GIS Mapping displays data geographically. Major news publications have used it to map poverty in America, demonstrate the impact of food stamp cuts, and display election results. Maps can also be a key tool for legal aid organizations, to help you learn more about the clients you serve and the program services you deliver. LSNTAP and LSC will host a three-part series on GIS mapping that explains what it is, provides examples from the field, and demonstrates ways to map with free software. The first webinar will cover the basics of GIS mapping, and provide examples from legal aid organizations that are using maps for planning, communications, and program evaluation. Time: 1 PM Eastern, Noon Central 11 AM Mountain 10 AM Pacific Location: join.me/NTAPtraining Speakers: Bill Kennedy from Legal Services of Northern California Dave Sobie from Legal Aid of North Carolina Jonathan Pyle Philadelphia Legal Assistance Mara Pellittieri LSC Christina Sanabria LSC

1. Intro to GIS Mapping
April 23, 2014

2. • Why mapping data is effective
– Bill Kennedy, Legal Services of Northern California
• The basics of GIS
– Christina Sanabria, Legal Services Corporation
Agenda
Why GIS, and what is it?

3. Agenda
How can mapping help my organization?
Examples of GIS in legal aid organizations:
• Advocacy
– Bill Kennedy, Legal Services of Northern California
• Planning
– Dave Sobie, Legal Aid of North Carolina
• Assessment
– Jonathan Pyle, Philadelphia Legal Assistance

4. • Experiment with a few free tools
– Christina Sanabria, Legal Services Corporation
• Join us for a two-part tutorial
– May 14 and 21 trainings on Google Fusion Tables
Agenda
How can I get started?

5. Why Mapping?
The Cognitive Science of Mapping and
Graphic Presentations of Data
Bill Kennedy,
Legal Services of Northern California

6. Spatial Memory and the Brain

7. Spatial Memory and the Brain
• Hippocampus is the
center of “spatial
memory.”
• Showing data in a map
gives advocates
opportunity to bypass
other memory centers
(amygdala, entorhinal
cortex).
• “Re-orient” the viewer
and build new memories
using different parts of
the brain.

8. Images can be more accessible than numbers

9. The same data, now on a map

10. It has been done for a long time
W.E.B. du Bois’ map of Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward, 1899

11. GIS Basics
Christina Sanabria,
Legal Services Corporation

12. GIS Map = a Database with Spatial Info
File containing attributes
about geographies
• How much/ many
• What kind
• When
File with your data that can be mapped
File containing spatial data
Resource: http://www.census.gov/cgi-
bin/geo/shapefiles2010/mainJoined

13. Nodes (points)
2012 LSC grantee
offices
Arcs (lines)
NYC subway lines
Polygons (shapes)
Percent change in DC
population 2000-2010,
by Ward
Data: Three Geographic Representations

14. Nodes (points)
• Input: address converted to latitude and longitude
coordinates
• Ways to use
– Color and/or shape can show type/category
– Proximity can show concentration
– Color and/or size can show magnitude

15. • Input:
– Reference pre-existing geographies (e.g. counties)
– Create your own geographies (advanced)
• Ways to use
– Color can show type/category or quantity
– Styling (e.g. cross-hatching) can show type/cat.
Polygons (shapes)

16. Layer multiple
datasets to show a
fuller picture
Data Can be Layered

17. Mapping in Advocacy
Bill Kennedy,
Legal Services of Northern California
Avondale Glen Elder Neighborhood Association

18. Environmental Justice
• In December 2008, staff from Sacramento
Natural Gas Storage Company contacted clients
in a historically African American community two
weeks before Christmas offering $500 cash and
a $200 gasoline credit card for the mineral rights
beneath their homes.
• Their plan was to pump 7.5 billion cubic feet of
natural gas into bedrock beneath the homes.

22. Maps in Less Than an Hour

23. Advocating against proposed closure of mental health centers

24. Potential burden on patients traveling to health centers

25. Takeaways
• Maps are processed differently by the brain than
written/spoken material.
• Maps don’t have to be “pretty” or take a long
time to be meaningful.

26. Office Location Assessment
Dave Sobie,
Legal Aid of North Carolina
Mapping for Planning

27. Do we need an additional legal aid office in this area?

28. Why map the data?
• It would help answer a specific question (“Do we
need an additional legal aid office?”)
• We wanted to see spatial relationships within
this area. Where are the concentrated areas of
poverty? For adults? Children? Seniors? Etc.
• Mapping the data may raise additional questions
for further inquiry.

29. Poverty in the Focus Area

30. Poverty and Clients Served in the Focus Area

31. Extreme Poverty (income <50% of FPL) in the Focus Area

32. Poverty and Clients in Richmond County

33. Poverty and Clients in Richmond County

34. Results
• LANC established an office in Rockingham.
• Increased number of clients from this area.
• Local judges got involved and allowed LANC to
do domestic violence work in neighboring
county.
• Reduced travel time for clients.

35. Map project advice
• Create more maps than you need.
• Search web for map examples and great ideas.
• Check out local county/city GIS departments
• Avoid trying to put too much information/data
into your maps.
• Create a workflow – it will save you time.
• Experiment!!

36. Reaching Asian Populations in
Philadelphia
Jonathan Pyle,
Philadelphia Legal Assistance
Mapping for Assessment

37. Reaching Populations in Philadelphia
Ratio of intakes to pop. in poverty, by race:
Category: Intakes People Ratio
Black: 5,714 201,633 0.028
White: 1,764 82,912 0.021
Hispanic: 966 74,399 0.013
Asian: 206 25,430 0.008
Sources:
Intakes: Philadelphia Legal Assistance in 2013
Poverty: Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2012 5-year
estimates

38. Locations of Asian social service organizations
Chinatown
Social service agencies

39.  Relatively large number of households
 Relatively small number of households
Social service agencies
Number of linguistically isolated households (Asian languages)

40.  Relatively large number of households
 Relatively small number of households
Social service agencies
Number of intakes

41. Social service agencies
 Relatively large ratio
 Relatively small ratio
Chinatown
Ratio of intakes to linguistically isolated households

42.  Relatively large ratio
 Relatively small ratio
Drilling down: studying potential outreach targets

43.  Relatively large ratio
 Relatively small ratio
Drilling down: studying potential outreach targets

44. Potential outreach partners

45. Suggested Resources
• U.S. Census Bureau American FactFinder web
application:
– http://factfinder2.census.gov
• LegalStat web application (PLA’s TIG project):
– http://legalstat.philalegal.org

46. A Few Free Mapping Tools
• Google Fusion Tables
• Google Maps Engine Lite
• Tableau Public
• QGIS
• ArcGIS (reduced price through TechSoup)
See LRI for more information about each of these tools.

47. Thanks for Joining Us
• Join us for parts two and three of the series
– May 14, 1 PM ET
– May 21, 1 PM ET
• Contact us for additional information
– Brian Rowe, brianr@nwjustice.org
– Christina Sanabria, sanabriac@lsc.gov
– Dave Sobie, DavidS2@legalaidnc.org
– Jonathan Pyle, jpyle@philalegal.org