Every person matters: Census responses equal roughly $4,000 in federal funding

Madison County ranks in the bottom third for census responses among counties across the state, putting millions of federal dollars for schools and other local programs at risk. Barely half of Madison County households have self-responded – 50.8% to be exact – according to a University of North Carolina release dated Aug. 7.

Every census response equals about $4,000 annually in federal funding, according to Rebecca Tippett, founding director of Carolina Demography, part of UNC Carolina Population Center. That means residents who don’t respond could cost Madison County $40,000 in federal funding over the 10 years of the ongoing census count.

“Every person, every response, matters,” Tippett said in a phone interview.

Enumerators hit the road

Census takers – also known as enumerators – are just this week beginning to make visits to homes across the country without a census response on file. Starting Aug. 11, employees of the U.S. Census Bureau will be visiting homes, taking responses and leaving door cards behind in Madison County and across North Carolina.

Census workers can be identified by a badge, bag and electronic device all with the bureau’s logo. They visit homes only between 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

“You can avoid that knock by completing the census online (my2020census.gov), by phone (calling 844-330-2020) or returning the form by mail,” Tippett said.

Community-led effort

While enumerators with the census bureau go door-to-door, a resident-led effort in Spring Creek is also encouraging and collecting responses. Members of the Spring Creek Community Center (SCCC) have for weeks made calls to neighbors and set up shop in Hot Springs to generate more responses locally.

“It’s a pretty sad state of affairs,” Alice McVey, an SCCC board member, said in July of the local response rate. At the time, just 36% of homes in the Hot Springs zip code had responded. “It’s very poor.”

McVey said the SCCC’s effort, part of a regional program through WNC Communities and the Dogwood Trust, has helped get around 50 residents to respond. “Every time we talk with someone, we ask, ‘Can you ask your neighbor to respond?’”

Critical funding

Census-derived federal dollars are essential to efforts educating children and combatting poverty in Madison County.

“The Census impacts federal funds that communities like Madison County receive each year for programs and services that are critical to schools such as Free and Reduced priced lunches, Special Education, Head Start, and classroom technology,” Will Hoffman, superintendent of Madison County Schools wrote in an email. “The importance of the U.S. Census to the well-being of our children and the strength of our public schools cannot be overstated.”  

More than $500 million in federal support comes to North Carolina for programs, like Head Start, that help provide a strong start for kids 0-4, according to Carolina Demography. States – and counties – that generate more census responses receive more money to support the programs.

Beyond just funding for children’s programs, Tippett said the census serves as a representation of American values and will be critical to rebounding from the ongoing pandemic. “The census is the most democratic and inclusive thing we do as a county. And a complete and accurate census will be critical to deal with and recover from coronavirus across the state.”