This report presents statistics on the hires and separations of full-time sworn personnel by general-purpose law enforcement agencies and the incentives offered to retain them. Key findings include that there are 64,200 full-time sworn vacancies nationally reported across all agency types, with 39,500 vacancies in local police departments, 16,300 in sheriffs’ offices, and 8,400 in primary state agencies. Among the 55,000 full-time sworn personnel hired in 2020, 81% were entry-level hires and 16% were lateral hires; among the 57,400 full-time sworn separations and 47% were voluntary resignations. Agencies employing 500 or more full-time equivalent sworn personnel offered more paid academy opportunities (97%), compared to agencies with 24 or fewer full-time equivalent sworn personnel (57%). Lastly, the most frequently reported retention incentives among general-purpose agencies included free or financial allowances for uniforms (79%), extra overtime opportunities (61%), and take-home vehicles (57%).

This guide informs states about best practices in multiple fields of reentry for people leaving prison and community supervision. This guide focuses on three primary goals for assessing states in operating successful reentry programs. The three goals include setting a big goal, scaling up an exceptional program, and evolving the approach to reentry. To achieve these goals, the guide encourages states to look beyond recidivism outcomes as measures of success and begin setting at least one goal related to economic mobility, housing, or health care. In addition, the guide recommends that states identify a proven program or practice already showing results, such as access to identification, health care, or housing, and expand it statewide to ensure every person benefits from these reentry fundamentals. Lastly, the guide encourages states to rethink how reentry systems are designed and delivered and embrace new ways of working that are rooted in collaboration and data. States can build reentry systems that are human-centered, coordinated, and transparent.

Educators who care for infants and toddlers play a crucial role in shaping children’s early development, as the first three years are a period of rapid brain growth and heightened sensitivity to the quality of their environments. In recent years, however, the infant-toddler early care and education workforce has faced substantial challenges. Since 2020, programs serving young children have experienced disruptions and elevated turnover driven by persistent low wages, rising operating costs, staffing shortages, and burnout. The study includes two nationally representative datasets: the 2019 and 2024 National Survey of Early Care and Education, and reports educators' demographic composition, educational background, and wages. Researchers found that increasingly, early care and education educators hold a child development associate or a bachelor’s degree, reflecting states’ changes in minimum educational requirements. In addition, wages for the infant-toddler early care and education workforce increased over time. Specifically, the average wages for the infant-toddler early care and education workforce rose from $15 to $17 per hour. Lastly, the racial and ethnic composition of the infant-toddler early childhood education workforce shifted, with white educators still making up the largest share of the workforce from 2019 to 2024.

In 2021, California committed to making prekindergarten universal for all 4-year-olds and income-eligible 3-year-olds. The largest expansion was making transitional kindergarten universal for all 4-year-olds. Between 2021–22 and 2024–25, transitional kindergarten enrollment increased by more than 100,000 children. Looking across all publicly funded early childhood education programs, including the California State Preschool Program, Head Start, and subsidized child care, California made great strides in serving 4-year-olds, with approximately 62% enrolled in 2024–25. The state also made progress among 3-year-olds. In 2019–20, California enrolled 21% of all 3-year-olds in publicly funded childhood education. In 2024–25, it enrolled 25% of all 3-year-olds, comprising 44% of 3-year-olds from families with low incomes. California is on a positive trajectory, but still has substantial work ahead to guarantee that all families who want to enroll their child in preschool have access.

The Florida Department of Transportation uses an open-graded friction course known as FC-5 on multi-lane roads with speeds of 50 mph or higher to improve safety by reducing hydroplaning and splash/spray during rain events. An open-graded friction course is a unique asphalt mixture designed with a gap-graded gradation and high air void content which allows water to drain from the pavement surface and laterally friction course layer. However, FC-5 layers on high-speed, multi-lane suburban roads often experience premature raveling due to increased lateral stresses from turning, rapid acceleration, and braking. This issue compromises the longevity and effectiveness of the pavement, particularly in suburban environments. This project aims to evaluate the impact of four strategies designed to improve the durability of FC-5 mixtures: employing a 9.5-mm nominal maximum aggregate size gradation; using a high polymer-modified binder in the mixture; assessing the effectiveness of a 12.5-mm stone matrix asphalt; and exploring an alternative friction course. Researchers concluded that using 9.5-mm open-graded friction course, alternative friction course mixtures, and/or high polymer binder would improve pavement durability in suburban roads while maintaining the safety characteristics of FC-5. Additionally, these modifications could be implemented at a minimal cost increase of approximately $2 per ton for 9.5-mm open-graded friction course and alternative friction course mixtures.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimated that 32,882 veterans experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2024. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) jointly operate the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUDVASH) program. Veterans experiencing homelessness receive housing vouchers and veteran affairs case management delivered through local veteran affairs medical centers. Federal law directs the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review VA case management and the availability of affordable housing for veterans experiencing homelessness. This report examines challenges reported by staff and stakeholders related to (1) hiring and retaining case managers for HUDVASH, and (2) implementing Tribal HUD-VASH. The GAO found that the VA has faced challenges hiring and retaining enough case managers. In Fiscal Year 2024, more than one-quarter of medical centers with two or more case managers had at least 20% of these positions unfilled. Factors contributing to vacancies included staff burnout and turnover. The GAO also found that the HUD launched the Tribal HUD-VASH pilot program in Fiscal Year 2016 to test a new approach to serving American Indian/Alaska Native veterans and had served over 1,100 veterans as of April 2025. In addition, while the GAO found that the program design aligns to some extent with leading practices, HUD has not clearly defined the program’s objectives or how it will measure progress toward them.

