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Conditions inside prisons—including high populations and inadequate vaccination and hygiene protocols—meant that, in winter 2021-22, both correctional officers and incarcerated people experienced high levels of COVID-19. 1 Research has clearly demonstrated that incarceration also increases the level of COVID-19 infection in communities outside of prisons and jails.2 All levels of government should take action to further reduce the number of people held in jails and prisons.

People in Prison in Winter 2021-22

Author(s): Jacob Kang-Brown

Publisher: Vera Institute

Publication Date: 2/1/2022

Chart and table of U.S. population from 1950 to 2022. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

  • The current population of U.S. in 2022 is 338,289,857, a 0.38% increase from 2021.
  • The population of U.S. in 2021 was 336,997,624, a 0.31% increase from 2020.
  • The population of U.S. in 2020 was 335,942,003, a 0.49% increase from 2019.
  • The population of U.S. in 2019 was 334,319,671, a 0.66% increase from 2018.

U.S. Population Growth Rate 1950-2022

Publisher: Macrotrends

Publication Date: 2022

The past year has seen rapid advances in the use of technological solutions in prisons and wider criminal justice systems globally. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries turned to digital and other tools as a means of reducing the risk of transmission in places of detention through human contact and easing the burden on prison and probation staff.

Global Prison Trends 2021: Role and Use of Technologies

Author(s): Penal Reform International

Publication Date: 5/1/2021

https://www.penalreform.org/global-prison-trends-2021/role-and-use-of-technologies/

The approval of several COVID-19 vaccines in late 2020 has brightened public health and economic prospects for 2021. Yet, prior to the onset of the pandemic, the global economy already had a fragile growth outlook, with social tensions over the evident polarization of economic outcomes and high levels of uncertainty. At this critical juncture, policymakers need to look beyond reviving the old economy and instead shift towards a thriving global economy—where growth is revived, social justice more fully realized, and the climate crisis averted.

Chief Economists Outlook 2021

Publisher: World Economic Forum

Publication Date: 1/1/2021

As COVID-19 began spreading in 2020, prison facilities across the country suspended visits from family and lawyers. Over the course of the pandemic, states have eased and tightened those restrictions. We’re rounding up the changes as they occur.

In this Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the Commission seeks to obtain detailed comment to enable it to make further progress toward ensuring that the rates, charges, and practices for and in connection with interstate and international inmate calling services meet applicable statutory standards.

Rates for Interstate Inmate Calling Services

 

Publisher: Federal Communications Commission

Volume, Issue, & Page: Vol. 86, No. 142

Publication Date: 7/28/2021

Rates for Interstate Inmate Calling Services

Unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment.

  • U.S. unemployment rate for 2021 was 5.46%, a 2.59% decline from 2020.
  • U.S. unemployment rate for 2020 was 8.05%, a 4.38% increase from 2019.
  • U.S. unemployment rate for 2019 was 3.67%, a 0.23% decline from 2018.
  • U.S. unemployment rate for 2018 was 3.90%, a 0.46% decline from 2017.

U.S. Unemployment Rates, 1991-2022

Publisher: Macrotrends

Publication Date: 2021

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/unemployment-rate

An essential consideration for government, business and civil society is how technologies are harnessed and regulated to accelerate growth, encourage innovation and build resiliency in the wake of COVID-19. How governments and other stakeholders approach the governance of technologies will play an important role in how we reset society, the economy and the business environment.

This report examines some of the most important applications of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies if we are to thrive in a post-pandemic world and the governance challenges that should be addressed for these technologies to reach their potential.

Innovations in technology are driving rapid development of new forms of money. The way global leaders from public and private sectors develop, coordinate and regulate such digital currencies will have profound implications on society’s capacity to harness their benefits and avoid the potentially significant risks they introduce. Two distinct forms of digital currency – central bank digital currency (CBDC) and “stablecoins” – have caught the attention of policy-makers and the private sector in recent years.

Digital Currency Governance Consortium, White Paper Series

Author(s): World Economic Forum

Publication Date: 11/1/2021

By the end of November 2020, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was estimated to have resulted in the deaths of between 268,000 and 360,000 Americans.1 The spread of the disease stressed the U.S. health care system, with the number of people needing care over-whelming available resources in some parts of the country. Both the disease and the actions taken to respond to it stressed the country as a whole and had broad impacts on the economic system and government agencies at all levels.

The U.S. Criminal Justice System in the Pandemic Era and Beyond

Author(s): Brian A. Jackson

Publisher: RAND Corporation

Publication Date: 2021

This Equity Toolkit contains 3 phases that have been identified to support organizations or schools in operationalizing racial equity.

Each phase contains 3 stages (developing, mid, high) and steps to lead organizational committees through the process of operationalizing racial equity into their school/district/school. Each stage includes: Questions to consider, actions to consider, and resources are built into each sub-phase. We recommend that you move through each phase sequentially, with the reminder that teams can be in several phases at one time. Teams can also circle back to phases depending on the particular racial equity, diversity or inclusion initiative they may be focused on at the moment.

Calculating the answer to the question “How many people have ever lived on Earth?” is complicated. To begin with, when we initially wrote this article back in 1995, “modern” Homo sapiens (that is, people who were roughly like we are now) were thought to have first walked the Earth around 50,000 B.C.E. Discoveries now suggest modern Homo sapiens existed much earlier, around 200,000 B.C.E. This major change in our understanding of human existence spurred new calculations and consultations with experts, resulting in an estimate that about 117 billion members of our species have ever been born on Earth.

How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?

Author(s): Toshiko Kaneda and Carl Haub

Publisher: Population Reference Bureau (PRB)

Economic prospects have diverged further across countries since the April 2021 World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecast. Vaccine access has emerged as the principal fault line along which the global recovery splits into two blocs: those that can look forward to further normalization of activity later this year (almost all advanced economies) and those that will still face resurgent infections and rising COVID death tolls. The recovery, however, is not assured even in countries where infections are currently very low so long as the virus circulates elsewhere.

