NEW JERSEY COUNTS 2020: MORRIS COUNTY Wind of the Spirit At Wind of the Spirit, we aim to insure justice and inclusion for immigrant communities through community organizing and advocacy, legal services, and 1 health and safety initiatives.
OVERVIEW • A fair and accurate 2020 Census is essential for Morris County and ALL of New Jersey • When you fill out the Census, you help: • Determine how many seats NJ gets in Congress • Collect data as many NJ programs rely on census data for planning • Guide how billions of dollars in federal funding are distributed to our NJ communities • In FY2016, NJ received $22.7 billion in 2 federal aid
OVERVIEW • NJ has high numbers of “hard-to- count” groups : • Black/African Americans • Hispanic/Latino • Asian • Immigrants • Non-English speakers • Young children • Seniors • Renters • Veterans 3
OVERVIEW Government, non-profits, social service • organizations, schools, colleges and universities, businesses and community organizations can help NJ have a fair and accurate 2020 Count 4
GOALS FOR TODAY 1. Understand and explain why the Census is so important for New Jersey 2. Define “hard-to-count” groups and our outreach strategies to reach them 3. Commit to action to support our Morris County Hard-to-Count populations and statewide Immigrant Communities insure a complete count for 2020 5
CENSUS 101 Why every New Jersey resident counts 6
WHAT IS THE CENSUS? • Constitutional requirement every 10 years • Counts every living person in the United States • Run by the federal Census Bureau 7
WHY DOES THE CENSUS MATTER? • Funding : $675 billion in federal funds depend on Census ($22.7 billion in New Jersey in FY2016) • Planning Data : Number of hospital beds or school classrooms; housing needs; new business branches; roads/highways (infrastructure) • Representation : Census data determines district boundaries and how many representatives states get in Congress and how state legislative and school districts are drawn • Community : Census tells us who is in our communities 8
HOW DO PEOPLE FILL OUT THE CENSUS? • Four ways to fill out Census in 2020 • Online self-response (new digital and preferred method for 2020) • Will be formatted for smartphones • Phone • Mail • In-Person Interview (“door-knocking”) 9
CENSUS LANGUAGE SUPPORT WILL BE CRITICAL • 31% of New Jersey residents speak a language other than English at home • Online and phone will be available in 12 languages • Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Tagalog, French, Haitian Creole, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese • Hard-copy mail form only available in English and Spanish 10
WHAT CENSUS ASKS FOR • Basic identification information • Who lives here (name, age, gender) • Housing arrangement (owner, renter, etc.) • Racial/ethnic or national origin • Family relationships of residents • Data is confidential • Census will never ask for Social Security numbers, credit card info, tax ID numbers 11
WHY WE HAVE TO GET IT RIGHT • If we do not count every New Jersey resident, we could lose out for the next ten years on: • Funding • Representation • An accurate, fair distribution of political power • New Jersey needs a reliable, fair Census in 2020- insure our democracy works for all of us 12
FUNDING FOR NJ PROGRAMS NJ Programs receiving the greatest amount of Federal Assistance dollars: • Medicaid • Federal Direct Student Loans • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) • Medicare Suppl. Medical insurance (Part B) • Highway Planning and Construction • Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers • Federal Transit Formula Grants 13
SPECIAL CHALLENGES IN 2020 • First primarily digital Census • Access: 15% of NJ residents have no internet or dial-up only • Privacy and cybersecurity concerns • Distrust of government and polls/surveys • Citizenship question • Fear and distrust of government and current climate expected to hinder participation in immigrant communities • Fewer Census Bureau resources for its field operations 14
HARD-TO-COUNT POPULATIONS If the Census is so important, why doesn’t everybody fill it out? 15
HOW CAN PEOPLE BE MISSED BY CENSUS? • “Hard-to-count” populations are groups that are often missed by the Census Homeless persons Young children Black/African (under age 5) American Asians or Asian- Hispanic/Latino Renters Americans Low-income Those who speak No internet access households limited English Veterans Immigrants, Highly Males ages 30-49 Mobile Groups, Asylum Seekers, 16 Refugees
MANY REASONS FOR UNDERCOUNT • Address not listed • Multi-unit buildings • People not included on questionnaire • Complex households • Highly mobile populations • Fear and distrust of government • Language issues 17
WHY IS IT A PROBLEM FOR NEW JERSEY? • NJ has high #s of hard-to-count groups • Extremely diverse state (45% non-white, #11 in nation) • High immigrant population (#3 in nation) • Concentrated low-income communities 18
WHERE ARE NJ’S HARD TO COUNT POPULATIONS ( OUTSIDE MORRIS COUNTY)? Newark, Trenton, Lakewood, Atlantic • City, Pleasantville, Galloway, Salem City, Bridgeton, Vineland, Paterson, Perth Amboy & Woodbridge, New Brunswick, Asbury Park, Long Branch, Jersey City, Bayonne, Union City, West NY, Kearny, N. Bergen, Hackensack, Elizabeth, Passaic City & Clifton, Plainfield, Orange, E. Orange, Irvington, Camden, Fort Dix 19
WHERE ARE MORRIS COUNTY’S HARD- TO-COUNT POPULATIONS? • Hard-to-count populations are throughout the county • Tier One: Dover, Mine Hill, Morristown, Parsippany, Victory Gardens, Wharton • T ier Two : Boonton, Chester Boro, E. Hanover, Florham Park, Mendham Boro, Mt. Arlington, Pequannock • Tier Three: All other Morris County communities 20
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