While antitrafficking federal and state policies, service programs, and advocacy efforts have expanded significantly since the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, little is known about how social work research and practice engage with the distinct vulnerabilities of foreign-national minors subjected to labor trafficking. This scoping review examines existing social work scholarship on labor trafficking of immigrant children and youth. The authors' findings suggest that while human service professionals play a critical role in identifying and supporting trafficked youth-often through schools, healthcare settings, and social service agencies-research remains disproportionately focused on sex trafficking. Although the 12 studies partially addressed child labor trafficking, their primary focus was on domestic child trafficking more generally, often using aggregated data that combined sex and labor trafficking survivors under the broader category of human trafficking. The authors highlight key gaps in research and propose directions for strengthening social work's engagement with labor-trafficked immigrant youth, ensuring more informed and effective responses to their needs.

The nonlinear impact of road safety policy implementation on the severity of road traffic crashes: A fusion of deep learning and Bayesian random parameter methods.

• Study examines California’s worker classification for gig drivers (TNCs, CNS). • Multi-method research: literature review, expert interviews, and case studies. • Key legislation: Assembly Bill 5, Proposition 22, and Senate Bill 1014 impacts. • Drivers concerned about pay, benefits, classification, and platform transparency. • Policy options: minimum pay, appeal processes, and EV support incentives. Given the dynamic landscape surrounding the classification of workers in California, it is important to consider how the existing legal and regulatory environment may impact app-based gig drivers, including transportation network companies (TNCs, also known as ridehailing) and courier network services (CNS). Using a multi-method approach, we conducted a literature review (n = 41 sources), expert interviews (n = 8), and case study analysis (n = 7) between October 2022 to May 2024 to better understand how California’s gig drivers are impacted by state legislation and regulation (i.e., Assembly Bill 5, Proposition 22, and Senate Bill 1014). The expert interviews found that gig drivers are concerned with fair pay, benefits, labor classification, and transparency from the app-based platforms on issues related to punitive actions (i.e., deactivations). Drivers also raised concerns about California’s Clean Miles Standard (also known as SB 1014), which requires 90 % of vehicle miles traveled be electric by 2030, due to the financial costs associated with acquiring and operating electric vehicles (EVs) and limited public charging availability. The seven case studies examine gig labor policies from other states and countries (e.g., policies that may help enhance driver working conditions, platform regulation, and facilitate the EV transition). Together, these methods explore the tension between sustaining an app-based gig driving platform and providing fair compensation and working conditions for gig drivers. The study finds that state and/or local policies establishing minimum pay for drivers and policies enhancing transparency and appeal processes for driver deactivations could help improve working conditions for gig drivers. Various state agencies, such as the California Public Utilities Commission, could support gig drivers through incentives for the purchase of EVs and installation of EV charging near their homes and driving locations.

Harm reduction services fulfill a critical need in reducing the negative consequences associated with the overdose crisis. However, many current evidence-based harm reduction services-such as syringe service programs-have access barriers including limited hours or the need for face-to-face interactions to help serve people who use drugs (PWUD). To complement such traditional services, overcome barriers, and bridge gaps, harm reduction vending machines (HRVMs) are increasingly being used to offer PWUD low-barrier, 24-hour access to harm reduction supplies, such as naloxone, drug-checking strips, condoms, and more. Evidence from around the world, and more recently in the United States, demonstrates that HRVMs not only provide anonymous no- or low-cost supplies to PWUD, but also do so in ways that overcome key barriers such as stigma, cost, and transportation, while also increasing accessibility and acceptability among PWUD. Perhaps most notably, HRVMs can do all of this while remaining cost-efficient, highly accessible, and adaptable to community needs. Accordingly, the Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction supports funding and research for the broader application of HRVMs, alongside the creation of national implementation guidance and federal and state policy alignment, to ensure that communities across the United States can access these crucial harm reduction services.

