Last spring, the Commerce Department—which is in charge of the 2020 census—extended the deadline to complete the census to October 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, it abruptly changed the deadline to September 30. Last week, a federal judge in California ruled that counting for the census can continue through October 31. Managing editor Tami Roleff has more information about why the census is so important…
Experts are warning that California is at serious risk of an undercount, particularly of children under age five. In the 2010 census, it’s estimated that California missed counting one million children. Jessica Berthold with the First Five Association of California says the state could lose out on a huge amount of federal money if families ignore their census forms.
“Estimates are that if we had an undercount in 2020, it could cost California up to $115 billion every year in federal programs like Medi-Cal, Headstart, WIC, school lunch program, etc.”
Deborah Stein with the Partnership for America’s Children, says children from immigrant families are the hardest to count, because their parents might be afraid to interact with the federal government.
“In this political environment, the likelihood that immigrant families will not count their young children is much greater, and we’re very concerned about that.”
Census figures also determine political representation as well as funding for schools, child care, medical care, food assistance, housing and public transportation. It only takes a few minutes to fill out the form, which can be done by phone or online at 2020census.gov.
