FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 9, 2020
Contact: Susan T. Sandvick, Douglas County Clerk 715-395-1568
DOUGLAS COUNTY 2020 CENSUS
SUPERIOR, WI – In mid-March, homes across the country will begin receiving invitations to complete the 2020 Census. Once the invitation arrives you should respond for your home in one of three ways: online, by phone, or by mail.
The 2020 Census is easy. You will answer a simple questionnaire about yourself and everyone who is living with you on April 1, 2020.
If you are filling out the census for your home, you should count everyone who is living there as of April 1. This includes any friends or family members who are living and sleeping there most of the time. If someone is staying in your home on April 1, and has no usual home elsewhere, you should count them in your response to the 2020 Census. Please also be sure to count roommates, your children, newborns, and anyone who is renting a space in your home. These people are often missed in the census. This means they can miss out on resources for themselves and their communities over the next 10 years.
It is important to remember to count any children who are living with you. This includes:
• All children who live in your home, including foster children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and the children of friends (even if they are living with you temporarily);
• Children who split their time between homes, if they are living with you on April 1, 2020; and
• Newborn babies, even those who are born on April 1, 2020, or who are still in the hospital on this date.
The 2020 Census will provide a snapshot of our nation—who we are, where we live, and so much more. The results of this once-a-decade count determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives. They are also used to draw congressional and state legislative districts.
Over the next decade, lawmakers, business owners, and many others will use 2020 Census data to make critical decisions. The results will show where communities need new schools, new clinics, new roads, and more services for families, older adults, and children.
The results will also inform how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding are allocated to more than 100 programs, including Medicaid, Head Start, block grants for community mental health services, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP.
The Census Bureau is bound by Title 13 of the U.S. Code to keep your information confidential. Under Title 13, the Census Bureau cannot release any identifiable information about you, your home, or your business, even to law enforcement agencies. The law ensures that your private data is protected and that your answers cannot be used against you by any government agency or court.
The answers you provide are used only to produce statistics. You are kept anonymous: The Census Bureau is not permitted to publicly release your responses in any way that could identify you or anyone else in your home. Please participate and be counted in the 2020 Census.
For more information visit www.census.gov/2020census and www.douglascountywi.org