New census deadline could leave Ohioans underrepresented

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — There are now less than 60 days until the deadline for the 2020 census after changes made by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Representatives from the Ohio Census Advocacy Coalition are left scrambling to make sure Ohioans will be counted in a year that has already been made difficult due to the coronavirus.

“Not only were our scheduled events and what we were planning to do with this outreach, that was changed, but we’re kind of being thrown these timeline changes,” said Katherine Ungar, policy associate of the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio. 

According to the new plan released by the U.S. Census Bureau, it will be improving the speed of the count “without sacrificing completeness.” The bureau is conducting additional training sessions and will provide awards to those who maximize hours.

At the same time, field data collection and self-response collection will end Sept. 30, a month before the original date.

“Our 2020 response rates are already lagging in a lot of areas behind the 2010 response rates because of COVID-19,” said Ungar. “So to cut the door knocking, which are efforts that are going to those undercounted populations, just kind of exacerbates these problems.”

Community groups are now urging everyone to fill out the census as soon as possible.

“We need to make sure that people understand that the census is important, that it’s safe and that everyone counts and everyone matters,” said Tracy Najera, executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio and representative of the Ohio Census Advocacy Coalition.

Advocates for the census are now calling on Congress to approve an extension for reporting and send more federal funding to help with collection.

“After the census is over, when they do that analysis of those missed populations, I think that we’re all going to be not only very surprised, but I think that it’s going to represent a true failure,” said Najera.

If you have not filled out your census report, you can do so by mail, phone, or online at My2020census.gov.