Highlights

The COVID-19 pandemic hit every corner of the country in 2020, and Washington, DC, was no exception. The public health crisis and resulting economic fallout widened disparities among DC neighborhoods and hurt families who were already struggling to afford basic needs.

Intimate partner violence (IPV)—which includes emotional, physical, and sexual dating violence—affected millions of Americans every year before the pandemic, and emerging data show the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated the risks for victims. And this public health crisis isn’t exclusive to adults.

This week, the Council of the District of Columbia approved by an overwhelming majority a first-in-the-nation law allowing people in prison who were convicted of serious offenses as young adults to be considered for release via judicial review.

Public awareness for cash-based social policies was growing before the COVID-19 pandemic, and public support for them has proliferated since the pandemic first started to roil the US economy in March.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout continues to drain families’ resources. In Washington, DC, an estimated 21 percent of respondents to the September Census Household Pulse Survey expected to lose income in the next four weeks. This income loss means families are struggling to afford basic needs, such as food and housing.

Racist policies and practices have facilitated gentrification and displacement, which have disproportionately harmed Black and Latine (a gender-inclusive identifier for Latinos/as) communities for decades.

On June 26, the US House of Representatives passed legislation to make the District of Columbia the 51st state by a 232–180 vote. It marked the first time either chamber of Congress approved a DC statehood bill.

Millions of people have lost jobs, health insurance, and housing during the cor

As researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders track and analyze the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 and racist policing on Black and Latine (a gender-inclusive identifier for Lati