PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – The United States Constitution requires a census every 10 years and the 2020 Census is more crucial than ever.
The results of the 2020 Census will help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding flow into communities every year for the next decade. That funding shapes many different aspects of every community across the state of Florida.
In fiscal year 2016, more than $44 billion was returned to Florida for healthcare, nutrition, education, transportation and other federal programs.
In 2010, Florida’s population increases resulted in the state gaining two Congressional seats. These determinations are based on Census data.
[GET COUNTED IN THE CENSUS NOW. IT ONLY TAKES 10 MINUTES. CLICK HERE.]
But Florida in the 2020 Census is at great risk of under-counting its residents and stands to lose millions if we do not act to ensure a complete count of the state’s residents. The people who need these programs the most are those who are most likely to go uncounted, according to Florida KIDS COUNT (FKC) in the Department of Child & Family Studies at the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, University of South Florida.
The funds are used to maintain and improve our Florida’s roads and bridges, pay for Medicaid, and ensure college students can afford tuition through Pell Grants.
Young children get quality preschool education through HeadStart, and funds to prevent child abuse, support programs in rural areas and provide housing assistance for older adults.
To date, 93 million households, nearly 63 percent of all households in the U.S., have responded to the 2020 Census. But more households need to be counted. According to local officials in Miami-Dade County, self-response rate is 59.4 percent.
For each adult and child missed, Florida’s state and local budgets will lose an estimated $15,000 per person per year, according to Florida Counts Census 2020.
The U.S. Census Bureau is ending all counting efforts for the 2020 census on Sept. 30, 2020. Time is running out.
It only takes 10 minutes and effects 10 years of your life. You can fill out the census online, by phone, or fill out the census questionnaire that you received in the mail. Just make sure you do it.
The Census Questionnaire is available in more than a dozen languages.
⇒You have the option of completing the questionnaire by phone at (844) 330-2020.
⇒To respond to the census online: my2020census.gov.
⇒FAQs about Census2020, click here.