Worldwide agroextractivism: A probabilistic approach

Objectives. To examine operational ultraprocessed food (UPF) definitions and policy scope in existing US policy proposals. Methods. We conducted a search for federal and state policy proposals targeting UPFs through December 2025. Results. We identified 43 proposals targeting UPFs between 2021 and 2025. Most (93%) hailed from states. About a third (35%) defined UPFs by listing narrow sets of specific food additives. Some provided definitions more closely related to Nova's: 9% referenced classes of additives considered "cosmetic" by Nova, whereas 21% directly referenced or paraphrased Nova but lacked comprehensive lists of targeted ingredients. A final third (35%) did not provide any definition. Most targeted foods served or sold in schools (58%). Others proposed UPF warning labels (12%) and marketing restrictions (5%). Conclusions. Proposals mostly targeted school foods and frequently defined UPFs using narrow lists of additives that lack evidence as reliable UPF indicators. Public Health Implications. Informing policymakers about existing and emerging operational UPF definitions consistent with science-based approaches is urgent. (Am J Public Health. 2026;116(7):1025-1029. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308464).

The Pennsylvania legislature is considering limiting the number of patients nurses care for to promote safe care. To determine whether variation in nurse workloads is associated with adverse consequences for patients, nurses, and hospital costs in Pennsylvania. Observational study of 547,689 medical and surgical patients and 2782 direct care nurses in 132 Pennsylvania hospitals. The independent variable was medical-surgical nurse staffing ratios. Patient outcomes included 30-day mortality, 30-day readmissions, and length of stay. Nurse outcomes included burnout, job dissatisfaction, intent to leave, and evaluations of hospital management and patient care. Hospital outcomes were HCAHPS Star Ratings and cost offsets associated with better staffing. Hospital nurse staffing ranged from 3 to 9 patients per nurse (average 5.9). Each additional patient per nurse was associated with higher odds of 30-day mortality (AOR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.13, P <0.001), longer length of stay (IRR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.04, P <0.05) and higher odds of readmission (AOR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.07, P <0.05). Worse staffing was associated with higher odds of nurse burnout, job dissatisfaction, and intent to leave, and lower patient satisfaction. Cost savings from patient outcomes and nurse retention were projected to offset costs of additional nurses needed for hospitals to meet a minimum safe nurse staffing level proposed in legislation. Large differences across Pennsylvania hospitals in the amount of nursing care patients receive are associated with negative consequences. A state policy establishing minimum safe nurse staffing requirements in hospitals is in the public's interest.

The intersection between mental health and public safety within the United States constitutes an urgent yet woefully neglected field of social policy. A legacy of decades of deinstitutionalization, inadequate investment in community mental health capacity, and the structural role of law enforcement as first responders to crises of mental distress has yielded a costly, unjust, and clinically inadequate system. This literature review will address policies guiding the integration of mental health services into public safety systems in the United States, relying on peer-reviewed literature, government policy reports, and program evaluations. The review will chronicle the history of this policy space from the era of deinstitutionalization to subsequent legislative milestones at the federal level, evaluate the effectiveness of traditional law enforcement-based solutions, including Crisis Intervention Training, and analyze newer alternatives, including civilian mobile crisis teams, co-responder models, and telehealth-enhanced dispatch. Results suggest that alternative crisis response strategies, especially civilian-based solutions, show significant gains in terms of diversion, efficiency, and participant outcomes compared to those rooted in law enforcement. Nevertheless, systemic challenges impede efforts to scale and sustain these reforms. Sustained change requires federal, state, and local policy coordination, adequate behavioral health capacity and workforce development, and equity-focused program design.

This paper summarizes 2025 findings of the National Youth Tobacco Survey regarding middle and high-school students use of tobacco and compares these findings with historical information on the two most common products used by youth, e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches. Prevalence estimates from the NYTS public use data set accounting for complex survey design. Tobacco use continued declining through 2025, when 7.2% of youth used tobacco. Only nicotine pouches increased, doubling from 0.8% in 2021 to 1.7% in 2025. Pouches were the second most used tobacco product, after e-cigarettes (5.2%). Most youth used flavored tobacco products. E-cigarette use intensity increased over time, with daily use growing from 9.4% in 2014 to 35.4% in 2025. Dual and poly use is common among e-cigarette and pouch users. Although progress continued in reducing overall youth tobacco use, nicotine pouch use doubled. The changing market, elimination of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, and pro-tobacco FDA regulatory decision threaten progress in youth tobacco control, increasing the importance of state and local tobacco control policies, including comprehensive flavor bans, smokefree laws, and consistent higher taxes across all tobacco products.

