The U.S. faces multiple challenges related to illicit drugs and has declared the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency since 2017. The federal Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) Drug-Free Communities (DFC) Support Program provides grants for community-based coalitions focused on drug use prevention efforts for youth 18 and under. The program’s 2025 evaluation report claims that the DFC program is meeting its strategic goal of reducing substance use among youth. However, that report states that it is not possible to establish a causal relationship between substance use changes in communities and the DFC program. The Government Accountability Office found significant limitations in the program data—inconsistencies and unclear data sources. Moreover, ONDCP’s cross-site evaluations have not transparently described its methodologies. Including the complete methodology would allow one to better understand and assess the results of the evaluation. ONDCP has taken some steps to effectively administer the DFC program, including working to ensure new coalitions meet program requirements and have access to mandatory training. In addition, ONDCP has established an internal controls framework to help ensure grantee compliance. However, ONDCP has not consistently enforced compliance with the statutory requirement that DFC coalitions maintain the involvement of all community sectors. Establishing and maintaining community drug prevention partnerships is a critical factor to the success of the DFC program. Further, ONDCP lacks transparency in its budget process. Enhanced budget disclosures would allow appropriators and program decision-makers to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the DFC program’s financial position.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has experienced a dramatic decline in violent crime in recent years. The city recorded 60% fewer homicides in 2025 than just four years earlier. And property crimes, though historically high, are down since their peak in 2023. But contrary to these citywide trends, crime is not decreasing in every neighborhood, and even in the neighborhoods where crime is down, the rate varies. This report analyzes recent changes in violent and property crime, highlighting how local conditions, physical environment, and public investment shape neighborhood-level safety. Key findings include that the Point Breeze neighborhood is largely made up of areas where the crime rate is lower than the city’s average, with a 21% decrease in crime from 2019 to 2025. However, researchers found that crime in Point Breeze is not evenly distributed. Areas along and near Point Breeze and Washington avenues’ business corridors recorded a relatively high concentration of crime. Meanwhile, Washington Square stands out by being one of the few areas near Point Breeze Avenue with a relatively low concentration of crime. Conversely, while citywide crime decreased from 2019 to 2025, crime in the Spring Garden neighborhood increased by 20% during the same period. Crime is concentrated along Fairmount Avenue near 24th Street, near the community garden and Roberto Clemente Playground, and all along Broad Street. Like other parts of the city, much of the crime is concentrated near or along business corridors and along major transit lines.

Policymakers have long sought to promote employment among released prisoners through policies and programs that reduce incarceration and broaden access to the labor market. This descriptive report provides previously unavailable information about employment before, during, and after incarceration for about 170,000 people released from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation prisons between 2015 and 2019, with the aim of highlighting opportunities for improvement. Key findings include that one-quarter of people had no record of working—before, during, or after prison. Specifically, four in ten held a job before prison, and 44% were employed afterward. Conversely, 52% held a prison job. Pretrial and post-sentencing incarceration explain why many in the release cohort did not have jobs outside prison. Researchers also found that before prison, one-third of people worked temp jobs; after prison, 42% did. Most prison jobs involved unskilled labor, lasted about a month, and supported prison operations, such as cleaning and food services. Before prison, just 28% of working people had earnings above the poverty threshold ($20,200 in 2023) in at least one year. After prison, that share grew to 45%. While pre-prison employment-rate disparities narrowed after prison, earnings disparities persisted: men earned 20% more than women, and Black people earned 38% less than White people, on average. People who worked before prison were 9 times more likely to have a job afterward; each quarter of pre-prison employment was associated with a 42% increase. Lastly, participants in prison-based college courses, vocational trades, and substance-use disorder treatment were more likely than nonparticipants to have jobs after release.

Social-emotional learning programs have shown promising short-term results, but much less is known about whether early gains last through high school and the transition to college. The INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament (INSIGHTS) program is a two-year early social-emotional learning intervention grounded in temperament theory delivered in kindergarten and first grade in New York City public schools. This approach is based on the idea that children do their best when their specific traits match the demands of their school and home lives. Key findings of this long-term follow-up study include that of the full sample of students, INSIGHTS did not produce detectable impacts on high school outcomes, such as ninth-grade on-track status, attendance, grade retention, special education classification, or receipt of a New York State high school diploma. A separate analysis of enrollment in a postsecondary institution in the year after the students’ expected high school graduation found that INSIGHTS students were less likely to enroll. Exploratory subgroup analyses for students from families with low incomes and students whose parents consented to the study did not show sustained benefits through high school. The modest academic advantages previously seen in middle school for students from families with low incomes did not extend to high school. These findings suggest that a short-term social-emotional learning intervention in the early grades, even one that is well designed, well implemented, and initially effective, may not be enough on its own to change students’ long-term educational trajectories.

