BARNSTABLE – Secretary of State William Galvin will be hosting a strategy session in Barnstable this week to help develop strategies for the upcoming 2020 United States Census.
The goal is to ensure a complete and accurate count of area residents.
Statewide Complete Count Committee Chair Eva Millona and members of the region’s legislative delegation will also take part in the the Cape Cod Census Awareness & Training Event on November 13th at 2 p.m. at Barnstable Town Hall.
Galvin, who serves as the Commonwealth’s official U.S. Census liaison, will be briefing those in attendance on the particular challenges of reaching hard-to-count populations in the Cape & Islands region.
The area has faced a steady decline in the official count of the population, which can result in a loss of federal funding and political representation.
Of particular concern are snowbirds, residents who travel to warmer areas for the winter, and who may miss out on being counted at home when census forms are delivered in mid-March.
“We’re trying to very specific about dealing with some of the unique problems that the Cape has in terms of making sure it gets an accurate and complete count,” said Galvin.
“One of the issues obviously is you have a lot of residents who during the winter months leave the Cape because of their age, or retirement plans or whatever, and they might not be back by April 1st, which is Census day.”
Other factors complicating the counting process for the area include a high percentage of residents who do not receive mail at home, a rising homeless population, and foreign-born works who may be unaware that they should be counted in the census or who may be fearful of being counted.
“There is a lot of confusion created by the national administration about the whole issue of citizenship,” said Galvin.
“Every person is to be counted, not simply those who are United States Citizens, every person. It’s very important for us to make sure they’re all included.
Galvin and Complete Count Committee Chair Eva Millona, who also serves as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, will be speaking to community leaders, organizational staff, and volunteers working on census outreach.
Also addressing the attendees will be Cape Cod Commission Executive Director Kristy Senatori.
The Cape Cod Commission chairs the Cape Cod Complete Count Committee, which is working in conjunction with the Statewide Complete Count Committee to conduct outreach to local residents.
Immediately following the strategy session, a workshop will be held for those in attendance on implementing plans to reach out to hard-to-count populations in the region and get them counted in the 2020 Census.
For resources or more information on the Census, visit www.ma2020census.org.
Those interested in attending the event may contact Galvin’s Census Division at [email protected] or by calling 1 833 621 2020.
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