As Americans face a shortened deadline for completing the U.S. Census, Southland teens, community organizations and elected officials are working to boost response rates as they worry about increased risk of significant undercounting that would hurt communities in need.
After it temporarily suspended 2020 Census field data collection activities in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Census Bureau unveiled a plan in April to seek congressional authorization to end counting on Oct. 31. But last week the bureau announced it will end counting Sept. 30.
The changed deadline is a huge concern, said Robbins Mayor Tyrone Ward, who is president of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and president of the Southland Regional Mayoral Black Caucus. With the Illinois response rate at 68% as of last week and the national rate at 63.2%, “We are hardly where we want to be,” he said.
“We need every moment we can possibly get” particularly due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, said state Rep. Debbie Meyers-Martin, D-Olympia Fields. Even though there have been efforts and funding put into getting the word out, people have been distracted dealing with health concerns as well as worries about job losses and the loss of businesses, she said.
Billions of dollars are at stake. Each person not counted by the census translates into $1,400 to $1,800 in reduced funds in Illinois per person, per year for 10 years in the allocation of federal funds for schools, roads, health care, Head Start, school lunch programs and other family services, according to elected officials. The count also affects the drawing of congressional districts and the number of congressional representatives.
“It’s crucial that we not be undercounted,” said Meyers-Martin.
“It just does not make sense in this time of COVID-19 not to give people as much time as they possibly can,” said U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson.
Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has shrunk sales tax revenue and increased the expenses of state and local governments and other municipalities, it’s even more important the census count is accurate, Kelly and others stressed.
“The people that need the help the most will be most affected,” said Kelly.
African Americans and Hispanics have been historically undercounted. Factors include a distrust of how the government information will be handled, privacy concerns, distrust of strangers coming to one’s door, lack of access to the internet and lack of awareness of the importance of the census, elected officials said.
Many people are also unaware that the law protects the privacy of one’s answers to the census and prohibits the release of any identifiable information about individuals or their businesses to other government agencies, including immigration and law enforcement officials.
Shelia Edwards, coordinator with South Holland-based True Love Center, a nonprofit focused on hunger and homelessness, received a $25,000 census grant to focus on hard-to-count populations including veterans, the homeless and children.
“We need every month in 2020 to get people counted,” Edwards said, saying a shortened timeline leaves the areas they are targeting at higher risk of an undercount. “Cutting the date short is a catastrophe for Black and brown communities.”
Cook County 6th District Commissioner Donna Miller represents 36 municipalities in the south suburbs, including six designated as hard-to-count areas based off of 2010 census data. Among them are Chicago Heights, which according to Aug. 6 Census Bureau self-response data had a response rate of only 54.5%. Others include Sauk Village with a 59.1% rate, Dolton with a 63.1% rate and Richton Park with a 65.1% rate. They all lag the state rate of 68%, which also presently reflects a potentially highly costly undercount of 32%.
Miller says her office recently hosted a document shredding event in Sauk Village that had a census table where people could complete the form online. Her office also has participated in community events throughout the south suburbs to educate people on the importance and help them complete the census.
Kenneth Jones, community relations coordinator for Richton Park, noted the census was part of the focus of a drive-through food giveaway held Saturday in Richton Park. Census representatives were onhand to ask people waiting for food if they had completed the census, and used their tablets to help those who had not.
“We’re trying to get more creative with our outreach,” he said. “We are going to be going to apartment complexes, setting up tents and laptops in front of leasing offices, so we are able to engage residents coming in and out. We’re sending out fliers, doing robocalls, text messages. We have been doing a number of things trying to change the traditional way to fit with the COVID situation.”
Kelly says her office has held nearly a dozen census-related activities and more are planned.
The changed deadline “is making communities scramble,” said Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin. “We initially thought we had a little bit more time. … We have been reaching out to communities that are hard to reach that are not responding as quickly.”
Matteson has a response rate of 74.6%.
Every year, Matteson does a senior luncheon. Due to the pandemic, this year’s luncheon will be a drive-through event, where seniors will be able to pick up boxed lunches. A site will be setup nearby where they can complete the census, Chalmers-Currin said. Matteson is also working with homeowners associations, doing direct mailings and robocalls, she said.
Lynwood resident Daniel Miller, 16, and former South Holland resident Kenenna Odeluga, 17, have been helping to get the word out. They are part of the Dolton-based nonprofit My Community Plan Foundation’s NextGen initiative that focuses on youth involvement in community service.
Miller and Odeluga, who now lives in Munster, Indiana, worked with other NextGen teens to produce a commercial encouraging people to complete the census. The commercial features south suburban and other Chicago metropolitan area youth, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and Cook County 4th District Commissioner Stanley Moore.
It was made possible due to grant funding from Cook County, said the Rev. Mitchell Johnson, executive director of My Community Plan Foundation and assistant minister at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills.
The 30-second commercial is slated to air for two weeks beginning Aug. 17 on WGN during news segments and the “Black-ish” television show time slot, said Johnson. He said it is expected to reach more than 600,000 people. It was shot on the South Side of Chicago at YEP Nation, which provides training on how to create digital media.
“I believe especially in the south suburbs of Chicago not enough money is given to certain communities that need it the most, so I think it helps doing the commercial,” said Miller, who is Commissioner Miller’s son.
“This is very important especially given the news the census is concluding its data search a month earlier than expected,” said Odeluga. “There are a lot of communities in the south suburbs that have seen low (census response) rates and especially for African Americans. We wanted to drive the point home that the census will help benefit our communities, our neighborhoods. It is the building block of making our voices heard in this nation.”
If you’re looking for ways you can help, Miller advises encouraging family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to complete the census.
“If you are on a Zoom call, during down time ask everybody, ‘Did you fill out the Census?’ she said. “Ask everyone you talk to. Anyone can be a census advocate.”
The census can be mailed in or completed by telephone or online. For more information, visit 2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond.html. The site lists telephone numbers by preferred language for those who wish to respond by telephone. To complete in English by telephone, call 1-844-330-2020. To complete in Spanish, call 844-468-2020.
Francine Knowles is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.