Approximately one in four college students face food insecurity, which is associated with negative health and academic outcomes. As the largest public nutritional program in the United States, the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is one important resource that states and colleges can use to support low-income college students. Yet SNAP eligibility rules for college students are complex, and only a small proportion of eligible students participate. This report aims to inform decision-makers at the federal, state, and local levels who are considering efforts to expand SNAP participation among college students. Key findings include that in 2024, nearly one in ten college students in Colorado (19,400 students) participated in SNAP. Only 37% of those who were likely to be eligible for SNAP participated. Federal or state eligibility expansions would have the largest impact on college student SNAP participation. Federal eligibility changes could increase Colorado college students’ SNAP participation rates by up to 2.5 percentage points (5,300 students). State-level eligibility changes could increase participation by approximately 1.6 percentage points (3,300 students). Outreach and case management support for currently eligible students would have more modest impacts. By combining state eligibility expansions with outreach and case management, Colorado could increase SNAP participation rates by approximately 2 percentage points (more than 4,000 students). Even with changes to eligibility, outreach, and case management support, many eligible college students will not participate, suggesting that a variety of approaches may be necessary to address college student food insecurity.

U.S. military readiness depends on service members who are prepared to serve when called. The federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) seeks to protect the civilian careers of service members by ensuring that they are not disadvantaged in their employment because of their military obligations. Under USERRA, service members are entitled to be reemployed in the civilian jobs they left to serve in the uniformed service. However, some service members have faced challenges retaining or resuming their civilian employment. The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) closed 5,433 complaints from Fiscal Year 2021 through Fiscal Year 2025 with the number of complaints increasing each year to a high of 1,380 in Fiscal Year 2025. That same year VETS experienced a 23% reduction in its complaint investigation staffing levels. During this period, VETS closed USERRA complaints within 90 days on average, the general time frame specified in statute. Most complaints were closed for administrative reasons, including a service member choosing not to pursue the complaint, or were not substantiated by the evidence. VETS investigations staff expressed concern about the amount of time spent on complaints ineligible for USERRA coverage. From Fiscal Year 2021 through Fiscal Year 2025, “not eligible” and “not substantiated” complaints represented about 10% (540 of 5,433 complaints) and about 30% (1,632 of 5,433 complaints) of total closed complaints, respectively. VETS provides numerous resources on its website to help educate service members, but investigations staff said the resources are inadequate because they are optional. By reviewing existing resources and identifying and implementing options to streamline or modify them, VETS could help service members better understand their eligibility under USERRA before submitting complaints and the standards required to demonstrate that an adverse employer action constitutes a violation.

Homeowner and rental vacancy rates are important measures of the health of housing markets, providing an indicator of the availability of housing relative to the demand for housing. This report summarizes housing vacancies in the United States using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008–2024 1-year American Community Survey. Key findings include that in 2024, there were 146.7 million total homes in the United States. Of this total, 86.6 million were owner-occupied and 46.1 million were renter-occupied, while 14.0 million homes were vacant. Most of these vacant homes were not available to be purchased or rented. Total vacancies include units that are rented and not occupied; sold and not occupied; for seasonal, recreational, or occasional use; and for migrant workers, as well as other vacancies that do not fit into these categories. Researchers also found that vacancy rates have fallen over the last 15 years. Specifically, in 2008, the homeowner vacancy rate was 2.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than in 2024. The rental vacancy rate was 7.9% in 2008, 2.2 percentage points higher than in 2024. The decline in vacancies has partially coincided with a period of increases in housing prices and rent and are consistent with a tightening housing market, in which demand for housing is greater than the supply of housing available.

