Title:
Establishment of the Mecklenburg County 2020 Census Complete Count Committee
Summary
ACTION:
Adopt a resolution establishing the Mecklenburg County 2020 Census Complete Count Committee
Staff Contact: Deborah Goldberg, County Manager's Office
Presentation: Yes (Verbal)
BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION:
The 2020 decennial census will officially begin one year from April, 2019. Getting an accurate count of people living in Mecklenburg County is imperative because census results are used in many ways that affect our daily lives and work from political representation to distribution of government resources such as Medicaid funds and Section 8 housing vouchers. Yet only 75 percent of people living in Mecklenburg County participated in the 2010 Census. The most common reasons reported for why people do not participate in the census or do not accurately report their information include
· fear and misinformation about privacy and confidentiality;
· language barriers;
· not understanding the purpose of the census and who should be counted; and
· instability in living arrangements.
The 2020 census will be online, so we anticipate that lack of internet access or lack of internet proficiency will be an additional barrier for some people. Also, the addition of a citizenship question is likely to be another complicating factor.
To address these barriers and increase participation, the U.S. Census Bureau is asking states and local governments to establish Complete Count Committees (CCC). The goal of a CCC is to increase participation of those individuals who are less likely to respond or who are often missed by the decennial census, such as young children, homeless individuals, residents with unstable housing, immigrants, non-English speakers, renters, and college students. We are forming a committee that includes individuals from local government, the business and education community, and other community leaders from across the county. They will develop an outre...
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