors that motivate their enrollment, research indicates that barriers to access and persistence disproportionately impede multilingual students’ postsecondary success. This report describes findings from a three-year, mixed-methods exploratory study that examined policies and practices impacting multilingual learners enrolled at City Colleges of Chicago, a seven-college district located in the country’s third-largest city. Community colleges are particularly well positioned to serve the growing number of multilingual learners seeking English language learning and postsecondary education. They are accessible and affordable, and, for students who begin in adult education, they provide ready-made entry points to credential programs with labor market value. Much work lies ahead to identify and scale policies and practices that remove barriers and help more multilingual learners in community colleges reach their education and life goals.

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) The ERC—which encouraged employers to keep paying employees during the COVID-19 pandemic—resulted in about $283 billion in reduced tax liability or credits to employers since enactment in the federal CARES Act in March 2020. This refundable tax credit was available to eligible employers whose trade or business was suspended by a government order due to COVID-19 or who were financially affected, as defined in statute, during calendar quarters in 2020 and 2021. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had processed nearly 5 million claims for this credit as of June 2025. But the IRS received a large number of improper claims and was overwhelmed. The agency was unable to issue most payments for the credit until after the unemployment rate returned to pre-pandemic levels. Multiple factors contributed to such claims. For example, some marketing companies convinced confused employers to file claims in order to receive a portion of the money. Several lessons were learned. This included the fact that complex and retroactive eligibility criteria complicated eligibility determination, paper-only amended returns limited IRS’s ability to capture key data, and key eligibility information was not required on employment tax returns. These lessons could help policymakers consider future emergency employment tax relief, and help IRS better prepare for it. As a consequence of its design and administrative challenges, most ERC claims were not paid in 2020 or 2021, the eligibility period for the credit. About 83% of ERC refunds—about $235 billion—were issued in 2022 through June 2025, well after unemployment had returned to its pre-pandemic level.

In the business world, applying for credit and getting it speaks volumes about a company’s financial strength. Borrowing allows firms to expand, cover cash-flow gaps and invest in growth. And when a company’s credit application is approved, it signals solid financial footing and operating health. The U.S. Census Bureau’s latest Annual Business Survey, which asks employer businesses (those with paid employees) whether they applied for new credit in the previous year, shows a statistically significant 1.3 percentage-point change in the share of employer firms that reported applying for new credit from 2020 (14.3%) to 2023 (13.0%). Delving deeper into the credit landscape over a three-year period ¬— from the amount of debt companies took on to who the lenders were — paints a clearer picture of companies’ financial well-being. Most employer businesses (57.2%) received all the credit they applied for in 2023, up from 54.9% three years earlier. About a quarter (25.1%) received some of the credit they asked for in 2023, not statistically different than the 26.4% approved for a portion of the requested amount in 2020. The least likely outcome for employer businesses that applied for new credit was to receive none of the credit requested: 7.2% in 2023, down from 10.8% in 2020. These results suggest that employer businesses were, on average, in strong enough financial shape to secure credit and increasingly likely to receive the entire amount requested.

Substance use by caregivers is a key factor in many cases of child abuse and neglect. In response, the U.S. Congress authorized competitive Regional Partnership Grants (RPG). RPG-funded projects are designed to increase the well-being of, improve the permanency outcomes for, and enhance the safety of children who are in or at risk of out-of-home placement because of a parent’s or caregiver’s substance use. The U.S. Children’s Bureau of the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awards RPG grants to recipients serving the targeted population in their communities. Recipients include nonprofit organizations specializing in mental health and substance abuse disorders. This annual report describes the major activities and accomplishments related to the cross-site evaluation and technical assistance, across one RPG cohort, from October 2024 through September 2025. This period was the third year for the seventh cohort (RPG7). The report includes a brief history of the RPG cohorts and information on the RPG7 projects. Broward Behavioral Health Coalition Incorporation in Florida was among the cohort in RPG7. The report also describes the RPG cross-site evaluation, the evaluation technical assistance and support provided to RPG7 projects during this period, highlights from the past year of the contract, and next steps. Key milestones and major activities from October 2024 through September 2025 include: publishing a journal article on the impact analysis with data from one cohort of grant recipients, analyzing the association between service receipt and outcomes for adults and children who enrolled in RPG services, and completing supplemental technical assistance with two grant recipients.

This report allows users to browse state-level estimates in thousands based on the 2023-24 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health. The 41 tables include estimates for measures of both substance use and mental health, by age group, along with 95% confidence intervals. The estimates are based on small area estimation methods, in which state-level survey data are combined with other data from smaller geographies; used to create modeled state estimates of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population ages 12 and older (or adults 18 and older for mental health measures). In Florida in 2023-24, estimated illicit drug use in the past month for people age 12 to 17 was 116,000; for people age 18 – 25, the estimate was 534,000. The estimated prescription opioid misuse in the past year for Floridians aged 12 to 17 was 28,000; 67,000 for those aged 18 – 25. The estimated binge alcohol use in Florida the past month for people age 12 to 17 was 54,000; for people age 18 – 25, the estimate was 523,000.

The mental and behavioral health needs among young children in the U.S. have increased markedly over the past decade. Early childhood mental health refers to a child’s ability to manage feelings, form secure relationships, and confidently engage in learning and play—skills that are foundational for healthy development. This brief aims to deepen the evidence base of child mental and behavioral health needs and the challenges child care providers face in trying to meet those needs, identify the resources needed to support child mental and behavioral health, and provide recommendations to improve consultation. Researchers found that child care providers reported observing a high degree of externalizing behaviors (e.g., hitting, kicking, biting, and other outward aggressions) that negatively impacted the learning environment, followed by internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety and withdrawal). Child care providers also reported experiencing a range of challenges in meeting children’s mental and behavioral health needs, including a lack of accessible training, tools, space for reflection, and support for their own mental health needs. Researchers recommended a variety of needed resources to support child mental and behavioral health, including greater access to early childhood mental health consultation, more accessible and targeted teacher training, parent education on mental health, and additional coaching support.

National monitoring surveys indicate that developmental disabilities among U.S. children constitute a substantial public health issue. While scientific literature documents the benefits of targeted, developmental interventions, there has been less study of formal early intervention services provided through Part C of the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. To assess the population-level utilization of the New York City early intervention program and estimate the association between receipt of early intervention services before 3 years of age and academic achievement later in childhood. The primary outcomes were standardized test scores in math and English language arts in third grade. After propensity score matching, linear and log-binomial regression were used to estimate differences in standardized test scores and incidence ratios of meeting test-based standards, comparing individuals who did and did not receive early intervention services. The findings of this cohort study suggest that early intervention services for children younger than 3 years with moderate to severe developmental delays or disabilities had tangible academic benefits later in childhood. Future research should investigate the implementation of early intervention services among individuals with different diagnoses and developmental delays to determine the most beneficial service plans for children with differing needs.