For the first time in U.S. history, citizens can respond to the census online, by phone or mail.
The Bureau is delaying the original tracking deadline of April 1 to count everyone in the U.S. in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
“In light of the COVID-19 pandemic The Census Bureau is suspending 2020 field operations for two additional weeks to April 15, 2020,” Karen Vehahn of Census Field Operations said in a press release on The United States Census Bureau website.
Each year, the federal government distributes over $675 billion in federal funding to states and communities based on the accuracy of persons counted for in the Census Bureau data. The U.S. Constitution requires the government to track the American population each decade.
The United States Census Bureau website at www.census.gov said “only 16.7% of households responded to the 2020 Census.”
“While the census helps inform public funding, it does not result in direct allocation to Citrus based on census figures,” Vice President, Finance & Administration Services of Citrus College Claudette Dain said.
Dain also said the largest indirect federal funding source that may be impacted by the census is the amount of federal financial aid that is available to students.
Patrick Murphy from The Public Policy Institute of California presents estimated numbers in an article, “Census-related funding in California.”
The article said numbers for the most recent year available in California’s federal funding ties due to the census showing $77 billion in census-related funding in 2015. These numbers draw on the population calculated from the census.
Statistics from the 2020 U.S. Census will impact funding for a list of critical college student programs including school safety, mental health services, student wellness programs, the Federal Pell Grant Program, adult education grants, agriculture, science and engineering education and Medicaid.
The United States Census Bureau website said college students were among the hardest to survey during census time.
Unlike students who live in dorms, where colleges already count students in the census, Citrus students live off-campus which makes them a “hard-to-count” community.
An official website of the United States Government, www.challenge.gov is offering a unique opportunity to share the importance of the 2020 Census.
This year the census hosts a “Get out the count video challenge,” on challenge.gov.
The challenge is the first of its kind. The website says the goal of the challenge is to promote awareness for the census by creating catchy content to reach many Americans.
To incentivize the challenge The Census Bureau created a cash prize system. The grand prize is $30,000, runner-up is $10,000 and a $10,000 cash prize for students.
“This open call for content is designed to help educate and motivate individuals to understand why it is critical to complete the 2020 Census; from getting the funding their community needs to representation in congress,” The United States Census Bureau website said.
The challenge is open to any citizen. Rules, eligibility, guidelines and judging criteria are found on challenge.gov.
The deadline to submit for the challenge is April 17. For more information or questions about the challenge contact the challenge manager via email at census.accelerate@census.gov.
