Census Counts Letter on Census Modifications

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Census Counts issued a letter to Congress, signed by 144 national, state, and local groups outlining recommendations to closely examine the Census Bureau’s adjusted operational timeline are impacting 2020 Census outreach. 

The recommendations include: 

  • Two additional census mailings with the paper questionnaire and a reminder that households can respond on their own through October 31
  • An updated Communications
  • Campaign that includes new languages, targeting of low-response and Update Leave/Update Enumerate areas, and messaging that reflects the pandemic and how the census workforce will operate in this new environment 
  • Expanded staffing of Census
  • Questionnaire Assistance for all languages and a reimagined Mobile Questionnaire Assistance operation 
  • Updated guidance for stakeholders 
  • A timeline to enumerate people experiencing homelessness
  • More data to support outreach campaigns 
  • Ensuring a robust Post-Enumeration
  • Survey, which measures the accuracy of the census