As required by the First Step Act of 2018, this report details selected characteristics of persons in federal prisons, including education levels and participation in treatment programs. Key findings include that the federal prison population decreased about 1% from year end 2023 (155,972) to year end 2024 (154,093). In addition, there were 8,202 persons with prior military service in federal prison facilities, accounting for more than 5% of the total federal prison population. Seventy-one percent (110,072) of persons in federal prison facilities at year end 2024 had a high school diploma, General Educational Development (GED) credential, or other equivalent certificate prior to their admission to federal prison, and an additional 4,210 earned their GED credential or equivalent certificate while in prison during 2024. During 2024, a total of 12,479 persons received medication-assisted treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration while in custody to treat a substance use disorder, a 112% increase from 2023 (5,898).

In 2021, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime to provide training and technical assistance to four grantee sites (i.e, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, King County Superior Court, Project PROTECT, and Queens Community Justice Center) separately funded under the Enhancing Juvenile and Family Court Responses to Human Trafficking Program. The program goal was to develop or enhance programs to provide direct services and diversion programs for youth in contact with the juvenile and family court systems who were victims of sex and/or labor trafficking, or at risk for human trafficking due to past or current crime victimization, including child abuse and neglect. The program ran through September 2025, and through this award, the NCJFCJ facilitated improvements in processes to provide better outcomes for children and youth who were victims of sex and labor trafficking. Key activities during the grant period included visits to the grantee sites to observe, assess practice, engage stakeholders, and provide on-site training and technical assistance (i.e, screening and assessments, multidisciplinary teams, and harm reduction strategies), annual in-person and monthly virtual peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and the creation of an online resource center on child sex and labor trafficking.

The report details the dynamics of pretrial release and bail decisions in daily courtroom practice by conducting structured observations of approximately 800 preliminary arraignments and more than 100 bail review hearings in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, from December 2024 through March 2025. Researchers found that Montgomery County has substantially invested in pretrial reform, but courtroom practice reveals an implementation gap. Specifically, Montgomery County judges opted for unsecured bail—meaning the person does not have to pay money up front—in more than half of cases observed, an increase from prior years. In addition, a minority of hearings observed resulted in bail modifications; nearly all adjustments resulted in more leniency. Lastly, although money bail amounts in Montgomery County have declined since 2016, the costs are still more than what many defendants can afford, resulting in detention for many lower-income people.

Texas employs the largest teacher workforce of all states in the United States. However, Texas faces persistently high teacher attrition and declining enrollment in university-based preparation programs. Between 2019–20 and 2024–25, the share of uncertified teachers (i.e., teachers without any state certification) more than tripled. Despite this statewide surge, district-level certification rates varied considerably across contexts, with some districts maintaining high teacher certification rates. The report highlights key strategies to prioritize certification from districts with high certification rates and/or those that noted success in supporting the certification process. These strategies include (1) preparation partnerships to increase the pipeline of new certified teachers, (2) prioritization of certification in recruitment and hiring practices, (3) salary incentives along with tracking and dedicated staff to support uncertified teachers toward certification, and (4) retention of new teachers through mentoring and specific supports.

Conversations about artificial intelligence (AI) often center on details like tools and workflows rather than major concerns like ends and purpose. That makes it easy to treat AI as a feature set to be adopted, tweaked, and scaled instead of an accelerant for deeper systems change. This report highlights vision statements by Think Forward AI Fellows that push back against that assumption and instead ask: What should schooling protect when intelligence becomes ubiquitous? What are the skills that only humans can have, and how should schooling develop them? These statements consistently position AI as a tool to amplify, not replace, human relationships and judgment. In addition, these statements emphasize the importance of coherence across classroom practice, system design, and policy and underscore equity, purpose, and strong learning experiences as essential and intentional design choices, not afterthoughts.

Counselors are a common school resource for students navigating complicated and consequential education choices, but most students have limited access to them. The researchers studied one of the largest U.S. policies to increase access to school counselors. They used a variety of panel-based estimators to show that California’s Supplemental School Counseling Program increased the number of counselors on staff by about one and improved counselor-to-student ratios, but reduced average counselor experience. The additional funds that California provided to middle and high schools as part of the program led to increases in the number of counselors in these schools and a reduction in the number of students assigned to each counselor. The expansion of school counseling pulled many newer and less experienced counselors into schools, suggesting that the supply of counselors is important to consider before implementing large programs like this. Importantly, the program significantly improved high school graduation and may have improved public college-going. The program also had larger impacts in high-poverty and rural schools, and for men, more socioeconomically disadvantaged students, as well as Black and Hispanic students. As policymakers and school officials continue to grapple with mental health crises and equity gaps in academic achievement and college access post-COVID-19, counselors may be a valuable resource for students and families.

