This report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers documents the data on the opioid crisis from a public health standpoint and the economic costs of opioid-related fatalities at the macro level.

The National Center for Health Statistics presents a data visualization, drawn from the National Vital Statistics System, for drug overdose deaths for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This data series compares the percentage changes in provisional drug overdose deaths in the current 12 month period with the previous 12 months. There is also data to indicate the reported and predicted provisional counts by month.

This journal article presents data to illustrate how the death rate from opioids among Native Americans has risen significantly over the last 17 years. The authors also discuss tribal medical and legal responses to the opioid epidemic, including tribally-operated medication assisted therapies and drug diversion courts.

This Urban Institute policy brief reviews the extent that children’s negative behavioral outcomes continue after their fathers have been released from incarceration. The brief compares negative outcomes, such as outward displays of aggression or internalized expressions, including withdrawal or anxiety, among children when their fathers are incarcerated and when they are released with outcomes of those children whose fathers have never been incarcerated.

Greater awareness of the opioid epidemic and its impact on participants and employer partners as well as on workforce service delivery is needed. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration hosted a webinar on October 18, 2018 to discuss Federal efforts to support communities in addressing workforce challenges associated with the opioid crisis. Participants learned about the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment for people with substance use disorders and those at risk of developing these disorders.

The continuing opioid crisis is a major public health issue, and it extends across the domains of public assistance programs and workforce development as well. This report by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviews the medication-assisted treatment initiatives that five case study states have undertaken to identify effective practices in offering and expanding treatment. In addition, the authors discuss financing and workforce policies from which policymakers can draw. Potentially effective “policy levers” across states include expanding Medicaid services for medical treatment, using targeted grant funds, creating hubs of care, and instituting stigma-reducing programs.

The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) has recently released a report which examines relationships between indicators of economic opportunity and the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use in the United States. Some of the primary findings reflect that the prevalence of drug overdose deaths and opioid prescriptions has risen unevenly across the county, with rural areas more heavily impacted, and that poverty, unemployment rates and the employment-population ratio are highly correlated with the prevalence of prescription opioids and substance use measures.

This compendium from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation was put together to provide information about available measures to assess executive functioning to be used by researchers, child development specialists, field staff, and other relevant professionals. A total of 44 commonly used measures are assessed and categorized to enhance the field's knowledge.

This Mathematica research brief examines several interventions utilizing self-regulation for workforce assistance. Traditional workforce programs focus on helping low-income individuals build skills, reduce employment barriers, and develop work experience. Recently, a new approach centers around building participants’ self-regulation. Self-regulation helps individuals to better manage their thoughts, behaviors, and emotions both in and outside of work. Implemented strategies include providing behavioral therapy, mindfulness techniques, and motivational interviewing. Poverty forces people to juggle multiple demanding factors and stressors on a limited budget, while often adhering to assistance program requirements. Self-regulation techniques aim to strengthen an individual’s emotional well-being, motivation, and self-confidence to increase resiliency.

This brief, circulated by ASPE, details the methodology used in the report Substance Use, the Opioid Epidemic, and Child Welfare Caseloads: A Mixed Methods Study. Methods utilized included statistical modeling, geospatial analysis, and qualitative interviewing and analysis. Research centered on six questions, including exploring the relationship between substance use prevalence and child welfare caseloads, how parental substance misuse affects caseloads and outcomes, and whether opioid misuse impacts welfare differently than other types of substance use.