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Direct staff to form a 2020 Census Complete Count Committee to assist with the public outreach for the upcoming 2020 Census and to encourage public participation in responding to the census, and to provide direction on the makeup and formation of the committee
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Resource Management recommends that the Board of Supervisors direct staff to form a 2020 Census Complete Count Committee (CCC) to assist with the public outreach for the upcoming 2020 Census and to encourage public participation in responding to the census, and to provide direction on the makeup and formation of the committee.
SUMMARY:
The U.S. Census Bureau is requesting local agency assistance and the formation of local CCCs to help market the 2020 Census and encourage participation in hard to reach communities. Staff is requesting Board support to form a CCC and to encourage city staff participation on the CCC.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
County staff support for this initial census related work, including the cost of preparing this Board item, is borne by the long-range planning budget. Should more extensive staff hours be necessary, it is anticipated that the County will apply for grant funds as described below.
DISCUSSION:
Background
The U.S. Constitution mandates that a headcount occur every ten years, of everyone residing in: the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas of the United States. It includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups, citizens, and noncitizens. The next census occurs in 2020. The goal of the 2020 Census is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place. The population totals from this census will determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives. The totals are also used to redraw states’ legislative districts. The US Census Bureau is required to submit state population totals to the President of the U.S. by December 31, 2020. The totals also affect funding, and data collected in the census help inform decision makers how their community is changing. Approximately $675 billion in federal funding is distributed to states and communities each year based on census data. The Census Bureau further states that approximately $20,000 is lost by states and local governments for every person not counted in the census.
In addition to determining seats in the House, census data is used by the federal government to allocate funds in many areas:
- Title I grant funding to educational agencies (school districts)
- Head Start programs
- Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program
- Public transportation
- Road rehabilitation and construction
- Programs for the elderly
- Emergency food and shelter
In 2020, new technology will be used to make it easier to respond to the census. For the first time, people will be able to respond online, by phone, or by mail. The Census Bureau also states that it will be automating its field operations.
2020 Census Timeline and Key Dates
The following represents the operational timeline for the 2020 Census activity:
November 2017: Local Update of Census Addresses begins (Solano County completed this in March 2018)
October 2018: Partnership specialists begin working for Census Bureau
Jan.-March 2019: Open 40 new census field offices
May 2019: Complete County Committee established
June-Sept. 2019: Open 208 census offices
August 2019: Conduct in-field address canvassing
Jan. 2020: Advertising begins
March 2020: Self-response begins
April 1, 2020: Census Day
May 2020: Non-response follow-up begins
Dec. 31, 2020: Apportionment counts to the President
March 31, 2021: Redistricting counts to the States
State Complete County Commission (SCCC) and Complete Count Committees (CCC)
California’s Complete Count effort is a statewide outreach and awareness campaign designed to encourage and support full participation by all Californians in the upcoming 2020 Census. The state is devoting significant resources to the campaign because California, with its very diverse populations that risk being undercounted, faces the greatest barriers in the nation to ensure an accurate count and therefore receiving its fair share of federal funding and Congressional representation. The state seeks to reach the more than 13.5 million total households to raise awareness of the 2020 Census and motivate the hardest to count residents to respond.
The state is focusing its communication and outreach efforts on the area of greatest need: communities historically undercounted in the Census. These populations, called “hard to count” (HTC), are least likely to respond to the Census questionnaire without specialized outreach and assistance. The state’s goal is to meet or exceed the U.S. Census Bureau’s nationwide target to achieve a 60.5% self-response rate from people in all communities.
HTC census tracts are defined by the U.S. Census Bureau based on a range of housing, demographic, and socioeconomic variables that correlate with undercounts. They include population density, and percentage of:
- Immigrants and foreign born
- Linguistically isolated people
- Persons who are not high school graduates
- Person who are unemployed
- Number of vacant housing units in an area
- Specific ethnic and minority populations
- Renters and children
- Densely populated communities with multi-unit housing, public assistance characteristics
- Native Americans living on tribal lands.
To this end, the Census Bureau is seeking assistance from individuals, groups, and organizations that can help build awareness of and participation in the census. The Census Bureau is promoting the formation of State Complete County Commissions (SCCC) and local Complete County Committees (CCC). The SCCC provides high-level oversight for a state’s participation in the 2020 Census. Further, the SCCC identifies and secures funding necessary to carry out the goal of getting an accurate count. They also work to encourage local governments to form CCCs. A SCCC membership may include: a governor, majority/minority leaders in the state house, heads of major counties, mayor of large cities, heads of major community/business organizations, or faith based/education/health care/media communities.
Local CCCs are formed at the local government level, usually by the legislative body or highest elected official. Membership can vary, depending on how the agency chooses to set up its CCC. Members can represent a cross section of the community and may include the areas of government, education, media, business, religion, and community groups. The size and number of members depend greatly on what works best for each jurisdiction.
It is anticipated that a CCC in Solano County should include at least one representative from each of its city agencies, since many of the hard to reach communities are likely to be located within the cities. These representatives will likely have good knowledge of community groups and organizations that can assist in outreach efforts. Other representatives may include staff from the County’s Health and Social Services Department and Public Information Officer who can assist with marketing and communication to clients who may fall into the HTR community.
Any additional direction from the Board on the makeup of a CCC and/or nature of outreach efforts is certainly helpful.
Budget
The state has budgeted $90.3 million to be allocated for statewide outreach and media campaigns, in an effort to reach the HTC areas and communities. Approximately $26 million is anticipated to be allocated specifically to counties. As of the drafting of this staff report, it is unknown exactly how the funds will be allocated to counties. It is anticipated any formula will be based on total County population and on the percentage of communities with known hard to count populations. The allocation methodology is expected to be released on November 9, 2018, with instructions on how to apply for grant funding to be developed in the following weeks. Once the grant application process is released, staff will return to the Board and seek direction to apply for the applicable funds, likely with a resolution.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose not to participate in forming a CCC. This is not recommended because obtaining an accurate count for the Census helps to ensure proper funding is directed to the State and to local communities and ensures accurate congressional representation.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The entire 2020 Census effort is led by the U.S. Census Bureau. Due to the importance of getting an accurate count, the State of California Government Operations Agency (GovOps) is providing state support and funding to local agencies and community groups. Since many of the HTC communities are located within the cities, it is anticipated that city staff will need to provide representation on a CCC.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION