New Report: “The First Year” of Child Care Restoration in Mississippi Katrina Region

NOV. 3, 2006 | The Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute (ECI) and its partners helped 267 child care facilities in the Hurricane Katrina disaster region resume operations during the first year of recovery.

The institute has released a report, The First Year: Child Care Restoration in Mississippi’s Katrina Region, which is a summary of ECI’s Rebuilding After Katrina Initiative. Download the report here.

Cathy Grace, Ed.D., professor and director of ECI, comments in the report that the storm gave birth to “a remarkable community of child advocates,” yet “much remains to be done.”

“The region has experienced significant turnover in the early childhood workforce. At the Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute, we hope to continue the professional development opportunities for early childhood teachers and caregivers in the disaster counties,” she said.

“Ensuring that young children are not overlooked in disaster response, and that early childhood programs are not overlooked in disaster recovery, is another challenge,” Grace said. The institute also announced today that the Early Childhood Atlas, a joint project of ECI and the Community Information Resource Center, is ready to produce custom location maps of child care facilities for disaster response in 12 states.
 

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Updated 08/22/2007