- Champaign County Health Care Consumers - https://www.healthcareconsumers.org -

Did you know that IL Medicaid, SNAP, Head Start, etc. depend on a good Census count?

April 21, 2020

Dear friends,

We at Champaign County Health Care Consumers hope that you are all staying safe and healthy, and that you are sheltering in place, if you are able to do so. If you have healthcare needs that we can help with, please don’t hesitate to contact us – we are still working, even though our office is closed to the public. If you need our help, you can call us at 217-352-6533 or email at cchcc@cchcc-il.org [1]. Leave a message for us and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

Have you filled out your 2020 Census? If not, please do so ASAP. A lot is riding on an accurate 2020 Census Count!
The census tells us who we are and where we are going as a nation. The census provides critical data that lawmakers, business owners, teachers, and many others use to provide daily services, products, and support for you and your community for the next decade. Every year, billions of dollars in federal funding is distributed to local communities and federal programs. The results will show where communities need new schools, new hospitals and clinics, new supermarkets, new roads, and more resources for children, families, and older adults. And how federal funding will be allocated to more than 100 programs, including Medicaid, Head Start, block grants for community mental health services, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. The data collected by the decennial census also determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives.

(If you’d like to know what questions are asked on the 2020 Census, please read on!)

You have ALREADY received 3-4 mailings inviting you to respond to the Census online and by phone.
The mailings you have received have a Census ID for your household. If you log on to the 2020 Census website, you will use this ID to complete your household’s Census. Likewise, if you prefer to do your Census by phone, you will call the number listed on your Census mailing, and provide your Census ID.

The website for completing your Census is: https://my2020census.gov/ [2]

The phone number to call to complete your Census is 1-844-468-2020

Let’s try to avoid the need for in-person follow-ups – complete your Census today!

If you are a UIUC student, please use your Champaign-Urbana address for the Census!
If it were not for the corona virus, you would still be in C-U on April 1 for UIUC, so please use your local C-U address for answering Census questions.

The Census count affects almost every aspect of local communities and the resources they have to meet their community needs! To learn more about what the Census is used for, please visit: https://2020census.gov/en/community-impact.html [3] and https://2020census.gov/en/census-data.html [4]

What does Illinois stand to lose from an unsuccessful Census (an undercount)?
Each State stands to lose an average of $1,800 per year for each person who goes uncounted!  

For Illinois, this will be about $1400 a person, per year.
For example: An under count of 40,000 people in Champaign County, would cost the state of Illinois $56,000,000 per year until the next Census in 2030.

Did you know that Illinois has lost 1 Congressional seat EVERY Census since the 1930s?
Let’s put a stop to this pattern! Please complete your household’s Census by April 1!

Questions asked on the Census.
The U. S. Census asks 9 questions:
1. How many people were living or staying in this residence on April 1, 2020?
2. Where there any additional people staying here on April 1, 2020 that you did not include in Question 1?
3. Is this a house, apartment, or mobile home?
4. What is your telephone number?
5. Please provide information for each person living here. If there is someone living here who pays the rent or owns this residence, start by listing him or her as Person 1.  If the owner or the person who pays the rent does not live here, start by listing any person as Person 1. (First Name, Last Name)
6. What is Person 1’s sex?
7. What is Person 1’s age and what is Person 1’s date of birth?
8. Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
9. What is Person 1’s race?
And repeat for each person living in the household.

How is your personal information kept safe.
The U.S. Census Bureau is a government agency that is separate from all other government agencies.  Employees are screened with thorough federal background checks, reference checks, and finger printing before hired. They are sworn to keep your information safe.

The information collected is protected by Title 13, which states the following:
1. Private information is never published. It is against the law to disclose or publish any private information that identifies an individual or business such, including names, addresses (including GPS coordinates), Social Security Numbers, and telephone numbers.

2. The Census Bureau collects information to produce statistics. Personal information cannot be used against respondents by any government agency or court.

3. Census Bureau employees are sworn to protect confidentiality. People sworn to uphold Title 13 are legally required to maintain the confidentiality of your data. Every person with access to your data is sworn for life to protect your information and understands that the penalties for violating this law are applicable for a lifetime. Violating the law is a serious federal crime. Anyone who violates this law will face severe penalties, including a federal prison sentence of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

Questions? Need more information?
If you have any questions or need more information, please feel free to contact us at CCHCC at cchcc@cchcc-il.org [1].

If we cannot answer your questions, we will refer you to someone who can!

Thank you for completing your Census as soon as possible!
Thank you for doing your part to help us get a complete Census count for our community! Please continue to stay safe and healthy.

Best wishes,

Champaign County Health Care Consumers