Stand up and be counted. Here’s how.
It’s Census time, and elected officials are urging locals – including St. Tammany Health System patients, employees and neighbors – to make sure they and their families are counted as part of the once-every-decade federal tradition, as required by law.
Among other things, results from the 2020 Census – which gets under way in earnest on April 1, which is Census Day -- will be used to:
- allocate an estimated $880 billion dollars to local communities for schools, roads and other public services;
- help communities prepare to meet transportation and emergency readiness needs;
- and determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as in the Electoral College.
As part of the Census process, basic information is gathered on all adults and children staying at a given address, regardless of citizenship or immigration status.
Invitations to complete the Census will begin going out via mail in March. For the first time, all respondents can participate online, as well as by phone or mail, avoiding an in-home visit by a Census counter.
A decennial Census is required by the U.S. Constitution, which has been tasking the federal government with getting an “actual enumeration” of the country’s population every decade since 1790.
All detailed information gathered for the Census is kept confidential.
For details on the 2020 U.S. Census, visit census.gov.
Image via Shutterstock