With less than a month remaining for households to respond to the 2020 U.S. Census, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz today announced that Connecticut’s total enumeration rate – the self-response rate plus those enumerated in nonresponse follow-up – is 91.2 percent, and encouraged the remaining nine percent of households to complete the decennial questionnaire.
“Over the past year-and-a-half, I have crisscrossed the state to encourage households to respond to the 2020 U.S. Census.Despite continued efforts to discourage communities of color – particularly our immigrant population –from responding to the Census, Connecticut is one of the best counted states in the country. With less than a month to respond to the decennial count and nine percent of Connecticut households still uncounted, we need to double down on efforts to make sure we achieve a complete count. This is about receiving critical federal funding for programs households rely on every day for basic needs: food, healthcare, childcare and so much more,” said Lt. Governor Bysiewicz.
Census takers began nonresponse follow up with households in hard-to-count Census tracts on July 23. In Connecticut, an additional 22 percent of households have been enumerated through nonresponse follow-up.
Of the states that make up the Northeast Region, Connecticut and Rhode Island– both 91.2 percent – have the highest total enumeration rate. Connecticut is the sixth best-counted state in the country.
In August, the U.S. Census Bureau announced it would end all counting efforts for the 2020 U.S. Census on Sept. 30 – a month earlier than the previous Oct. 31 deadline. This includes critical door-knocking, collecting responses online, over the phone and by mail.
Beginning in early September, the U.S. Census Bureau will begin re-sending paper questionnaires by mail to households in low-responding areas that have yet to respond to the 2020 U.S. Census.
Responses from the 2020 U.S. Census help to determine nearly $11 billion in federal funding allocations to Connecticut including Medicaid, Medicare, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), community block grants, transportation and highway projects, energy assistance for seniors, and many other programs that families across the state rely on every day.
The Census counts every person living in the country – citizens, noncitizens and green-card holders. Connecticut stands to lose approximately $2,900 for every person undercounted.
Connecticut has formed 156 Complete Count Committees in an effort to ensure the State is the best counted state in the nation.
The 2020 Census is open for self-response online at 2020Census.gov, over the phone by calling the number provided in the mailed invitation, and by paper through the mail.
The U.S. Census Bureau is also providing the Internet Self-Response Instrument and Census Questionnaire Assistance in 12 non-English languages; enumerator instrument, bilingual paper questionnaire, bilingual mailing, and field enumeration materials in Spanish; and language guides, language glossaries, and language identification card in 59 non-English languages.
Residents who do not have their unique 12-digit number can still complete the Census online or by phone at 2020Census.gov.