Purpose: to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current state of the Russian audit services market in the period 2021–2025, identify systemic problems in its development, and determine promising directions for state and professional policy. Methods: the study employed methods of synthesis and systematization of information, as well as comparative and structural-logical analysis to assess the institutional aspects of the functioning of self-regulatory organizations and workforce dynamics. Results: research has documented a number of persistent negative trends in the Russian audit market, including staff shortages, institutional imbalances in the activities of a single self-regulatory organization, as well as price dumping and the formation of demand for formal auditing. Practical significance: identification of key market problems and development of proposals for their solution on this basis. The recommendations formulated can be used to improve the quality of audit services in the long term.

The study is of high relevance due to fundamental changes in the business landscape of the domestic light industry and fashion industry, and the growing significance of the creative sector. Withdrawal of a significant number of international retailers, transformation of consumer preferences towards the support of the domestic manufacturer and the adopted state policy on import savings have created strategic opportunities for the long-term development of the local brands. They are no longer a niche phenomenon, and have become an important segment of the economics which can satisfy consumer demands. The long-term development of local brands is impossible without a system strategic approach. Strategizing makes it possible to transform the cultural code and local authenticity into long-term advantages. The purpose of the study is to carry out the analysis of the evolution of domestic local brands of light industry and fashion industry. Understanding of the historical context allows using the accumulated experience for developing relevant development strategies of local brands. The theory of strategy and methodology of strategizing by Vladimir Kvint is used as the theoretical and methodological basis of the study. The article also applies such methods as analysis, synthesis, observation, systematization, abstraction, comparison, and generalization. As a result of the study, the author has clarified the concept of a local brand in relation to the light industry and the fashion industry, and has identified its key strategic characteristics (authenticity, locality, connection with cultural narrative, short value chain). The author has carried out retrospective analysis of the evolution of local brands in Russia and identified the factors of the external and internal environment that influenced their strategic development. The author’s table for the integration of the locality component into the valueadded cycle of an enterprise in the industry has been created. Being a complex socio-cultural construct, a lo calbrand reflects traditions, values, historical memory and cultural code of the territory. The strategizing of a local brand reaches the level of corporate and national priorities.

ABSTRACT Within the current global reimagining of English language education through a decolonial lens, China represents a unique example of a top-down reform agenda. Unlike grassroots decolonial initiatives in many Global South contexts, China’s approach is embedded in state policy that reframes English to promote national culture and enhance international discourse power – captured in the ideological call to ‘tell China’s story well’. Adopting an ecological perspective, this study examines how secondary school English teachers in China perceive and negotiate this ideological repositioning in their classrooms. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 12 teachers from diverse school contexts and one teacher educator, the analysis reveals a complex interplay between ideological alignment and practical constraint. Many participants viewed the policy as a meaningful reform to strengthen students’ cultural identity, reduce cultural barriers in language learning, and enhance China’s global voice. However, implementation was hindered by challenges including difficulties integrating cultural content into exam-driven curricula and teachers’ perceived gaps in cultural knowledge and pedagogical resources. These findings illuminate how decolonial goals can be simultaneously supported and constrained by intersecting ideologies – native-speakerism, neoliberalism, and neo-nationalism – within China’s educational ecology. While top-down policy creates enabling conditions, decolonisation ultimately remains pedagogical work requiring reflective, adaptive, and context-responsive practice.

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic threatened to exacerbate an existing U.S. rental housing affordability crisis. In response, the federal government implemented the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERA), transferring nearly $47 billion to state and local governments to provide financial assistance to vulnerable renter households. Programs varied in several dimensions, including in novel policies, such as the use of self-attestation and proxies in lieu of documentation in applications. We merge household microdata from the Household Pulse Survey with data from state-level ERA programs to examine the relationship between policy variation and take-up of assistance. Using sequential logit models, we consider participation in a series of stages (application, decision, and receipt). Policies aimed at reducing administrative burdens and policies prioritizing specific groups were associated with increased likelihood of applications for and receipt of assistance, especially for the lowest-income households. Findings aid in understanding the unique policy regime of the pandemic and identify promising practices for post-pandemic assistance.