State lottery ticket sales nearly doubled nationally from $52.8 billion to $104.7 billion between Fiscal Years 2008 and 2024. During the same period, state lottery prizes jumped 118%, from $32.2 billion to $70.2 billion, and net lottery revenue increased 68%, from $20.6 billion to $34.5 billion (not adjusted for inflation). States gradually paid out larger prizes and kept a smaller portion of revenues for themselves between Fiscal Years 2008 and 2024. As ticket sales increased, so did the share of prize money. Correspondingly, the states’ share of net lottery revenue decreased. Virginia paid out 80% of its lottery ticket sales in prizes in Fiscal Year 2024, the biggest share of any state. It was followed by Kentucky at 75%, and Missouri, Massachusetts and Idaho tied at 74%. California, New York, Florida, and Texas had the most lottery ticket sales revenue of the 45 states that operate a lottery. Each sold over $8 billion in tickets in Fiscal Year 2024. Arkansas, Wyoming and Mississippi — the most recent states to create lotteries (in Fiscal Years 2010, 2015, and 2020, respectively) — collected a total of $1.1 billion in ticket sales in Fiscal Year 2024. The five states without a lottery are Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided over $3 billion to over 1 million survivors affected by recent disasters. However, these individuals and households faced challenges communicating with FEMA, such as long wait times when calling FEMA’s helpline. There has been recent interest in reviewing the federal role in disaster response. Federal and state officials emphasized that state and local governments would need time to prepare for any changes since they currently rely on significant federal support. FEMA data show that most survivors affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and the Texas floods faced long wait times and could not reach a representative when trying to apply for assistance through FEMA's helpline. Some survivors faced challenges interpreting letters from FEMA regarding their eligibility for assistance. For example, some survivors thought letters requesting more information were denial letters, according to FEMA and state officials. FEMA revised its letters in 2024 and 2025 to incorporate more plain language and clearer instructions. Survivors of recent disasters and officials from all levels of government experienced long-standing housing challenges. For example, FEMA officials said that it was challenging for the agency to support post-disaster housing for survivors after Hurricane Helene destroyed many of the housing resources that were already constrained before the storm hit. Additionally, FEMA officials reported issues that delayed the agency's ability to provide direct housing—such as needing to set up septic tanks and energy meters before making manufactured housing units available.

Public transportation systems across the United States move millions of Americans every day. But since the COVID-19 pandemic, many transit agencies have struggled to provide adequate service. The financial difficulties some agencies face have restricted service and have limited some agencies’ ability to meet riders’ needs. Contributing to waning service provision are the challenges many agencies have had recruiting and retaining sufficient workers, namely bus and rail operators, frontline staff members, and maintenance employees. Barring intervention, this workforce shortage may persist or worsen. Transit agencies must respond to this situation. Transit worker wages are similar to those in other industries, though outcomes vary by region. In some metropolitan areas, like Boston and Philadelphia, wages are lower than the average, which could threaten agencies’ ability to recruit workers. Transit agencies frequently impose more stringent qualification requirements than do other employers, such as commercial driver’s licensing, drug testing, background checks, and education minimum requirements. This could dissuade people from applying for jobs. Transit agencies can implement changes that can help them more effectively recruit and retain employees. Enhancing job postings to fully communicate available benefits and paid training opportunities, while reviewing qualification requirements to reduce unnecessary barriers to entry. These changes can help expand the pool of potential applicants for transit jobs by making a job in the industry feel more appealing. Most transit agency workers must be on the job—as they drive buses and repair vehicles—but transit agencies can give office workers a benefit that has become more common in other industries. Expanding benefits when possible. Transit agencies may be better positioned to retain employees if they provide staff working nontraditional schedules options such as subsidized childcare assistance.

Heart disease, cancer, cerebrovascular diseases (stroke), and chronic lower respiratory diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are consistently among the 10 leading causes of death for U.S. adults. Studies have suggested that variations exist in the prevalence of these conditions by age and urbanization level, prompting further exploration into these differences. This report uses 2024 National Health Interview Survey data to describe the prevalence of heart disease, cancer, COPD, and stroke among adults age 45 and older by age and urbanization level. Key findings from the report include that for adults age 45 and older and 45–64, heart disease prevalence was highest in non-metropolitan areas compared with medium and small, large fringe, and large central metropolitan areas. Cancer prevalence was lowest in large central metropolitan areas compared with medium and small, large fringe, and nonmetropolitan areas for adults age 45 and older and 45–64. For all age groups, COPD prevalence was highest in nonmetropolitan areas compared with medium and small, large fringe, and large central metropolitan areas. Stroke prevalence was higher in non-metropolitan areas compared with medium and small, large fringe, and large central metropolitan areas for adults 45 and older and 45–64.

Why do health facilities in developing countries do so poorly? This paper examines the role of financial constraints. The researcher described an experiment in which they surprised health workers in randomly selected public health clinics in Nigeria with a ₦600,000 grant paid out in installments over one year. Its administration was left entirely to health workers. The award led to large productivity gains. Using expenditure data combined with novel textual data, the researcher provide an explanation for these effects. The researcher show the award increased investments in physical and human capital, led to lower prices for patients, and inspired health workers to do better.