There has been a huge increase in the investments states are making into getting an accurate census count. States are worried that not enough funds were invested in the Census Bureau during the planning stages. Additionally, changes such as the census being online and the potential citizenship question have raised concerns. California has invested in census outreach the earliest and with the most funds.
Projected State Investments in the Census
In addition to the $100.3M already approved, California is proposing to spend another $54M on its census outreach. While some states have set aside funds for census outreach, most are in the planning phase and have yet to publicize their strategies. For example, New York State will devote $20 Million towards its efforts, but as of June 21, 2019 has not developed a issued a request for proposal.
The chart below is from a Roll Call article posted on May 9, 2019. (Illinois' total is a combination of the two pending bills at the time of publishing that were reconciled into a final amount. Other state totals may reflect a similar circumstance, and could be overprojected.)
States to spend big on census prep
Anticipating a drop in federal funding, states have proposed and enacted millions of dollars to prepare for the 2020 census.
California
California
Illinois
New York
Washington
Indiana
New Jersey
Colorado
Arizona
Maryland
Georgia
New Mexico
North Carolina
North Dakota
Wisconsin
Michigan
Minnesota
Alaska
Alabama
Oregon
Virginia
$100.3 M
84.5
20.0
15.5
13.0
9.0
6.0
5.5
5.0
3.8
3.5
1.5
1.0
1.0
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.1
This is excerpted from California's Regional Administrative Community-Based Organization Outreach Request for Proposal, which was issued on December 14, 2018. California has now invested over $100M, and has another $54M in the Governor Newsom's proposed budget.
In support of a complete count, the California Legislature has appropriated $90.3 million to fund activities related to the 2020 Census. The California Complete Count-Census 2020 (CCC) Office, which is spearheading California's census outreach strategy, is making $30 million available to participating ACBOs, which are large community-based organizations (CBOs) with the administrative capacity and experience to conduct robust outreach throughout an entire region. California's communication and outreach strategy for the 2020 Census will focus on both geographic areas and demographic populations who are "least likely to respond". These areas and populations are commonly referred to as "hard-to-count (HTC)" areas.
The CCC Office will be funding two separate RFPs, for an estimated combined total of $27 million to be invested in community-based outreach efforts.
- $22,950,000 available for award across 10 distinct geographic regions. Each of the 10 regions has been allocated a specific dollar investment based on data/location of HTC populations.
- $4,050,000 for outreach to be conducted on a statewide level to multiple qualifying ACBOs that will focus outreach efforts on populations that the State has identified as HTC/least likely to respond.
- Depending on shifts in the State's goals or objectives, funding available in the resulting contract may increase each year.
Funded Census Efforts in Illinois
Approximately $3.1M of public and private funds has been granted to nonprofit organization to conduct census outreach activities to increase the self-response rates in Illinois. This has been done through two main efforts by the Illinois Secretary of State, and Forefront's IL Count Me In 2020 Funders' Collaborative. This chart does not reflect private foundation funding that may have been granted directly to these or other nonprofit organizations in Illinois.
Forefront was interested in funding collaborative efforts focused on increasing the self-response rates of hard to count communities throughout the state. Funded organizations were ones who had experience in community outreach and mobilization, deep relationships in their communities, an overall vision of connecting census work to creating a stronger democracy, and a strong organizational capacity. AS a part of its awarding process, Forefront also wanted to ensure that the funds were distributed equitably across geographic regions, as well as across the various hard to count populations. It used IDHS's 5 regions, adding a sixth region by separating Chicago from the rest of Cook County.
Organizations |
Forefront |
SOS |
Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago |
|
40,000 |
Arab American Family Services |
Yes |
109,227 |
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago |
Yes |
|
Brighton Park Neighborhood Council |
Yes |
|
CHANGE Illinois |
Yes |
|
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless |
Yes |
|
Chicago Urban League |
Yes |
189,743 |
City of Aurora |
|
87,575 |
City of North Chicago |
|
71,410 |
City of Quincy |
|
74,000 |
Claretian Associates |
Yes |
|
Common Cause Education Fund |
Yes |
|
Communities United |
Yes |
|
Enlace Chicago |
Yes |
|
Erie Neighborhood House |
|
100,000 |
Faith Coalition for the Common Good, Inc |
Yes |
|
First Ladies Health Alliance NFP |
Yes |
|
Gail Borden Public Library Foundation |
Yes |
148,490 |
Greater Chicago Food Depository |
|
55,376 |
Howard Brown Health |
Yes |
|
Illinois Action for Children |
Yes |
|
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights |
Yes |
|
Illinois Migrant Council |
Yes |
|
Illinois Partners for Human Service |
Yes |
|
Latino Policy Forum |
Yes |
|
Latinos Progresando |
|
30,000 |
Literacy Works |
|
15,000 |
Logan Square Neighborhood Association |
Yes |
|
Mano a Mano Family Resource Center |
Yes |
|
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus |
|
71,497 |
Mujeres Latinas en Accion |
|
34,204 |
Muslim Civic Coalition |
Yes |
92,362 |
NAACP CHICAGO WESTSIDE BRANCH |
Yes |
|
NAACP--Carbondale Branch |
|
139,760 |
ONE Northside |
Yes |
|
PASO West Suburban Action Project |
Yes |
|
Sinai Health System |
Yes |
|
Southern Illinois Community Foundation |
Yes |
|
Southwest Organizing Project |
Yes |
|
Spanish Community Center |
Yes |
98,995 |
St. Agatha Catholic Parish |
Yes |
|
The Resurrection Project |
Yes |
44,880 |
United Congregations of Metro-East |
Yes |
|
United Way of the Fox Valley |
Yes |
|
Waukegan Public Library Foundation |
Yes |
|
Westside Health Authority |
Yes |
|
Workers Center for Racial Justice Nfp |
Yes |
|
World Relief |
Yes |
|
Xilin Association |
|
93,420 |
YBLC Inc. |
Yes |
|
Young Men's Christian Association of the University of Illinois |
Yes |
|
YWCA Metropolitan Chicago |
Yes |
|
Grand Total |
$ 1,600,000 |
$ 1,495,939 |
*Does not reflect private foundation funding that may have been granted directly to these or other nonprofit organizations in Illinois.