Fault Lines Widen in the Global Recovery

Author(s): International Monetary Fund

Publisher: World Economic Outlook

Publication Date: 07/2021

The Sentencing Project's key fact sheet provides a compilation of major developments in the criminal justice system over the past several decades.

Trends in U.S. Corrections

Publisher: The Sentencing Project

Publication Date: 5/1/2021

https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/trends-in-u-s-corrections/

Recent research shows that people who have at least one ally at their job are nearly twice as likely to be satisfied and feel like they belong. As a manager, you have a unique opportunity to be role a model in building inclusion across teams, but you may face unique challenges in remote or hybrid settings.

Managers, Here’s How to Be a Better Ally in the Remote Workplace

Author(s): Melinda Briana Epler

Publisher: Harvard Business Review

Publication Date: 01/27/2022

https://hbr.org/2022/01/managers-heres-how-to-be-a-better-ally-in-the-remote-workplace

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This report presents data on diversity in public service organizations — in state and local government, education, health care, and related nonprofit organizations. It also compares historical and current public service diversity figures to those of the broader workforce. Aspects of diversity discussed include race, ethnicity, age, gender, and other categories (to the extent that data is available), such as LGBTQIA+ identification, veteran status, cognitive diversity, religion, and language.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion in the public service workforce

Author(s): MissionSquare Research Institute

Publication Date: 9/1/2021

The 2021 edition of International Migration Outlook analyses recent developments in migration movements and the labour market inclusion of immigrants in OECD countries. It also monitors recent policy changes in migration governance and integration in OECD countries. This edition includes two special chapters, one providing an in-depth analysis of the fiscal impact of migration in OECD countries since the mid 2000s and another on the causes and consequences of the residential segregation of immigrants. The Outlook also includes country notes and a detailed statistical annex.

International Migration Outlook 2021

Publisher: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Publication Date: 10/8/2021

Global prospects remain highly uncertain one year into the pandemic. New virus mutations and the accumulating human toll raise concerns, even as growing vaccine coverage lifts sentiment. Economic recoveries are diverging across countries and sectors, reflecting variation in pandemic-induced disruptions and the extent of policy support. The outlook depends not just on the outcome of the battle between the virus and vaccines—it also hinges on how effectively economic policies deployed under high uncertainty can limit lasting damage from this unprecedented crisis.Global growth is projected at 6 percent in 2021, moderating to 4.4 percent in 2022. The projections for 2021 and 2022 are stronger than in the October 2020 WEO.

A 2018 estimate of unemployment among the five million formerly incarcerated people living in the U.S. found that they are “unemployed at a rate of over 27% — higher than the total U.S. unemployment rate during any historical period, including the Great Depression.” In this article, author LeRon L. Barton poses the question: What role is the DEI sector playing in this fight?

What is DEI Doing for the Formerly Incarcerated?

Author(s): LeRon L. Barton

Publisher: Harvard Business Review

Publication Date: 9/6/2021

https://hbr.org/2021/09/what-is-dei-doing-for-the-formerly-incarcerated

The intent of this report is to provide the nation a better understanding of the extraordinary challenges state workforce agency staff faced during the 2020 pandemic and present the measurable results of their tireless efforts. For more information or to begin a conversation, use the contact information provided on each state’s profile within the report.

2021 State of the Workforce Report: Responding to the Pandemic

 

Publisher: National Association of State Workforce Agencies

Publication Date: 2021

https://www.naswa.org/system/files/2021-03/2021-state-of-the-workforce-reportweb3-9-21.pdf

Diversity Wins is the third report in a McKinsey series investigating the business case for diversity, following Why Diversity Matters (2015) and Delivering Through Diversity (2018). Our latest report shows not only that the business case remains robust but also that the relationship between diversity on executive teams and the likelihood of financial outperformance has strengthened over time. These findings emerge from our largest data set so far, encompassing 15 countries and more than 1,000 large companies. By incorporating a “social listening” analysis of employee sentiment in online reviews, the report also provides new insights into how inclusion matters. It shows that companies should pay much greater attention to inclusion, even when they are relatively diverse.

The global economic recovery is continuing, even as the pandemic resurges. The fault lines opened up by COVID-19 are looking more persistent—near-term divergences are expected to leave lasting imprints on medium-term performance. Vaccine access and early policy support are the principal drivers of the gaps.

Recovery during a Pandemic—Health Concerns, Supply Disruptions, Price Pressures

Author(s): International Monetary Fund

Publisher: World Economic Outlook

Publication Date: 10/1/2021

2021 has been a year of economic recovery, as the world slowly transitions to a state of (relative) normalcy. But some companies are rebounding faster than others. According to Kantar BrandZTM , a lot of it has to do with the strength of a company's brand. With this in mind, here's a look at the world's most valuable brands in 2021.

The World's 100 Most Valuable Brands in 2021

Author(s): Carmen Ang

Publisher: Visual Capitalist

Publication Date: 10/6/2021

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/most-valuable-brands-2021.html

As the 21st century unfolds, American jails are confronting unprecedented challenges. While both the numbers and the demands of their populations have steadily grown, their resources have not kept pace. As a result, perhaps at no other time have jails been in greater need of capable staff and confident leadership. Yet within just a few years, retirements are expected to seriously diminish the ranks of managers, supervisors, and experienced line employees who are now staffing America’s jails. Add to that their ongoing struggle to recruit and retain well-qualified workers whose importance to the welfare of the community is often unappreciated, and it becomes clear why jail leaders throughout the country recently elevated workforce-related issues to a top national priority.