Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau does a population count to determine where people live.

 

The final numbers determine where funds are distributed and how each jurisdiction is represented by legislators.

 

It is estimated $675 billion will be distributed annually based on the census, and population is the determining factor when allotting congressional seats.

 

Tuesday, Jim Accurso, partnership specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau, gave the Sherburne County Board an overview of the process for taking the 2020 census. He works with county and municipal governments to present the Community Partnership Engagement Program (CPEP).

 

Accurso said they redesigned the 2020 census because of a number of challenges, like a increasingly diverse population, informal or complex living arrangements, a mobile population and the rapidly changing use of technology.

 

“We have folks who don’t rely on land line phones as they used to,” said Accurso. “We have more people of different cultures we have to reach out to. People are inundated with more and more messaging, and we have to play in those arenas with them.”

 

Once the bureau establishes where to count, they work with local governments and establish the address databases where they will send out  mailers prior to April 1. Any home in the county that has a U.S. Postal-style address will get a mailer in March. 

 

As part of the redesign for the 2020 Census, Accurso said the goal this year is that everyone either goes online or picks up a telephone and responds to the census.

 

“In the past everyone got a paper questionnaire. Now only five percent are going to get a paper questionnaire,” he said. “We want everyone that can go online or respond by phone.”

 

The goal of the partnership program is to work with local partners to engage, educate and encourage participation in the census. The U.S. Census Bureau’s partners include tribal governments, state, county and municipal governments, community organizations, faith-based institutions, schools, businesses, media and philanthropy. 

 

Partnership staff is reaching out to the partners to form Complete Count Committees (CCC) an awareness campaign to let people know why they should participate in the census. 

 

Census Bureau staff will train CCC members to determine specific audiences that have to be reached. Accurso said some hard-to-count demographic include children under five years old, college student, farm workers, homeless, immigrants, language constrained, millennials, minorities, people living in poverty, disabled, refugees, renters, snowbirds, senior citizens, veterans and young adults.

 

The count will include students in dorms, seniors in extended care facilities, prisons and jails.

 

“We also have an operation to count homeless,” he said.

 

“For those who don’t respond, we’ll have census takers either knocking on their doors or trying to reach them for phone,” said Accurso.

 

The Bureau is looking to hire 7,000 census takers in Minnesota for the 2020 census. Instead of a paper test like in the past, candidates can go online at 2020census.gov/jobs, fill out an application and take a 30-minute test.

 

Accurso said community partnership is vital to making the census work.

 

“Our ultimate goal is to count everybody once and only once,” he said.