Md. Complete Count Committee is working to get everyone to participate.
Frederick, Md (KM) It will soon be time to stand up and be counted. The 2020 Census is coming, and the state is reminding residents that their census forms will be arriving in the mail next year.
“Basically, everybody needs to be counted from a baby to a senior. Everybody counts,” says Lillian Castillo-Harris, who chairs the Maryland Complete Count Committee. She was a guest recently on WFMD’s “Success Happens.”
Census Day is April 1st, 2020; that’s the date when every living person in the United States, including those who are not U.S. citizens, is asked to fill out their census forms and submit them by mail. “We can do it on line. We can do it by phone; or you will be able to have someone coming and knock {on} your door,” says Castillo-Harris.
She says filling out those census forms helps ensure that Maryland receives its fair share of funding for such federal programs as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicare and the Children Health Insurance Program; along with education, transportation and emergency preparedness programs.
The Maryland Department of Planning estimates for every resident who does not fill out a census form, that can cost the state $18,250 per person. In the end, that adds up, according to Castillo-Harris. “So can you image the deficit in the last 20 years when it comes up to around $26.6-billion that we have not received because we don’t understand the importance of filling {out} this form and return to the Census Bureau,” she says.
Castillo-Harris says an undercount could leave Maryland vulnerable in case of an emergency. “What happened if a catastrophic situation comes,” she asks. “The weather and the environment is changing every day. What happens if something major comes to our state, and we are undercounted.?”
In addition to securing the state’s fair share of federal money, the 2020 Census also determines Maryland’s Congressional representation.
By Kevin McManus