Census 2020: Last Call For The Next Decade Tri-Boro

NORTH JERSEY - The U.S. Census Bureau this week announced it will suspend counting efforts in New Jersey and other states a month earlier than originally planned.

The move, an attempt by the bureau to accelerate the decennial count amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, was confirmed in a statement by bureau director Steven Dillingham. On Sept. 30, the bureau will cease critical door-knocking efforts and will stop collecting responses online, over the phone, and by mail.

As of Aug. 6, roughly 4 out of 10 U.S. households have yet to be counted. The national response rate is 63 percent, a minimal increase from mid-June, when the response rate was 61.5 percent.

Locally, 72.9 percent of Butler households, 82.8 percent of Kinnelon households and 76.6 percent of Bloomingdale households have self-responded to the 2020 U.S. Census, according to early data from the bureau.

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States. It's mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years.
The census is important for several reasons, officials say. Here are a few, according to census.gov:

• It determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress and is used to redraw district boundaries
• Census results help determine federal funding for critical needs such as roads, schools, health care, emergency services and housing
• Businesses use the data to help decide where to open new locations

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday urged residents to respond to the Census, saying it is critical that the state's population is fully counted.

"(The counts) are important in ensuring New Jersey gets back the resources we deserve from the federal government," Murphy said. He said the state's population was significantly undercounted in 2010, which led to New Jersey receiving less than its fair share.

Murphy also urged residents to not be fearful of submitting information, saying the Census Bureau is required by law to protect personal information.
The last-minute timeline change leaves the bureau with less than two months to try to reach people of color, children, senior citizens, undocumented immigrants, renters, the homeless and low-income people — all of whom are among the least likely to be counted accurately in the census and are also among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Should these households not respond, cities, counties, and states could lose out on billions of dollars that fund crucial services needed before, during and after the pandemic. This includes hospitals, Head Start programs, school lunch programs, Medicaid, food stamps and more.The announcement also comes after NPR first reported that the agency decided to cut short door-knocking efforts for the census.

Before the pandemic hit, census counts were originally supposed to be finished by the end of July. With support from President Donald Trump, the timeline to complete the federally mandated count was extended.

However, the pandemic continued to plague the bureau with outreach challenges.In March, census officials suspended field operations, pulling workers off the streets to protect them from the virus. This included efforts to drop off census forms at households in rural areas with no traditional addresses.

Workers didn't return until May 4 as part of a phased restart.

Organizations throughout the country also put in-person outreach on hold. Plans to set up booths at farmers markets and work with child care centers have been abandoned, replaced by digital advertising, social media, and telephone calls.

Last week, bureau chief Dillingham signaled a shift in plans by telling members of Congress "the Census Bureau and others really want us to proceed as rapidly as possible."

Dillingham's comments came as the bureau quietly removed references to Oct. 31 — the previously announced end date for all counting efforts — from its website, NPR reported.If your household is among those who have not responded to this year's census, it's not too late.In a move designed to cut costs and keep up with digital lifestyles, the census questionnaire is available at my2020census.gov.

The 2020 census counts everyone living in the United States and its five territories.
Learn more about how to respond to the 2020 census.

This post contains reporting by Karen Wall.

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