Preparing for Census 2020: Southeast Michigan Counts!

In just over a month, homes all over the country will begin receiving instructions from the U.S. Census Bureau on how to respond to the 2020 Census. The importance of the decennial Census is well-known to local governments, as a loss of about $1,800 in federal funding is estimated for each resident who goes uncounted. Earlier this week at a SEMCOG University workshop entitled “Tools to Promote U.S. Census Participation,” we saw and heard about how several Southeast Michigan communities are reaching out to their residents to ensure a complete count.

Attendance at SEMCOG’s “Tools to Promote U.S. Census Participation” workshop indicates strong commitment to Census 2020 throughout the region.

At SEMCOG, we’re making a successful census for Southeast Michigan fun. I’ve challenged our mid-Ohio peers – those Buckeyes from the Columbus region at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission – to see which region gets the highest percentage of responses. I issued this challenge the day after last year’s Michigan-Ohio State football game, and we really need to win this one. We’ve created a lot of tools, also described here, to help in this effort. We met up yesterday at the National Association of Regional Councils conference. Here’s a photo of them officially accepting the challenge. We’ll be keeping score and updating you.

The Rivalry between (Southeast) Michigan and (Mid-) Ohio is on for Census 2020

Knowing which areas in Southeast Michigan are projected to have lower response rates than the 2010 national average is a good place to start for local communities to focus their 2020 census planning efforts. SEMCOG’s Hard-to-Count Populations map identifies these five population indicators that contribute most to lower census response rates and enables you to target outreach to the hard-to-count populations in your community.

To help ensure that Southeast Michigan has an accurate and complete count, we have assembled a variety of media products into a toolkit for your use. With materials in English, Spanish, and Arabic, this toolkit will assist Southeast Michigan’s local governments and other stakeholders in making the 2020 Census a success. The toolkit, which was developed with an emphasis on reaching the hard-to-count populations in Southeast Michigan, features a variety of materials:

Videos

• “Southeast Michigan Counts!” highlights key messages for Census 2020, namely that it’s important, easy, and confidential. It also showcases how leaders from throughout Southeast Michigan are lifting this critical issue with a shared voice.
• YouTube and Facebook links are available in the toolkit on SEMCOG’s website. You can also contact Jon Clark to request video files to use on your TV station, on your website, in presentations, and to share with your local partners (schools, movie theaters, etc.).

Social media images

• SEMCOG has produced nine different graphics for use on social media, each targeted to a specific key message or audience.
• The toolkit also includes a suggested posting schedule with unique captions for each day.

Print-ready flyers, FAQs, a community newsletter article template, and more

All materials are available on SEMCOG’s website. Contact Trevor Layton with any questions.