The following 2020 Census Office report for October 2019 includes updates from the September Census Advisory Panel meeting, an update about the 2020 Census Notice of Funding Opportunity, and an overview of the merit-based review process by which those applications will be scored.
Census Advisory Panel Meeting
The Census Advisory Panel meets monthly. The following is a summary of the September 20, 2019 meeting: The Governor's Office introduced Oswaldo Alvarez, Census Office Co-Director, who started in the role on September 9th . The other Co-Director, Marishonta Wilkerson, has been serving in the role since August 2019 In response to advisory panel and public feedback the NOFO application deadline was extended by one week from September 6th to September 13th. Thirty-nine complete applications were submitted in response to the NOFO and are currently being reviewed by a team of merit-based reviewers. The co-directors provided an overview of the merit-based review process and the selection process for merit-based reviewers. Additionally, the co-directors encouraged the panel to inform their constituents about opportunities to serve as subrecipients and shared that as of recently before the panel meeting, 225 organizations expressed interest in becoming subrecipients of the 2020 NOFO grant by completing the subrecipient survey on the Census Office website.
2020 Census Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
The following is a summary of the complete applications received in response to the 2020 Census NOFO by the September 13th deadline. Regional Intermediary (RI) applications were received from each of the 12 regions (please see below the counties included in each region). The Census Office expects to select RIs and have awards finalized by October 15th so that RIs can solidify workplans and execute contracts with subrecipients the week of November 4th.
Regions and Number of Applications
Central: 2
Chicago: 14
Suburban: 6
Collar Counties: 5
North Central: 2
Northeast Central: 1
Northern: 1
Northwest: 1
Southeast Central: 2
Southern: 2
Southwest Central: 2
West Central: 1
Merit-Based Review Process for 2020 Census NOFO
- IDHS is committed to administering the process to review applications with transparency, equity and integrity to ensure Illinois Hard-to-Count (HTC) populations are accurately counted. The process includes: Development of a scoring rubric: IDHS developed a scoring rubric and included it in the NOFO for full transparency and to promote the strongest applications possible.
| Criteria |
Score |
| Executive Summary |
Not scored |
| Need - Description of Need |
10 |
Capacity - Entity Qualifications/Organizational Capacity
- Overall Entity Capacity (20 points)
- Prior Experience (20 points)
|
40 |
Quality - Description of Program Services
- Overall Description (6 points)
- Collaboration/Coordination (18 points)
- Education, Outreach and Communication (6 points)
- Direct Engagement (6 points)
- Questionnaire Assistance (6 points)
- Data Collection, Evaluation and Reporting 8
|
42 |
| CSA Budget |
Not scored |
| Total |
100 |
- Assembling a diverse and expert Merit-Based Review Team that reflects HTC populations and geographies: IDHS, along with recommendations from academia, the 2020 Census Advisory Panel and other experts assembled a team of reviewers with expertise, diversity, and a commitment to a fair and accurate count in 2020. The goal is to have 50% of reviewers be external to state government and the remainder be drawn from experienced staff within state government. Reviewers were placed into teams of no less than three people. Each team was created with consideration of diversity, geography, and expertise. Each reviewer signed a conflict of interest form, participated in a training on the Merit-Based Review Process, and committed over 15 hours to review their assigned applications.
- Establishing a process for appeals: Appeals will be processed in accordance with 44 Il. Adm. Code 7000.350 Merit Based Review of Grant Application g) Appeals Process is in NOFO application in the section titled: Application Review Information.
1 Central: Cass, Christian, Green, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Sangamon, Scott, Shelby; Chicago: City of Chicago; Collar Counties: DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will; Northeast Central: Champaign, Douglas, Ford, Iroquois, Piatt, Vermilion; North Central: DeWitt, Fulton, Livingston, Marshall, Mason, McLean, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, Woodford; Northern: Boone, DeKalb, Ogle, Stephenson, Winnebago; Northwest: Bureau, Carroll, Henry, Jo Daviess, Lee, LaSalle, Mercer, Putnam, Rock Island, Whiteside; Southeast Central: Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Lawrence, Marion, Moultrie, Richland; Southern: Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Massac, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Wabash, Wayne, White, Williamson, Union; Suburban: Cook County excluding the City of Chicago; Southwest Central: Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Madison, Monroe, St. Clair, Washington; West Central: Adams, Brown, Hancock, Henderson, Knox, McDonough, Pike, Schuyler, Warren.
