In 2030, the US will conduct its 25th decennial census count.
Counting everyone in the country is a massive and difficult endeavor that takes coordination between the Census Bureau, state and local governments, and trusted community-based organizations to get it right.
The stakes are high for many reasons. The Census provides data used every day by businesses, researchers, and media—it’s how we know about who we are. Census data guides decisions about where to build schools or make transportation investments, and a wide range of other plans that we have for the future. The survey is also called the foundation of our democracy because the population count is the basis for distributing the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.
In the lead-up to the 2020 Census, I was part of a team at the Fiscal Policy Institute that estimated the amount of funding that would be needed for community-based organizations to adequately assist in making sure households are fully counted. Our report, “,” concluded that across the state at least $40 million was needed to support community groups in their outreach efforts.
The good news is the New York Counts 2020 coalition’s advocacy paid off. The state government allocated $30 million, and other local governments put in funds as well, including New York City government adding $20 million to fund community groups. The financial support helped groups do the targeted outreach necessary to prevent an undercount and get us closer to the goal of counting everyone.
The next census count is just four years away, and community-based organizations in every region of New York are already looking ahead to the role that they will play to help. That’s why we’re working on revisiting the research from 2018 and surveying CBO’s again to ask what their needs are for the 2030 census.
Our work starts with a survey, getting an up-close sense of how much community groups need to do the work. The outreach plans and funding needs of community-based organizations are critical to understand so that we can calculate the investments needed to get a full and accurate count in an extremely challenging environment. At IRI, we are energized as we are starting to get their perspectives on what is needed to fulfill the goal of counting everyone- from renters, immigrants, to toddlers. Everyone counts.
If you work at a community-based group in New York State, help us by filling out our short survey here.