Committee emphasizing importance of the Census
By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
Lisa Dawsey Smith kicked off the awareness/education phase of the 2020 U.S. Census for members of the Whitewater Rotary Club at their luncheon meeting Jan. 14.
Dawsey Smith is chairwoman of the City of Whitewater Complete Count Committee. Patti Gillette, a partnership specialist for the Chicago Regional Census Center joined her for the presentation at 841 Brewhouse.
Smith serves as president of the Downtown Whitewater Board of Directors and suggested “the single most important part of any community is the people who comprise the community.
“Responding to the Census is important in making sure that all of our community feels that they count on Census day and every day.” Smith added. “This is especially important to our community members who may not be citizens because the U.S. Constitution is quite clear in that all people living in this country are counted, not just citizens.”
Smith emphasized that the information the Census gathers is confidential and that under law the Census Bureau cannot release any identifiable information about individuals, households or businesses, even to law enforcement agencies.
By law, responses cannot be used by any government agency or court in any way. The Census Bureau will not share an individual’s responses with immigration or enforcement agencies or allow that information to be used to determine eligibility for government benefits.
All Census Bureau staff members take a lifetime oath to protect and to keep strictly confidential personal information. Any violation comes with a penalty of up to $250,000 and/or up to five years in prison.
The law states that the information collected may only be used for statistical purposes. To support historical research, the National Archives and Records Administration is permitted to release census records only after 72 years.
From Dawsey Smith’s perspective, many tangible items that impact our daily lives depend on the Census data, including congressional representation, the information the businesses use in deciding where to locate and the appropriation of billions of federal dollars annually for a variety of programs supporting, for example, public schools, colleges and universities.
“The list of items is seemingly endless, and it really is that important that we have accurate counts in our communities,” she said.
“The 2020 Census is your census, and its success depends on you,” Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham said in a news release. “It’s a once-in-a-decade chance to inform how billions of dollars in funding are allocated for critical public services like hospitals and health care clinics, schools and education programs, roads and bridges and emergency response for the next 10 years.”
“We’re excited about the opportunities this project will provide the school district, not only because we’ll be modeling civic duty to our students and their families, but because we’ll gain crucial information on our town’s population that could have an impact on current enrollment, enrollment projections, possible redistricting, supports for community initiatives, allocation of federal funding and even representation in congress,” said Kelly Seichter, staff development and curriculum coordinator for the Whitewater Unified School District.
“The school district plans to support this project however possible, starting with disseminating information on the census process to our families,” Seichter added. “We’re learning through this fascinating process that when every person is counted, opportunities open up.”
Dawsey Smith also talked about the importance of getting as accurate a count as possible.
“The most undercounted demographic nationally is children under the age of 5. This becomes of critical import as these children are anticipated to enter schools prior to the next Census.”
So, an accurate count of these young children is critical for school district planning purposes.
Another demographic group targeted from an accurate Census count in Whitewater includes residents of facilities such as Blackhawk Manor, Fairhaven Senior Services and Mulberry Glenn.
And being a “college town” means University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students should understand Census procedures and their importance.
“It is important that all community members respond to the Census from the location where they use the most resources because the Census appropriates funding for a variety of federal funds, including potential and ongoing infrastructure projects,” Smith Dawsey said. “UW-W students living on and off campus in the City of Whitewater should respond to the Census in Whitewater and not at their parents’/guardians’ home address.”
Smith added another situation about a child who may have a split custody arrangement. She said, “We want those children to be counted where they use the most resources which is in the school district that they attend. An individual may be between residents and perhaps sleeping in a spare guest room or on a couch, but they should be counted as a member of the household in which they are residing at the time the head of household responds to the census.
“Census takers will be visible in the community if response has not been done by April 1,” Smith said. “However, in Whitewater we will begin to see Census workers in the community as early as February for group quarters counts (residence halls, assisted living facilities, apartment complexes where residents do not have a physical mailing address).”
