The 2020 Census Office report for June 2020 includes updates regarding: COVID-19, self-response rates, marketing, data visualization, outreach, Fiscal Year 2021 proposed plans, grant allocations, and disbursements.
COVID-19: Please visit https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/ for the most current information.
Census Response Rate: As of May 28, 2020, Illinois ranked ninth in the country for Census self-response rates and has remained in the top ten for much of the time that the census portal has been open, since March 12th. To find response rates and rankings by city, county, town, or Congressional districts, please visit:
www.mapthecount.org or https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html
Please see the table below for specific response rates, as of May 28, 2020:
Location |
Self-Response Rate (%) |
National |
60.2% |
Illinois |
65.2% |
City of Chicago |
52.8% |
Illinois Counties with Highest Response Rates: |
|
DuPage |
75% |
Kendall |
76.5% |
McHenry |
77.1% |
Monroe |
79.1% |
Illinois Counties with Lowest Response Rates: |
|
Alexander |
41.6% |
Calhoun |
19.1% |
Hardin |
22.6% |
Henderson |
26.2% |
Marketing: In addition to the digital toolkits created for all Census partners, Kivvit has created digital toolkits with visuals and messages tailored for different Hard to Count (HTC) populations to be used specifically by elected officials. Kivvit also continued to reach Illinoisans during the stay at home Executive Orders through statewide digital advertising campaigns for all residents, with a focus on HTC residents and low response rate zip codes, to encourage people to complete the Census safely and quickly: online, on the phone, and by mail.
Data Visualization: UIC has created maps for elected officials and stakeholders which detail district-specific information such as overall response rates, Census tracts with low response rates, hard-to-count factors, projections based on the 2010 Census data and current socio-economic changes, and instructions on how to assess this information. The maps are available to the public at www.mapthecount.org.
Outreach: The 2020 Census Office, in coordination with Cook County, the City of Chicago, and Forefront, have designated June as Illinois Census month in an effort to acknowledge and celebrate Illinois' diversity as well as to motivate residents to respond to the Census questionnaire. In addition to highlighting multiple hard-to-count areas and populations throughout the month, the following days of action will be observed:
- June 1st - Immigrant and Refugee Census Day of Action (hosted by Cook County);
- June 19th (Juneteenth) - Black Census Day of Action (hosted by the State's 2020 Census Office); and
- June 29th - Pride Day of Action (hosted by the City of Chicago)
Fiscal Year 2021: Illinois residents have been completing the Census online, via phone, and in paper form since March 12, 2020. Based on data provided by the USBC, as of May 28th, the self-response rate for Illinois is 65.2%, which means approximately 3.7 million households have completed the questionnaire. Illinois has made great progress to date, but there is opportunity for improvement.
Although Illinois currently receives support from the City of Chicago, Cook County, and private philanthropy to support Census efforts, there is no current indication those partners will have the ability to extend their work until the Census concludes on October 31st. Because of this, the Census Office anticipates a potential gap in outreach and education that reaches HTC communities in some of the hardest to count tracks. To combat this, the Census Office intends to continue to support the important work of our Regional Intermediaries and their Subrecipients. Thus, we are working closely with our team to ensure we apply an equitable approach and support the communities and populations with higher need and low response rates. Based on this, subject to final consideration and adoption of the FY2021 budget, we are proposing the budget allocation below, which is consistent with our operations thus far:
Designation of Proposed Funding |
Amount |
Regional Intermediaries |
$10,355,675 |
Marketing |
$2,300,000 |
Sister Agencies |
$695,800 |
IDHS Operations |
$600,000 |
University of IL at Chicago (mapthecount.org) |
$398,445 |
Community Connect Labs (texting tool) |
$150,000 |
Total |
$14.5 Million |
The purpose of renewing grants in FY21 for Regional Intermediaries (RIs) is to:
- Align the State's Census program with the new USBC deadline; and
- Ensure that targeted strategies are implemented successfully to increase the self-response rates of Illinois residents during the pandemic.
