TITLE
Title
RESOLUTION FOR 2020 U.S. CENSUS PARTNERSHIP AND COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE SPONSORSHIP AND APPOINTMENT
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Marty Lawing
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BACKGROUND
Background
The U.S. Census Bureau is required by the U.S. Constitution to conduct a complete count of the population every 10 years. Many important decisions are made based on the census data such as the apportionment of congressional seats and federal funding to states and local governments. The information collected by the census is confidential and protected by law. The census count requires extensive work and the Census Bureau requires partners at the state and local level to insure a complete and accurate count. One way that county governments can support the Census Bureau is to establish a Complete Count Committee. The Complete Count Committee, appointed by the Board of Commissioners will bring together a cross section of community members who will utilize their local knowledge and expertise to reach out to all persons in the community. Complete Count Committees are established by tribal, state and local governments to increase awareness and motivate residents to respond to the 2020 Census. Members appointed to the Committee should be willing and able to serve until the census is over, and help create a creative outreach campaign in areas that may pose a challenge in 2020. Members should include persons from the areas of education, media, business, religion and community groups. The size and number of members depends on what works best for each jurisdiction. County CCC’s tend to be larger in size with 20 to 50 members. Nationwide, there were over 10,000 Complete Count Committees formed during the 2010 Census and the majority of them were local government committees.
Examples of Complete County Committee strategies that have been successful include:
- Allocate / obtain funds to the CCC and assign a staff person to work with the committee
- Set clear, achievable goals and objectives
- Identify areas of the community that may need extra efforts, either a geographical area or a population group that might be hard to count
- Use a “grassroots” approach working with community-based organizations and groups who have direct contact with households who may be hard to count
- Create promotional material and products customized for the local area.
- Implement special events on Census Day
- Build awareness of the census and its benefits and motivate response through social media, newsletters, and other communications.
The members Complete Count Committee appointed by the Board of Commissioners will participate in a training session on the 2020 Census and will be expected to attend meeting of the entire committee and subcommittee meetings and participate in outreach events and activities. County staff have reached out to the leaders in education, business organizations, churches and faith based organizations, immigrant assistance organizations and other non-profit and community based organizations to seek the names of participants on the Guilford County Complete Count Committee. A list of potential members of the Complete Count Committee has been compiled for the Board’s consideration for appointment to the 2020 Complete Count Committee.
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BUDGET IMPACT
Budget Impact
No impact to the FY 2019-2020 Budget with this action. If the Complete Count Committee determines that some funding is needed to advance the strategies of the committee, a request for an appropriation from contingency may occur at a future date.
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REQUESTED ACTION
Requested Action
Approve Resolution for the 2020 Census Partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau and Make Initial Appointments to the Complete Count Committee.
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