Baltimore Fishbowl
By Ethan McLeod - April 17, 2019

With just under a year to go now before federal census workers begin knocking on doors around the country, Baltimore City bureaucrats and partners are trying to reinforce what’s on the line in the upcoming national head count.

“This is really just about people. This is how we, as a city, get funding from the state,” said Austin Davis, 2020 Census project manager for the Department of Planning. “If people think, Oh my council district is too small and it needs to be redistricted, the census does this.”

The same goes for anyone relying on more than 50 state and federal programs, ranging from school lunches to housing vouchers and even urban farms, he said. The feds “determine those funding numbers from the census. Every time a person is not counted, it’s about $1,800 a year over a 10-year period… You’re looking at a significant amount of money that the city and state loses as a result.”

CENSUS 2020 MISSION: To count every resident in Baltimore City to secure a fair allocation of government resources and accurate legislative representation.

CENSUS 2020 STRATEGIC GOALS: Build a Census outreach campaign targeted to raise Census awareness among all residents using the knowledge, expertise and leadership of community residents.

INCREASE the Census questionnaire completion rate via online response through a focused and structured neighbor-to-neighbor initiative.
EMPOWER Baltimore residents to take ownership of the Census to move closer to a 100% response rate.

Action Plan: http://bit.ly/censusplan

Sign up for the Census 2020 email list to get more alerts: https://bit.ly/2K2qbq0