News Updates

6/27/17 – With many states facing an epidemic of opiate addiction accompanied by more people locked up for drug offenses, jails provide a natural place to provide treatment—maybe even “the best place to initiate addict recovery”—says an opinion article in the New York Times. In Issues, two medical and judicial experts have also cited the importance of treating incarcerated drug addicts, as part of a larger recommended effort to improve overall health care within correctional systems.

6/26/17 – Plans for building the nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, fell apart a decade ago because, in part, federal officials didn’t do enough to win support from state and local residents, analysts have said in Issues. Heeding this lesson, Finland is now well along in building what will be the world’s first long-term nuclear waste repository, with one official recounting that community involvement was key and that “very soon we learned that we had to be very open.”

6/24/17 – Unwinding mass incarceration will require more effort to help the large number of people already in the criminal justice system successfully reenter society, two experts on criminal justice recently said in Issues, adding recommendations for action. Two new reports from key organizations now take up the case, as summarized here, highlighting how state and local governments have changed their approach to reentry in recent years and offering lessons from states that have significantly reduced recidivism.

6/22/17 – “I love the name apprentice,” President Trump just said in announcing that the nation needs a stronger system of apprenticeships to match workers with open jobs, adding that his administration plans to get companies and schools to pair up and pay the cost of such arrangements. Issues also has a history with apprenticeships, examining (here and here) how they and other forms of technical training—often with government input and support—can effectively prepare young people for jobs that industry needs today and into the future.