Local Groups Get $4 Million to Promote Census Participation

Census mobilization efforts get underway uptown.

Share

By Hasham Nusrat

New York City community organizations are gearing up to mobilize uptown residents for the 2020 census. Because of the large immigrant population, local leaders want to ensure that New Yorkers are accurately represented.

“Census data is very important, especially in communities of color,” said City Councilman Bill Perkins, in an email. “The information is used to figure out which communities have enough people who speak languages other than English to require services in other languages.”

Data analysis from the 2010 census revealed that New York City’s population was undercounted. Now community leaders are concerned about participation, particularly among immigrant populations. To encourage a more accurate count, the City Council announced in August that it would distribute $4 million among 17 community organizations that service hard to count communities.

“Many people have remained in the dark out of fear of being counted during the census,” said City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, in an email.  “We are making a great effort this year to make sure that all New Yorkers are counted and kept safe in the process.”

Rodriguez said the Trump administration’s failed attempt to add a citizenship question to the census could still impact people’s decision to be included. “We would like to see a more diverse group of people engaged in the census outreach, “he said. “This is to ensure that all New Yorkers feel comfortable participating.”

“Census data also influences the allocation of more than $800 billion in federal government resources to states, localities, and families every year,” said Perkins, in an email. “This helps state and local officials (like myself), community leaders and nonprofit organizations identify current and future needs for the communities they serve, such as for health care, education, housing, and transportation.”

United Neighborhood Houses, which focuses on policy and social change, is one of the community groups receiving funding.“UNH will hold Census 101 trainings with staff that serve the upper Manhattan communities,” said Lena Cohen, a policy analyst, in an email.

She explained that trainings will take place in neighborhood social service organizations that local residents frequent. There, United Neighborhood Houses will help “educate community members about the importance of the census and encourage them to fill out the census,” she said.

Kenneth Prewitt, a Columbia social affairs professor and former director of the United States Census Bureau, said the census influences representation in the House of Representatives.

“The only way we know that New York gets more seats than Wisconsin is that we know that there are more people who live in New York than live in Wisconsin,” he said.

Izzy Peskowitz, director of community development for CHAZAQ, a non-profit Jewish organization that’s also receiving census funding, said he thinks people are aware of the crucial data the census provides. “There’s a substantial Jewish population uptown,” he said, in an email. “As a long-established and prosperous community, they hopefully understand the importance of all New Yorkers being counted in the upcoming census.”

Other organizations receiving funding for the census mobilization efforts include the Asian American Federation, the Chinese American Planning Council, the Hester Street Collaborative, the Hispanic Federation and the New York Immigration Coalition, but none could be reached for comment.

Conducting a census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. The next one, scheduled for April 1, 2020, will be the nation’s 24th census since its first population count in 1790.

“This is the first time there has been such an investment in getting the count right,” said Perkins. “My motto is, ‘If you are not counted… you don’t count.’”

(Photo by Bloomberg/ Contributor, Getty Images)

, , , , , , , ,

Leave a Reply

* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *

56,103 Spam Comments Blocked so far by Spam Free Wordpress