Because Illinois' rate of self-response for the 2010 Census was 70.5% and a significant number of hard-to-count (HTC) populations in Illinois have not completed the 2020 Census questionnaire, we anticipate that FY21 renewal funding will be made to Census grantees to improve self-response rates targeting:
- Census tracks with low self-response rates; and
- HTC groups including: seniors, children younger than five, racial and ethnic minorities, foreign-born persons with limited English proficiency, persons living close to or below poverty, renters, people who are young and mobile, people experiencing homelessness, people who live in rural areas, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, migrant farm workers, opportunity youth (ages 18-24), and people who distrust the government.
Regional Intermediaries and Subrecipients eligible for FY21 grant renewal will be required to demonstrate capacity to develop strategies that are:
- Responsive to the limitations imposed by the current COVID-19 environment; and
- Effective in improving the self-response rates among the remaining HTC populations.
Grant Allocation and Disbursements:
Regional Intermediary |
Amount |
Amount Paid
|
CENTRAL |
Illinois Primary Health Care Association |
$1,373,873 |
$526,877.11 |
Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies |
$113,380 |
$65,276.16 |
CHICAGO |
Community Assistance Programs |
$1,400,000 |
$806,690.79 |
Habilitative Systems Inc |
$3,267,500 |
$1,542,783.95 |
Illinois Action for Children |
$1,108,050 |
$384,346.09 |
Illinois Coalition For Immigrant and Refugee Rights |
$2,433,500 |
$756,271.43 |
Pilsen Little Village |
$148,500 |
$61,490.10 |
Puerto Rican Cultural Center |
$301,000 |
$186,768.07 |
Rincon Family Services |
$1,400,000 |
$588,306.03 |
University of Illinois at Chicago |
$248,500 |
$46,897.81 |
YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago |
$1,310,000 |
$707,858.67 |
COLLAR |
Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies |
$207,580 |
$136,704.40 |
Illinois Coalition For Immigrant and Refugee Rights |
$1,037,000 |
$307,642.32 |
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus |
$315,000 |
$119,893.55 |
Reaching Across Library Systems |
$825,000 |
$92,353.20 |
United Way of Metropolitan Chicago |
$220,000 |
$57,854.45 |
NORTH CENTRAL |
Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies |
$201,923 |
$118,721.12 |
Tri-County Regional Planning |
$630,000 |
$308,974.54 |
NORTHEAST CENTRAL |
Champaign Urbana Public Health District |
$756,750 |
$240,012.89 |
NORTHERN |
Region 1 Planning Council |
$1,015,000 |
$363,694.20 |
NORTHWEST |
Illinois Public Health Association |
$545,000 |
$183,301.83 |
SOUTHEAST CENTRAL |
Clay County Health Department |
$474,703 |
$308,061.96 |
Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies |
$56,583 |
$28,590.70 |
SOUTHERN |
Illinois Public Health Association |
$841,525 |
$273,965.24 |
SOUTHWEST CENTRAL |
Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies |
$369,194 |
$153,947.27 |
Teens Against Killing Everywhere |
$473,500 |
$178,768.38 |
SUBURBAN |
Illinois Action for Children |
$864,850 |
$265,356.62 |
Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies |
$781,735 |
$326,094.92 |
Illinois Coalition For Immigrant and Refugee Rights |
$1,368,500 |
$387,191.94 |
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus |
$1,313,000 |
$506,308.88 |
WESTERN |
Western Illinois Regional Council |
$345,000 |
$54,580.93 |
STATE AGENCIES |
|
|
Department on Aging |
$500,000 |
$332,000 |
Department of Veterans Affairs |
$55,000 |
$36,667 |
Department of Agriculture |
$951,550 |
$429,166 |
Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity |
$850,467 |
$566,978 |
TOTAL |
$28,103,163 |
$11,450,396.55 |
Census Data, Research, GIS Visualization
and Regional Intermediary Coordination |
Amount |
Amount Paid |
University of Illinois at Chicago |
$896,837 |
$371,643.59 |
TOTAL |
$896,837 |
$371,643.59 |
Appropriation Amount |
Obligated Amount |
Amount Paid |
$29,000,000 |
$29,000,000 |
$11,822,040.14 |