If you haven’t already, it is still a great time to complete your 2020 Census for your household. Census data is used to provide Indiana about $18 billion a year from the 55 largest federal spending programs, and many state agencies also distribute funds based on the count.
Deborah Stein, network director for the Partnership for America’s Children, noted these are programs that give children their best start in life. “If you want to make sure there’s more funding for your schools and for all the services your child needs, make sure you count everybody from birth on in your household, whether you’re related to them or not,” she said, “because the consequences of missing a child last a decade, and that’s most of their childhood.”
Sarah Brannon, managing attorney with the ACLU Voting Rights Project, said the census has some of the strongest privacy protections in federal law, and noted that it doesn’t include sensitive questions.
“Your Social Security number, your citizenship status — those questions are not asked on the census,” she said. “Your name, your age, the members of your household, and your race and ethnicity — that’s really all they’re asking.”
Census forms can be completed by mail, over the phone, or online by clicking here.
