COVID-19 pandemic impacting 2020 census outreach
(FOX 9) - Plans have been in the works for years for the 2020 census, but because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, some things have had to quickly change.
In Minnesota, there’s a lot on the line when it comes to the 2020 census.
“We’re expecting to be right on the bubble of losing our eighth congressional seat and the difference is small,” said Minnesota Director of Census Operations and Engagement Andrew Virden.
Representation and money for communities are all dependent on census data. There’s been years of work to make sure people know it’s coming.
“The census has already begun, the only question is how long will the census go on and might that change on the basis of the environment right now,” said Francisco Segovia, the executive director of COPAL MN, a Latino grassroots organization that is helping with census efforts.
But what no one planned for was a pandemic.
“All the events we and our partners were planning on doing are now moving from the real world to a virtual one,” said Segovia.
Outreach efforts have been underway for a while now, specifically to make contact with hard-to-count communities.
“Census works best when someone you know or someone who looks like you or speaks your language is the one encouraging you to do it,” said Virden.
COPAL MN had plans for an upcoming school event to reach parents, but that’s all changed.
“We were about to implement census work in Minneapolis Public Schools and St. Paul Public Schools, but when all the situation happened we had to cancel it, so our goal is to engage about 3,000 households,” said Segovia.
Now, they’ve switched gears, and are making calls.
“We have a network of volunteers and are giving our volunteers a number of people to call out,” said Segovia.
The census can be filled out online this year. While field operations are suspended for two weeks because of the virus, census workers won’t need to follow up with door knocks until May. For now, the focus is on reaching Minnesotans, any way they can from a distance.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 11 million households have already responded. Officials say data collection is supposed to be completed by July 31, but that date will be moved if necessary.