Not Counting Children in the Census Cost Florida $67.5 Million a Year
Experts believe that nearly 1 million kids under the age of 5 were not counted in the 2010 Census. Everyone in the family needs to be counted on the census form, including babies and young kids, not just adults.
Accurate census data means more benefits for our local communities including getting the schools, hospitals, roads, child care centers, senior centers and other services our families need.
When very young children are not counted, our families and communities cannot access important resources and services like the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Head Start, education programs like Title I funding to schools, IDEA special education funding for children with disabilities, foster care programs, and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program.
Research of the previous census (2010) shows that Florida had the second-largest loss in the nation from undercounting residents younger than 5, at least $67.5 million a year. Again this year Florida’s infants and toddlers, particularly those living in poverty or multi-family households, those in foster care, and immigrants; face the greatest risk of being undercounted in the upcoming 2020 census. This could potentially again cost Floridians millions in losses of federal funds.
“There is not one part of a child’s life that isn’t adversely affected by that loss,” said Roy Miller, founder and president of The Children’s Campaign, a statewide advocacy group. “It affects child care, it affects child welfare, it affects education, it affects health and nutrition. It’s insane not to do everything possible to count every child.”
Florida faces additional challenges in that the Latino population is frequently undercounted, particularly children. Latinos are more likely than non-Latinos to live in hard-to-count places: for example, areas with multi-unit buildings and a high proportion of renters. Latinos are more likely than non-Latinos to live in hard-to-count families and households, such as multigenerational and highly mobile families. Latino adults are more likely than non-Latino adults to believe that young children do not need to be listed on the census form.
Advocates also say Florida’s large immigrant population – including residents here legally – may be fearful of identifying themselves to the federal government. Last year, the administration decided to drop a controversial plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census after the US Supreme Court unanimously rejected the move. However, many national Latino leaders feel that the failed attempt still haunts Hispanics’ perception of the census.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis formed a Complete Count Committee to coordinate with the US Census Bureau, local governments and other groups that already have committees to ensure a full count. Marina Pavlov, Florida Nonprofits’ president and CEO, was appointed to the committee by Governor DeSantis. However, Florida was one of the last states in the union to launch a statewide committee, and there is no funding dedicated to the committee’s efforts. In comparison, California is spending $187 million to promote the census.
For Florida, the biggest incentives for a thorough count are the likely addition of two congressional seats and the federal funding that is based on the results – not just for children’s needs but also for highways, hospitals, water and sewer facilities, job programs and community development block grants that can support, for instance, desperately needed affordable housing projects.
Learn more about how your nonprofit can help at the Census Leadership Training on February 20, 1:30 to 3 pm. This is a seminar led by Margaret D. Sanchez, South Florida Region Census Manager with the NALEO Educational Fund. The NALEO Educational Fund is the nation’s leading nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that facilitates full Latino participation in the American political process, from citizenship to public service, and is diligently working to get the Latino population, especially children, included in the census.
Sources: Kate Santich, Orlando Sentinel, Jan 14, 2020
United States Census 2020
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