Patterns of county-level domestic migration — people moving from one county to another — can change significantly over time. The report identifies some of the potential drivers of change in migration patterns, which range from economic opportunity and retirement enclaves, particularly in areas with warmer weather, to sprawling growth outside of cities. Williams County, North Dakota, had the highest domestic migration rates from 2011 to 2015, largely fueled by oil and gas production of the Bakken and Three Forks Formations. For similar reasons, Stark County, North Dakota, also had high domestic migration rates each year during this period — and was the second-highest migration county in 2012 and 2014. Between 2011 and 2015, Sumter County, Florida, consistently ranked second or third among U.S. counties by domestic migration rate, though its popularity was likely for leisure rather than work. Home to The Villages retirement community, Sumter expanded rapidly over these five years. Beginning in 2021, counties in five Southern states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas — have increasingly topped domestic migration rankings. Texas’ Kaufman County, east of Dallas, had the nation’s highest domestic migration rates from 2021 to 2023, followed closely by Rockwall County. Georgia’s Dawson and Jackson counties had the leading domestic migration rates in 2024 and strong showings nearly every year since 2021. These counties continued the trend of areas growing outside of city centers in recent years.

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable contributor to disease and death in the United States, and, along with secondhand smoke exposure, causes various cancers and diseases. Electronic cigarette (or e-cigarette) use has been attributed to several respiratory, neurological, and cardiovascular effects. Although cigarette use has decreased among U.S. adults, e-cigarette use has increased. Previous research has shown that the prevalence of cigarette smoking is higher in rural areas compared with urban areas, but less data on e-cigarette use by urbanization level are available. This report provides the percentage of U.S. adults age 18 and older who used cigarettes or e-cigarettes by urbanization level. In 2024, 9.9% of all adults used cigarettes and 7.0% used e-cigarettes. The percentage of adults who used cigarettes increased with decreasing urbanization level, from 8.0% each in large central and large fringe metropolitan counties to 15.4% in non-metropolitan counties. Patterns were similar by age group. Across all urbanization levels, the percentage of adults who used cigarettes increased from ages 18–24 to ages 45–64, and then decreased among those age 65 and older. The percentage of adults who used e-cigarettes increased with decreasing urbanization level, from 6.1% in large central metropolitan counties to 9.2% in non-metropolitan counties. Patterns were also generally similar by age group.

Induction of labor rates have been on the rise in the United States for several decades. Birth certificate data show that labor was induced in fewer than 1 in 10 births in 1989 compared with more than 1 in 4 births in 2016. Inducing labor by medical or surgical means instead of waiting for the spontaneous onset of labor can help protect maternal and perinatal health by reducing the complications of continuing the pregnancy, but it may also carry risks. This report describes trends in labor induction among singleton births from 2016 to 2024 and changes in labor induction between 2016 and 2024 by age, race and Hispanic origin of the mother, and gestational age of the newborn. Key findings from the report include that labor induction increased from 24.9% in 2016 to 34.5% in 2024. Labor induction rates increased across all maternal age groups from 2016 to 2024. Labor induction rates increased 32%−67% across all six race and Hispanic-origin groups from 2016 to 2024. Labor induction rates increased across all gestational age categories from 2016 to 2024, with the largest increase observed for early-term births (37−38 weeks of gestation). Labor induction rates increased in 49 states and the District of Columbia from 2016 to 2024. The only state where labor induction rates did not increase over this time period was New Mexico.

In recent years, many people have experienced poor mental health, with over 30% of adults in the United States reporting symptoms of anxiety and/or depression in February 2023. Substance use and death rates due to substances have also worsened in the U.S., with drug overdose death rates increasing by 50% from 2019 to 2021 (21.6 vs. 32.4 per 100,000). Further, after a brief period of decline, suicide death rates increased in 2021 but remained just below the peak death rate in 2018 (14.1 vs. 14.2 per 100,000). The state fact sheets examine state and national-level data on mental health and substance use. In Florida, from February 1 to 13, 2023, 32.3% of adults in Florida reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder, the same percentage to U.S. adults at large. In addition, drug overdose death rates have increased in Florida from 15.4 per 100,000 in 2011 to 37.5 per 100,000 in 2021. Over the same period, drug overdose death rates increased from 13.2 to 32.4 per 100,000 in the U.S. In 2021, there were 5,940 opioid overdose deaths in Florida, which accounted for 76% of all drug overdose deaths in the state. Across the U.S., opioid overdose deaths accounted for 75% of all drug overdose deaths in the country in 2021. Lastly, in May 2022, among adults in Florida who reported experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder, 23.6% reported needing counseling or therapy but not receiving it in the past four weeks, compared to the U.S. average of 28.2%.