Prescribing Medications to Workers: Understanding State Policies, Controlled Substances, and Interdisciplinary Roles.

ABSTRACT This article looks at ABS's evolution thus far with a women and gender lens. We ask: where do women appear in the evolution of the field, and to what extent have border scholars engaged with gender through conference participation and research paper titles that address women and men in the borderlands? We also examine whether the early invisibility of women during the founding period eventually led to the integration of women as leaders and researchers and to the mainstreaming of gender-focused scholarship on the gendered consequences of state policies. In addition, we explore how the ABS faced various crises over time and was sustained by the preparation and skill sets that a cross-section of its presidents brought to the organization.

Under the conditions of the dominance of thermal, primarily coal-fired, generation and the significant role of combined heat and power plants in the electric power industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the issue of energy efficiency of the electric power generation sector acquires systemic technical and economic significance. The purpose of this article is to briefly present this issue as an independent subject of scientific and sectoral consideration. It is shown that the contemporary energy agenda usually prioritizes decarbonization, the development of renewableenergy sources, hydrogen energy, and the technological modernization of power systems, whereas the energy efficiency of the electric power generation sector itself much less frequently becomes an independent object of analysis. At the same time, this aspect determines the cost-effectiveness of power generation, the stability of electricity and heat supply, the level of a plant’s internal consumption,and the nature of further modernization of the generation complex. The article reveals the sector-specific features of Kazakhstan’s electric power industry, the strategic priorities of state policy, and the main approaches to understanding the energy efficiency of generation. The necessity of an integrated approach to improving its efficiency is substantiated.

Prompt diagnosis and treatment of malaria remain central to malaria control strategies. The World Health Organization recommends testing suspected malaria cases before treatment using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) or microscopy. However, evidence on the readiness of health facilities to implement this policy in high-burden Nigerian states remains limited. This study assessed facility readiness, testing-before-treatment (TBT) coverage, and facility-level determinants of malaria diagnostic readiness among public health facilities in Kaduna and Kano States, Nigeria. A cross-sectional health facility assessment was conducted across 418 public health facilities in Kaduna and Kano States between August 5 and 28, 2025. A stratified two-stage sampling approach was used, with primary health facilities randomly selected proportionally across all 67 Local Government Areas and all secondary facilities purposively included. Data were collected using a structured Health Facility Assessment questionnaire. Facility readiness was assessed using five indicators: availability of RDTs, availability of microscopy services, trained staff on malaria case management, availability of standard operating procedures, and absence of stock-outs of RDTs or artemisinin-based combination therapy within the previous three months. A composite readiness index (0-5) was constructed and facilities were classified as having full or partial readiness. Associations between facility characteristics and readiness were examined using multivariable logistic regression. All facilities had RDTs and trained staff on malaria case management, and none reported commodity stock-outs during the three-month reference period. Overall, 381 facilities (91.1%) demonstrated full readiness, with a mean readiness score of 4.91 ± 0.29. Microscopy services were available in 23.0% of facilities. Most facilities reported high TBT coverage, with 90.4% reporting ≥ 85% testing coverage. Secondary facilities (aOR = 2.15, 95% CI:1.06-4.36), urban location (aOR = 1.78, 95% CI:1.01-3.12), supportive supervision (aOR = 2.54, 95% CI:1.28-5.02), malaria focal persons (aOR = 2.92, 95% CI:1.63-5.23), and availability of free malaria commodities (aOR = 1.98, 95% CI:1.07-3.68) were significantly associated with full readiness. Public health facilities assessed in Kaduna and Kano States demonstrated high structural readiness for malaria diagnosis. Study limitations include the cross-sectional design, reliance on facility records which may be subject to reporting bias, and the exclusion of private health facilities, limiting generalizability. These findings highlight the need for sustained commodity security, regular supportive supervision, and targeted investments in rural facilities to maintain and strengthen diagnostic readiness.

