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RAND Gulf States Publications
Within a week of Katrina's destruction, RAND researchers were on the ground identifying issues that would benefit from the nonprofit research organization's ability to analyze data and provide policy options. RAND drew on its extensive experience in emergency planning, crisis management, public health, military operations (including the National Guard), intergovernmental coordination, flood control and environmental remediation. Even before creation of the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute was announced Dec. 21, 2005, RAND had already concluded a number of health-related studies.
After Katrina struck, RAND set aside $1 million to fund a handful of time-sensitive and potentially high-impact projects. RAND-initiated research uses discretionary funds made possible both through its donors' generosity and the fees earned by client-funded research. Some of these projects have provided technical assistance to state and local recovery commissions in the Gulf States region. And RAND continues to work on education, housing, population dynamics and emergency response and preparedness issues.
The RAND Gulf States academic partners have many other projects underway. RAND looks forward to working with its university colleagues, and other potential partners in the region, to produce and disseminate research that will enable leaders to arrive at informed decisions as the region seeks to rebuild.
This page lists RAND Gulf States reports and working papers, organized by five main categories. The categories are: Education; Environment, Workforce, and Economic Development; Health; Housing and Infrastructure; and Safety and Preparedness.
Education
How Schools Responded to Student Mental Health Needs Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — 2007
This fact sheet summarizes a study that examined how schools in the U.S. Gulf Coast region perceived the mental health needs of students after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and how schools responded.
How Schools Can Help Students Recover from Traumatic Experiences: A Tool Kit for Supporting Long-Term Recovery — 2006
Many changes in students' performance and behavior stem from their experience of, for example, witnessing violence, undergoing assault or abuse, living through natural disasters, or experiencing acts of terrorism. This guide shows how to provide school-based mental health programs for students exposed to violence, natural disasters and other traumatic events.
Student Displacement in Louisiana After the Hurricanes of 2005: Experiences of Public Schools and Their Students — 2006
This report focuses on the displacement of approximately 200,000 public school students in Louisiana due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. The study says problems that students and faculty faced during the 2005-06 school year are likely to persist. It recommends that schools continue helping students affected by the hurricanes with counseling and academic services, and also help teachers deal with their own hurricane-related problems.
Environment, Workforce, and Economic Development
TopAn Economic Development Architecture for New Orleans — 2007
New Orleans should craft a comprehensive economic redevelopment plan that combines public- and private-sector funding with a centralized structure. Total operating costs could run between $2 million and $3 million per year.
Commercial Wind Insurance in the Gulf States Developments Since Hurricane Katrina and Challenges Moving Forward — 2007
Many businesses along the Gulf of Mexico coast have had a difficult time obtaining wind insurance coverage since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma hit in 2005 and have often ended up paying more than twice as much for the insurance as they did previously.
Employment and Self-Employment in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina — 2007
Year 2005 brought four severe hurricanes to the U.S. Gulf states, including Hurricane Katrina. The authors examine the short- and long-term effects of Hurricane Katrina on the labor market outcomes of prime age individuals in the states most affected by the hurricane and for evacuees using data from the monthly Current Population Survey.
Tracing the Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Population of New Orleans: The Displaced New Orleans Residents Pilot Study — 2007
This paper describes the motivation for the pilot study, outlines its design, and describes the fieldwork results. The analysis focuses on the study's ability to locate and successfully interview displaced New Orleans residents and includes calculating a set of outcome rates and estimating a series of multivariate logistic models for outcome indicators.
From Flood Control to Integrated Water Resource Management: Lessons for the Gulf Coast from Flooding in Other Places in the Last Sixty Years — 2006
This study examines four cases of severe flooding in the past 60 years to determine how lessons from each were incorporated into future water management practices. Experience shows that communities recover fastest from major floods when all levels of government and the private sector work together to prepare coordinated response plans ahead of time.
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News ReleaseResearch Brief 
Energy and Environment Research Area
The Repopulation of New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina — 2006
This study, completed in January 2006, provides the most detailed estimates to date of the likely rate at which residents may return to New Orleans. It was prepared at the request of the Bring New Orleans Back Commission and is designed to help government officials plan the city's rebuilding.
Health
Lessons Learned from the State and Local Public Health Response to Hurricane Katrina — 2007
This study collects and synthesizes the public health lessons learned from the response to Hurricane Katrina in order to help determine what worked well and what did not. The authors focus their efforts on areas that they knew were tested by Hurricane Katrina and around which significant problems arose, including the coordination of the medical workforce, the coordination of medical supplies and equipment, communications, and caring for special needs populations.
How Schools Responded to Student Mental Health Needs Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — 2007
This fact sheet summarizes a study that examined how schools in the U.S. Gulf Coast region perceived the mental health needs of students after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and how schools responded.
How Schools Can Help Students Recover from Traumatic Experiences: A Tool Kit for Supporting Long-Term Recovery — 2006
Many changes in students' performance and behavior stem from their experience of, for example, witnessing violence, undergoing assault or abuse, living through natural disasters, or experiencing acts of terrorism. This guide shows how to provide school-based mental health programs for students exposed to violence, natural disasters and other traumatic events.
