YOU COUNT! what census res by Suzanne Hanney
April 1 is coming and the State of Illinois is no fool about census day. Illinois is predicted to lose one seat in the House of Representatives due to population loss -- and officials don't want to lose a second congressperson because they can't count everyone who lives here.
“Trust has probably always been an issue and is perhaps more so now with police interaction and so many immigrants,” Wilkerson said. “People are scared that if there are more people living there than on the lease, we will turn it over to the landlord or send it to the courts.”
In addition, billions of dollars in federal funds over the next decade are pegged to the population count. In FY2016 alone, Illinois received $34.33 billion through 55 federal programs guided by census data: for schools, school lunches, roads, parks, Pell Grants, public transportation, hospitals, social programs and more, according to "Based on Counting for Dollars 2020" from George Washington Univesity. Failure to count everyone means the state will have less money to take care of them.
However, the Census Bureau is legally prohibited from sharing personal information with the CIA, the FBI, Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “The last time one of them asked, it went all the way to the Supreme Court, which said no,” she said.
“The governor and the legislature know it’s important,” Wilkerson said. “It’s expected Illinois will lose one seat and we don’t want to lose two. We think we are the most proactive state: California, here, maybe Ohio. California started three years ago. We have a new governor and got started when he got here.” Working with Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies, the state census office used variables commonly associated with low response (including age, housing, income and lack of internet access) to create an Illinois HardTo-Count Index (IL HTC Index). Wilkerson itemized some of these hard to count people: • Racial and ethnic minorities such as African Americans and Latinx • Children, from newborns to age 5 • Foreign-born individuals • People with limited English skills • Undocumented immigrants • People living at or below poverty • Adults over age 85 • Young and mobile college students • People who lack high speed internet access, since the 2020 census will be the first to be done online
“We know it takes several touches to go from education to activity,” Wilkerson said. “We hope people will see a flyer, a billboard, social media, go to an event, or their pastor will talk in church and they will get engaged.” Gearing up toward the April 1 “snapshot” of the U.S. population, invitations were mailed March 12 to 20 that urged people to complete the census online, followed by reminder postcards between March 16 and April 3, Wilkerson said. Reminder letters will go out April 8 to 16, then a paper questionnaire, and a final reminder April 20-27. In May, U.S. Census Bureau workers will make another attempt. If unsuccessful, they will attempt to get information from a proxy, such as a neighbor. “The point is to increase the self-response rate because it is most accurate,” Wilkerson said. “Your neighbor doesn’t know if your niece moved in March 28 or your boyfriend moved out. The best responder is the head of the household.”
Examples of social media posts from Cook County's Census advertising campaign.
In an effort to avoid that situation, Gov. J.B. Pritzker obtained $29 million from the Illinois General Assembly through the bipartisan FY20 budget for a statewide census outreach and education effort housed in the Illinois Department of Human Services. Although California has spent more overall, the $29 million census appropriation is the highest per capita in the nation, said Marishonta Wilkerson, statewide census director.
The $29 million education and outreach campaign will operate in a hub-and-spoke fashion. “Regional Intermediaries” (RIs) have subcontracted with smaller agencies -- “trusted messengers” as the state calls them -- that reach out to their communities and get them to self-report on the census or help them to complete it online between March 12 and April 30. (see page 10)
