Count Me In: The 2020 Census Starts Soon
The U.S. Census Bureau has mailed out invitations to households across the country to complete a 10-question census form. The census is completed every 10 years and its data is used in a variety of ways, from determining how many members of Congress a state will get to how billions of dollars of federal funds will be spent. The Ellenville Central School District is encouraging all residents to participate in this national headcount, which directly benefits funding available to the school district and local community.
Funding Distribution
Decisions on how more than $675 billion in federal funds, grants, and support to states, counties, and communities are based on census data. That money is spent on schools, hospitals, housing, public assistance, roads, public works, and other vital programs that benefit our community.
Responses are Safe and Confidential
Your responses are safe, secure, and protected by law. Your answers can only be used to produce statistics—they cannot be used against you in any way. By law, all responses to U.S. Census Bureau surveys are kept completely confidential.
What Does the Census Ask?
The 2020 Census will ask questions about each individual living in a household, such as their sex, age, date of birth, race, and other basic information. The person filling out the form will have to answer a few additional questions, such as his or her telephone number and whether the home is owned or rented.
Children Count Too!
Less than 2 percent of Ellenville children under the age of 5 were counted in the 2010 Census. Remember, the census counts everyone where they live and sleep most of the time, even if the living arrangement is temporary or the parents of the child do not live there. Parents should also include babies on census forms, even newborns who are still in the hospital.
How to Respond
You will have the option of responding to the 2020 Census online, by mail, or by phone. It should only take about 10 minutes to complete the form. Households that don’t respond in one of these ways will be visited by a census taker to collect the information in person.
The deadline to respond to the census is July 31.