Expanding Coverage to the Uninsured of Louisiana — 2005
This report outlines policy options for the State of Louisiana to consider both in responding to needs raised by Katrina and in achieving its longtime goal of increasing access to high-quality, affordable healthcare. The report discusses policy options for the State of Louisiana in three areas: (1) employer mandates, (2) individual mandates and other options for increasing coverage of individuals, and (3) options targeted toward individuals returning to Louisiana or changing jobs within the area. For each topic, the brief discusses options for promoting or expanding insurance coverage and advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Health Information Technology (HIT) Adoption - Standards and Interoperability — 2005
This working paper presents options for developing a comprehensive regional health information technology network to support the State of Louisiana's identified goals of improving health care quality and access, reducing costs and making health care data follow patients no matter where they seek care.
The Level of State Involvement in the Reconstruction of the Municipal Healthcare System — 2005
This brief provides some design considerations for the State of Louisiana's future healthcare system in order to provide a target for the reconstruction efforts post-Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The paper provides a discussion of options for governing the decisionmaking process, consideration of the pros and cons of different policy levers available to the State and a summary of selected best practices that can inform operational decisions.
Planning the Safety of Healthcare Structures — 2005
As Louisiana rebuilds and repairs the hospitals damaged by Hurricane Katrina, there will be a statewide debate on possible engineering and construction standards to reduce the impacts from future disasters. To inform this decisionmaking, this brief reviews (1) decisionmaking and strategies to make hospitals more resilient to natural disasters, (2) hospital building codes in different states designed to reduce the impacts of seismic and wind hazards, and (3) engineering and planning solutions to mitigate the impact of catastrophic floods on hospital operations.
The Public Hospital System in Louisiana — 2005
This brief describes policy considerations associated with two key decisions regarding the public hospital system in New Orleans and the preferred arrangements needed to meet Louisiana's health care and medical education goals: (1) whether or not to rebuild Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans (MCLNO) as a public hospital that replicates the pre-Katrina model, and (2) what types of private and public-private arrangements might be pursued if the decision is made not to rebuild MCLNO as a publicly-owned center.
Recruitment and Retention of a High-Quality Healthcare Workforce — 2005
The population size and demographic composition of post-Katrina New Orleans is likely to be different from that of pre-Katrina New Orleans, making demand prediction the key first step in determining the optimal size and composition of the future healthcare workforce. This brief summarizes policy options to create and maintain a healthcare workforce, as well as options to bridge the transition from the current situation to the point at which the interventions will show an effect. It focuses on nurses as the largest professional group but the recommendations can be applied to other professions as well.
Housing and Infrastructure
Breakup of New Orleans Households after Hurricane Katrina — 2009
The breakup of households in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is investigated to examine the resilience of family and household structure to displacement-inducing natural disaster.
Timely Assistance: Evaluating the Speed of Road Home Grantmaking — 2008
This report assesses whether the Road Home (RH) program to disburse federal funds as grants to eligible homeowners after hurricanes Katrina and Rita has performed in a timely fashion. The study's main objective was to assess whether the program met the two goals of processing all applications in a timely manner and making sure that all applicants had access to a fair and swift resolution any errors, disputes and appeals.
Full DocumentNews ReleaseResearch Brief Transportation and Infrastructure Research Area
Tracing the Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Population of New Orleans: The Displaced New Orleans Residents Pilot Study — 2007
The study, fielded in the fall of 2006, examines the location, well-being, and plans of people who lived in the city of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005. The analysis focuses on the study's ability to locate and successfully interview displaced New Orleans residents. The results point to the challenges and opportunities of studying this unique population.
Post-Katrina Recovery of the Housing Market Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast — 2007
This report describes the state of the pre-Katrina housing markets in Mississippi's three coastal counties and the status of the recovery effort, and identifies problems that might inhibit that recovery.
Rebuilding Housing Along the Mississippi Coast: Ideas for Ensuring an Adequate Supply of Affordable Housing — 2006
This report says experience with past natural disasters shows that affordable housing is usually the last housing to be rebuilt, because in most cases owners of affordable housing have less money to pay for the work, and rental properties do not have access to the same funding sources as owner-occupied housing. This study provides an overview of the region's housing needs and suggests a series of policy options for state and local officials to consider.
Planning the Safety of Healthcare Structures — 2005
As Louisiana rebuilds and repairs the hospitals damaged by Hurricane Katrina, there will be a statewide debate on possible engineering and construction standards to reduce the impacts from future disasters. To inform this decisionmaking, this brief reviews (1) decisionmaking and strategies to make hospitals more resilient to natural disasters, (2) hospital building codes in different states designed to reduce the impacts of seismic and wind hazards, and (3) engineering and planning solutions to mitigate the impact of catastrophic floods on hospital operations.
Safety and Preparedness
Recruitment and Retention: Lessons for the New Orleans Police Department — 2007
Lessons for the New Orleans Police Department Since Hurricane Katrina, resignations from the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) have increased, and the department went more than a year without recruiting enough candidates to justify a police academy training course. This study presents practical recommendations for change that could help the NOPD improve recruiting and retention.
Hurricane Katrina: Lessons for Army Planning and Operations — 2007
The U.S. Army should change the way it plans for domestic emergencies — both natural disasters and terrorist attacks ‐ to better support state and local first responders.
Full DocumentNews ReleaseResearch BriefPublic Safety Research Area
Lessons Learned from the State and Local Public Health Response to Hurricane Katrina — 2007
This study collects and synthesizes the public health lessons learned from the response to Hurricane Katrina in order to help determine what worked well and what did not. The authors focus their efforts on areas that they knew were tested by Hurricane Katrina and around which significant problems arose, including the coordination of the medical workforce, the coordination of medical supplies and equipment, communications, and caring for special needs populations.