With increasing abortion restrictions, more people self-manage their abortions with medications. Little is known about geographic and demographic characteristics of those self-managing abortions in the US, particularly after the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. To describe requests for self-managed medication abortion support in the US through Mexico-based accompaniment collectives. This is a cross-sectional study of records from 2023 from 2 Mexico-based accompaniment collectives. Participants were people in the US requesting support from Mexico-based accompaniment collectives to self-manage an abortion. State abortion policy context (complete abortion bans, 6-week and/or embryonic cardiac activity bans, 12- to 15-week bans, and abortion available past 15 weeks), sociodemographic characteristics (poverty, insurance status, and Spanish language), and driving distance from the nearest abortion facility. The primary outcomes were the sociodemographic characteristics of those requesting support from accompaniment collectives and the rate of requests to these collectives by zip code tabulation areas (ZCTAs). Demographic characteristics, pregnancy characteristics, and state policy context were described. Differences in request characteristics by state-level abortion policy category were tested using χ2 tests. Also, rates of requests per 100 000 female individuals aged 15 to 49 years within categories of ZCTA-level characteristics were estimated. A total of 2850 requests were analyzed, with 700 requests (24.6%) from people aged 20 to 24 years, 995 (34.9%) from people aged 25 to 34 years, and 192 (6.7%) from people younger than 20 years. Pregnancy duration was 6 weeks or less for 1441 requests (50.6%), 7 to 9 weeks for 677 requests (23.8%), and 12 weeks or more for 160 requests (5.6%). In total, 2363 requests (82.9%) were from states with complete abortion bans. Requests with pregnancies at 12 weeks or more ranged from 98 (4.2%) in complete-ban states to 36 requests (14.8%) in states where abortion was available past 15 weeks (P < .001). Spanish was spoken with accompaniers by 65 requesters (38.0%) in states where abortion was available past 15 weeks and by 282 requesters (13.2%) in complete-ban states (P < .001). The mean ZCTA-level request rate was 2.44 (95% CI, 1.81-3.08) per 100 000 female individuals aged 15 to 49 years and increased with ZCTA-level poverty (from 0.35 [95% CI, 0.23-0.53] to 1.63 [95% CI, 1.14-2.34] requests per 100 000 female individuals aged 15 to 49 years) and Spanish-speaking population share (from 0.25 [95% CI, 0.12-0.54] to 1.56 [95% CI, 1.03-2.39] requests per 100 000 female individuals aged 15 to 49 years). ZCTAs more than 8 hours from an abortion facility in complete ban states had the highest request rate (7.85 [95% CI, 4.53-13.61] requests per 100 000 female individuals aged 15 to 49 years). In this cross-sectional study of accompaniment network records, requests for Mexico-based accompaniment support were highest in states with abortion bans and in communities with elevated poverty, uninsurance, and Spanish-speaking populations, underscoring the role of accompaniment collectives in serving communities facing the greatest structural barriers to facility-based abortion care.

BackgroundAlzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) were the sixth leading cause of death among people aged 65 + in 2022 and are currently the leading cause of disability and morbidity in older adults. In 2025, an estimated 7.2 million Americans aged 65 years and older were living with Alzheimer's disease (AD), with prevalence projected to rise.ObjectiveWe describe 1) the trends in the adoption of ADRD policies that were implemented in the U.S. from 2008-2020, as well as 2) the trends in ADRD mortality during 1999-2022.MethodsWe presented mortality data for the age-adjusted rate of ADRD mortality per 100,000 people in 1999-2022 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (CDC WONDER). We also collected policy data from state websites from 2008-2020.ResultsPolicies were implemented for all 50 states, starting in 2008 and ending in 2020. ADRD mortality steadily rose during 1999-2022. The first states to implement ADRD in 2008 were Iowa and Kentucky. The largest number of states added policies in 2013. South Dakota, Wyoming, Ohio, and Kansas were the last states to implement policies.ConclusionsOur study documented that all the states in the United States implemented a policy to reduce ADRD cases. We also observed that ADRD mortality steadily rose between 1999 and 2022. This rise may reflect increased reporting of ADRD as a cause of death, or policies needing more time to meet national reduction goals.

Demographic Shifts in Pediatric Emergency Department Visits for Homelessness During State and Federal Policy Changes.