YOU DESERVE TO BE COUNTED
April 9, 2020
We celebrated Census Day on April 1st with a Facebook Live event in Spanish. A BIG THANK YOU to all of our Marin Census outreach partners for elevating the importance of an accurate count, especially in our historically undercounted communities. We have seen a daily increase in the self-response rate (SRR) of 2% a day since the invitations to participate went out by mail on March 12th. On April 1st we saw the increase of the SRR double to 4%, which means that even with the Coronavirus and the shelter in place ordinance, we were creative and powered up our get out the count (GOTC) efforts.
According to the California Census Office, this week Marin was in the top five counties with the largest increase in self-response rates in the last 4 days. Let’s keep that momentum going. If you have not completed your census questionnaire go online to my2020census.gov or call toll free in English at 844-330-2020 or in Spanish at 844-468-2020. For more language options by phone visit the responding by phone webpage on the Census Bureau website. This week another method to respond to the questionnaire will arrive in your mailbox if you have not already completed the census online or by phone.
On April 8th the Census Bureau began sending out paper questionnaires. You can go old school and fill out a paper census form in either English or Spanish and mail it back to the Census Bureau. For more information visit the respond by mail webpage on the Census Bureau website. Note that when the paper form is mailed to your home it is the only opportunity you will have to obtain a paper census form. The Census Bureau is not taking requests by phone for paper forms.
While the pandemic has delayed much of the Census Bureau field operations, they are still accepting applications for Census Taker jobs (also called Enumerators). Please visit the Census jobs webpage to learn more and apply. The job pays $25 an hour and has a flexible schedule. We NEED to hit our hiring number in Marin County to ensure we have enough Census Takers to ensure an accurate count especially in our hard-to-count census tracts like the Canal area.
The more we know about our population the better we can prepare for emergencies and natural disasters like COVID-19 and wild fires. We know that for every person missed in the 2020, the county loses $1000 per person per year. That is $10,000 per person over 10 years and can add up to a loss of millions of dollars in federal funding for Medi-cal, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Cal-Fresh), Medicare Part B, Section 8 Vouchers, Highways, State Children’s Health Insurance Program, School Lunch, Head Start and may other programs vital not only to the marginalized communities we serve and support but also for all Marin residents.
Our call to action is for you to participate in the 2020 Census and keep a safe social distance when you encourage your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers or people you know who may be reluctant to participate to RESPOND TO THE 2020 CENSUS. It just takes a few minutes to complete the ten-question survey in the safety of your home at my2020census.gov or by calling toll free in English at 844-330-2020 or in Spanish at 844-468-2020. For more information about the 2020 Census in Marin County check out our website.
