By Emily Davenport
Children’s Aid recently received two grants to help encourage hard to reach New York City communities to fill out the 2020 Census.
Children’s Aid got two grants totaling $47,000 — $25,000 grant from Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and a $22,000 grant from Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. — which will allow the organization to conduct in-person outreach at their food distribution sites, phone and text banking, and educational events and training sessions.
Children’s Aid serves low-income communities that both are typically undercounted and would be disproportionally affected by an inaccurate census count.
“Our communities rely on federal funding for essential services such as health care, schools, Medicaid, SNAP, and transportation,” said Yolanda McBride, Policy Director for Children’s Aid. “If our communities are undercounted in the 2020 census we will be under-resourced and underrepresented for the next 10 years. We thank Borough Presidents Gale Brewer and Ruben Diaz Jr. for recognizing the importance of the census and providing us with the tools to make sure everyone is counted.”
Currently, New York City has a 59.3% response rate to the 2020 Census. Zip codes that Children’s Aid serves in the Bronx and Manhattan are trending lower than they did during the 2010 census.
The 2020 Census recently plans to finish collecting data by Sept. 30, a month earlier than previously scheduled. The pandemic has made collecting information for the Census harder for lower-income communities and communities of color, both of which had been undercounted in the past. Undercounted groups include children 5 or younger, foster youth, racial and ethnic minorities, and non-English speakers, all of whom Children’s Aid serves through its extensive programming.
“Time is running out and we need to make sure The Bronx gets counted,” said Borough President Diaz. “The 2020 Census is important in having our voices heard and we need to make sure that we stand up and get counted. Filling out the Census is vital in determining funding for our communities and redistricting. Let’s all work together to make sure we protect the federal resources we need to continue our growth for the next decade.”
“The stakes have never been higher for Manhattan. We already faced enormous challenges when it came to a complete and accurate census count before the pandemic arrived, and now we face the prospect of a census with a high number of residents who have temporarily or permanently relocated,” said Borough President Brewer. “We are thankful for the leadership and commitment of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, NYS Complete Count Committee Co-Chairs Secretary of State Rosanna Rosado and Jim Malatras, President, Rockefeller Institute of Government, and Empire State Development for ensuring this funding gets to proven and trusted non-profit organizations in Manhattan. The census bureau’s announcement of its decision to cut short its timeframe and to rush the census means that this funding is needed more than ever by these worthy organizations to beat the clock and ensure that every single of us completes the census.”
For more information and resources, go to the Children’s Aid 2020 Census website.
