Rural Early Childhood Atlas Shows Early Care and Education Providers in the Path of Hurricane Katrina

SEPT. 7, 2005 | A new map in the Rural Early Childhood Atlas shows locations of Mississippi family child care homes in the path of Hurricane Katrina. See the map here.

The map is the second in a series planned to support damage assessment in the Katrina disaster area. The Rural Early Childhood Atlas is an interactive mapping application in development by Rural Early Childhood and the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI). The two research programs launched the atlas today, two months ahead of schedule, to support planning and resource allocation in response to Katrina.

“The early care and education infrastructure in the Gulf Coast region will need substantial assistance to rebuild. This online, interactive atlas will help us pinpoint the areas of greatest need,” Cathy Grace, Ed.D., professor at Mississippi State University and director of Rural Early Childhood, said. “We did not anticipate using the Rural Early Childhood Atlas under such dire circumstances, so we are grateful to the Rural Policy Research Institute for helping us launch the atlas ahead of schedule.”

"Our vision in creating the Community Information Resources Center was
to provide a decision support tool to assist communities, organizations
and regions in making more informed public choices," Charles W.
Fluharty, director of RUPRI, said. "Our collaboration with Rural Early Childhood at Mississippi State University provides an opportunity to work with our
nation's most visionary rural early childhood advocates and analysts,
and this effort to address the impacts of Katrina upon the early
childhood service community is but one example of their phenomenal
commitment to these stakeholders.”

When completed, the atlas will include an archive of ready-to-use maps of key early childhood indicators, a tool for generating county-level reports of early care and education services and child well-being information, and an interactive tool for creating custom maps.

Elizabeth F. Shores, M.A.P.H., coordinates the Rural Early Childhood Mapping and Datasets Initiatives for Rural Early Childhood. Christopher L. Fulcher, Ph.D., directs the Community Information Resource Center at RUPRI. Geographer Erin E. Wilson, M.A., of RUPRI and the University of Missouri, and cartographer Chad E. Landgraf of RUPRI and the Oklahoma Rural Health Policy and Research Center at Oklahoma State University, are co-creators of the Rural Early Childhood Atlas.

 

Updated 12/01/2006