CENSUS 2020 IS UNDERWAY
Census 2020 Is Underway
April 1 marked Census Day and weeks later, residents have received notices to fill out their Census forms.
Leaders from the city of Chicago’s Complete Count Committee say filling out the Census and being counted is very important as millions of dollars are at stake.
Andrea Zopp is the president and CEO of World Business Chicago. Zopp is one of the co-chairs of the Complete Count Committee. Zopp said the Census is important because it is used as the basis of federal dollars, federal government seats, including how congressional seats are allocated.
The Census is also important Zopp added, because it is used as the basis of how “dollars are spent on things that matter to our communities, like schools and hospitals and roadways and public works. And, how much of that funding that we get back from our tax dollars from the federal government, is dependent on the count and making sure that all of our residents get counted.”
Zopp said in 2010, the response rate was 65 percent, which for a big urban city, was in the middle. And, from the perspective of the committee,
was not adequate.
“So, this year, across the city, the county and the state, there’s been a very concerted effort to increase the count,” she said. “All of those entities, government entities, the city, the county and the state, committed funding to support the effort.”
Zopp said a lot of the efforts to get people counted have been altered due to COVID-19 and the stay-at-home order. “A lot of that has been curtailed because of the coronavirus. And so, we’ve got a lot of virtual contacts calling, increasing social media and also engaging what we’re calling trusted advisors – church leaders, community leaders, popular residents in the community whose voices are recognized,” she said.
Zopp said it is important that everyone in the house is counted.
“So, when you go online to fill out the census, it will ask you how many people are in your house, living in your house, they don’t have to be just family members,” she said.
Ric Estrada, president and CEO of Metropolitan Family Services, said African American and Latino communities are historically undercounted.
“We also undercount our children for some reason, I think maybe parents believe they’re
just babies and that don’t matter in a count, they clearly matter,” he said. “Every single person in the residence matters,” he added.
“Whether it’s headstart or child protection or domestic violence programs, all these things matter. And then, infrastructure matters, roads and bridges and public transportation,” he said. For more information, visit 2020census.gov
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