After a period of intensive policy support, the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) market now faces an uncertain and fragmented policy environment, with likely consequences for efforts to reduce tailpipe-sourced air pollution. This report benchmarks states’ electric vehicle policy implementation, with scores ranging from zero to 11 out of a possible 13. The scoring framework is organized around five pillars: 1) consumer incentives; 2) environmental standards; 3) charging infrastructure; 4) market access; and 5) government procurement. Together, these five pillars are grounded in multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed literature that spans environmental economics, transportation planning, and public policy, as well as other frameworks policy research organizations tracking state-level EV policy have developed. Together, the pillars seek to cover the major ways in which states can shape the EV policy environment. Key findings include that electric vehicle policies are concentrated in a relatively small group of states. The highest scores are concentrated in the Northeast, the West Coast, and a few additional states such as Colorado and Maryland. For example, California and Massachusetts have the highest scores, at 11. The states are followed by a group of states scoring 10: Colorado, Oregon, Maryland, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maine. These states have adopted policies across several parts of the EV policy landscape rather than relying on one policy area alone. Conversely, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Montana, Louisiana, and South Dakota all score zero. Florida scored between 4 and 7 for its meaningful policy commitments, however coverage was uneven across pillars. Market access was noted as the clear strength.

This report presents 2024 data on U.S. births by selected characteristics. A total of 3,628,934 births occurred in the United States in 2024, an increase of 1% from the record low reported for 2023. The general fertility rate declined 1% from 2023 to 53.8 births per 1,000 females ages 15–44 in 2024. Birth rates declined for females ages 15–34 from 2023 to 2024, rose for women ages 40–44, and were unchanged for females ages 10–14 and women ages 35–39 and 45–49. The total fertility rate declined 1% to 1,599.5 births per 1,000 women in 2024, a record low. Birth rates declined for both unmarried and married women from 2023 to 2024. Prenatal care beginning in the first trimester declined to 75.5% in 2024. The percentage of women who smoked during pregnancy declined to 2.4%. The cesarean delivery rate increased by less than 1% to 32.4%. Private insurance as the source of payment for the delivery increased to 51.8% of births, while Medicaid deliveries declined to 40.2%. The preterm birth rate (10.41%) was unchanged from 2023; low birthweight births declined 1% (8.52%).

The twin birth rate (twin births per 1,000 total births) rose 79% from 1980 (18.9) to 2014 (33.9), then began to decline. Trends in twin childbearing are of public health interest because of the increased maternal and neonatal risk compared with singleton pregnancies. This report describes trends in the number and rate of twins born in the United States from the most recent high in 2014 through 2024. The twin birth rate declined an average 1% per year from 2014 (33.9 twins per 1,000 births) to 2024 (30.1) for a total decline of 11%. The number of births in twin deliveries declined an average 2% per year from 2014 (135,336) to 2024 (109,195) for a total decline of 19%. In comparison, the number of births in singleton deliveries declined 9% (from 3,848,214 to 3,517,151) over the same decade. By maternal age, the largest declines in twinning rates from 2014 to 2024 were for mothers age 30 and older. Among the three largest race and Hispanic-origin groups, twin birth rates declined 15% for White non-Hispanic (36.7 to 31.3) and 3% for Hispanic (24.1 to 23.4) mothers, and rose 5% for Black non-Hispanic mothers (40.0 to 42.0).

Tobacco and nicotine use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, and its burden falls hardest on the roughly 43 million adults covered by Medicaid, who use tobacco at more than twice the rate of adults with private insurance. Cessation medications are among the most cost-effective treatments in health care, and helping enrollees quit decreases the substantial tobacco-related costs Medicaid already bears. Even so, most enrollees who want to quit never get evidence-based help. Treatment rates stayed very low, with only about 1 in 9 enrollees who likely needed treatment for tobacco or nicotine use receiving it. The estimated share of adults with daily tobacco or nicotine use who received cessation medication was 11.4% in 2019 and 11.5% in 2025, dipping somewhat in the intervening years. Total treatment prescriptions increased slightly, and the mix shifted sharply toward nicotine replacement therapy. Total fills rose 9.1%, from 2.8 million to 3.1 million. Over the same period, varenicline fills fell 35%, while nicotine replacement therapy fills rose 28.8% and grew to nearly two-thirds of all cessation fills. Treatment varied enormously across states. In 2025, fills per 1,000 enrollees who use tobacco or nicotine daily ranged from 909 in Utah to 38 in Alabama, a more than twentyfold gap between the highest and lowest states.