Census planners seek volunteers
By Loreen Berlin
Recruitment for the 2020 Census has begun throughout Orange County and is gaining momentum as the 2019 calendar is quickly moving to a close.
The 2020 Census is set for March through July 2020.
Buena Park’s “Complete Count Committee” (CCC) is chaired by Mayor Art Brown and City Councilwoman Sunny Park. The city held a kickoff event October 24.
The CCC Partner Specialist from the U.S. Census for Buena Park is Jennifer Lee; she will be working with the City of Buena Park on their 2020 census.
Organizers say the census is easy, safe and important.
There are only nine simple questions for the head-of-the-household to answer and seven questions for everyone else living in the home, and all respondent information is protected by law under Title 13.
“No respondent information can be shared with anyone or any other organization such as ICE, nor to Homeland Security, and in fact, not even to the President of the United States,” said Advisor Jennifer Lee. “Census is reported in statistical data only.”
How and why is Census 2020 important? It translates to dollars for each city through federal apportionment to more than $675 billion dollars per year across the United States to fund vital, local programs, such as funding for local schools, healthcare programs such as Medical, Medicare Part B, Section 8 Housing, WIC, Head Start and hospitals. Police and fire departments also rely on federal funding, which is determined by the census population count.
A complete and accurate census count means more funding for local programs.
Interested parties may shape their future by responding online, by phone or by mail.
For census information, visit 2020census.gov, and for census job information, 2020census.gov/jobs or call 1-855-562-2020.
