Imagine if you were tasked with counting every single person in Hamilton County, and you had less than a year to do it.
That’s what the federal government — with the help of the city, county and a number of other organizations — does every 10 years during the U.S. Census. It’s a daunting but vital process that determines federal funding for myriad local and state programs that touch a number of Cincinnatians’ everyday lives, influences decisions businesses make and also helps determine the state’s congressional districts and number of representatives.
That once-a-decade effort launched formally Jan. 24 in the city and county with a kickoff event downtown. There, officials pledged to push hard to count as many residents as possible.
Getting a less-than-complete count can impact a region in a number of ways.
During the 2010 Census, Cincinnati saw a 70 percent response rate and Hamilton County saw a 77 percent rate. Those uncounted residents — many clustered in low-income areas or members of vulnerable communities — meant the region lost out on $3.4 billion in federal funding that ended up going to other areas. That’s more than $1,800 per uncounted resident per year.
That money would have gone to everything from Community Development Block Grants that fund redevelopment efforts to safety net programs like food assistance.
“From a moral point of view, there are people who need that (federal) assistance and who by the law are entitled to that assistance who will only get it if we fill out the Census,” Mayor John Cranley said. “So even if you’re not a direct beneficiary, someone else will be.”
Hamilton County Commission President Denise Driehaus highlighted 821 Flats — a 57-unit permanent supportive housing development the city and the county helped fund in concert with other organizations.
“Some of the county’s dollars in (that project) are federal dollars we get because of the population count in Hamilton County,” she said. “We were able to kick in dollars for that project and be a partner because we have the resources to do it. Without a complete count, we don’t have those resources.”
Mayor Cranley also stressed that it’s important to accurately count Cincinnati’s historic population growth — its first growth in decades.
“If I’m right that we’ve grown by 10 percent over the past 10 years, we can brag to the country that this where you want to bring jobs, because we’re a growing, vibrant community,” he said.
The Census Bureau categorizes some “hard-to-count” demographics — college students who live off-campus and change housing often, some immigrant populations, the children of those experiencing poverty and others — in its efforts to count everyone. Roughly 30 percent of Cincinnati’s population and 23 percent of Hamilton County’s falls into one of those groups.
To that end, a coalition of municipalities, nonprofits and grassroots groups called the Complete Count Committee has come together to engage residents on the neighborhood level and make sure they’re counted.
Chandra Yungbluth works with that committee here in Hamilton County. She says the way to a more accurate count is engaging those that have the trust of residents who fall into those hard-to-count groups. The committee has invited more than 250 organizations to participate in the “complete count” effort.
“We have great partners with the U.S. Census Bureau,” Yungbluth says. “And the member organizations that we have representing the hard-to-count communities are the ones who are taking that message out into their communities and working toward getting a complete count. They’re really pushing hard in those hard-to-count communities. So we’re really excited to move forward and get as many people counted in the region as we can.”
The Census office here in Cincinnati has been open and ramping up activities for months and will be going full-speed ahead on April 1, which the federal government calls “Census Day.” Mailers will begin going out in mid-March, and the online survey will be available March 12.
After Census Day, the bureau will send out enumerators, or people who will do the work of engaging those who did not fill out the 10-question survey online or respond to the initial mailed form.
Roxanne Wallace is an assistant regional Census manager based in Philadelphia.
“Recruiting is still our No. 1 mission,” she says, noting that the bureau has hit about 66 percent of its recruiting goal for this year’s Census. “We’re still actively hiring.”
Those temporary positions pay between $21 and $23 an hour, according to Census officials. You can find out more here.
This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2020.