Don’t be surprised if you get an email message from the 2020 U.S. Census folks. The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that it is planning to send emails to all households in census block groups with a response rate to the 2020 Census that is lower than 50 percent. This will include households that may have already responded.
Millions of emails will begin going out this week and continue into September. The emails supplement a campaign reminding people to respond to the 2020 Census on their own, as census takers begin following up with Colorado households that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census.
According to Chaffee County U.S. Census Coordinator April Obholz Bergeler, for Chaffee County, this will most likely involve households in Census Tract 4.02 and Tract 4.03. The 4.02 tract includes the northeast section of the county which includes; east Buena Vista, Nathrop, and Johnson Village, and Census Tract 4.03 (which covers the northwest section of the census count.
The email messages will invite Coloradans to respond online at 2020census.gov. Coloradans who have already completed the census can disregard the message (and give themselves a pat on the back). Coloradans who receive the email and haven’t already responded should click on the link provided in the email and take less than ten minutes to complete the census online.
This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic known as COVID-19, the response timeframe has been extended. Households have until October 31 to respond to the 2020 Census. Census takers will begin following up with households nationwide in August.
Per Census officials, taking the census is “painless, easy, safe, and important.” The results of the census will determine the distribution of hundreds of billions of federal dollars every year for the next ten years. These funds contribute to local, regional, and state government budgets including funding for local schools, public health, transportation programs, public libraries, human services programs, housing, youth, and recreational programs, low-income food assistance, and dozens of other programs that affect people’s everyday lives.
Census results will also be used to do the once-every-decade realignment of our congressional representation.
The email messages will come from 2020census@subscriptions.census.gov and will give recipients the option to opt-out of receiving future messages. The Census Bureau is also considering sending text messages to areas that have a low response.
The reasoning behind this new email approach is simple: the Census Bureau says it’s recent success with contacting households by email to participate in the Household Pulse Survey prompted the agency to add these methods to support the 2020 Census. They have determined that this contact method will help increase response rates and reduce the need for in-person follow-up.
Why the 2020 Census is Important
- The U.S. Constitution mandates a census of the population every 10 years.
The 2020 Census counts everyone who lives in the United States as of April 1, 2020 (Census Day).
Census statistics are used to determine the number of seats each state holds in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Census statistics inform how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds will be allocated by state, local and federal lawmakers annually for the next 10 years.
About the 2020 Census
- The Census Bureau strongly encourages the public to respond online at 2020census.gov.
Households can respond by phone in English or 12 other languages.
Households can also respond by mail using the paper questionnaire mailed to non-responding addresses.
For more information, call 844-330-2020 or visit 2020census.gov.
To see a revised timeline for the census, visit the 2020 Census operational adjustments page.
For more info about this effort, click here. For more information about the 2020 Census in Chaffee County go to census@chaffeecounty.org
Click this link to view information from the Chaffee County U.S. Census effort on Facebook.
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