2020 census

In Flint, there’s a push to get as many city residents as possible counted in this year’s U.S. Census.

Anthony Turner is coordinating the city’s census campaign. He says roughly 80% of city residents have responded to the census. 

But Turner admits it will be challenging to get those who haven’t yet responded to do so.

The push is on in Michigan to get as many people counted as part of the U.S. Census as possible.

In Saginaw Wednesday, that meant standing in the rain.

“Did you all fill out your censuses...” a volunteer at a food giveaway in Saginaw patiently asked each driver in a very long line of cars about filling out their U.S. Census forms.

Detroit is mounting a final push to increase its all-important response rate for the U.S. Census.

The city's response rate right now is 49.3%, and the Trump administration has indicated the door-to-door phase of the census will end on September 30th.

The city has hired its own census workers - who will now continue their own door-to-door effort, in addition to federal census employees.   

New research  shows Detroit is the seventh-fastest shrinking big city in the U.S.

Using Census data, the insurance company AdvisorSmith Solutions put out a report on growing cities and shrinking cities. It used the population in 2014 and compared it to 2019.

During that period, Detroit lost 12,600 people, a drop of 0.4%

  Census workers are beginning to knock on doors of households that have not responded to the 2020 census. In Michigan, they’re starting this canvassing in Lansing and Oakland County. Door to door efforts began August 6 and will end on September 30.

Kerry Ebersole-Singh is the Michigan Statewide Census Director. She says the most work needs to be done in Detroit, but that won’t start until next week.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says the city is ready to jumpstart some construction projects that were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but only with health protections in place.

All workers will need to get a COVID-19 test before they go back to work. They’ll also be required to wear masks, and employers will need to perform daily temperature screenings and symptom checks.

The U.S. Census Bureau says it will resume its field operations on June 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s the day when workers will start going door-to-door to interview people who’ve not yet completed their census form online, by phone or by mail.

Concerns over coronavirus forced several top state officials to conduct a town hall promoting the 2020 U.S. Census in an empty auditorium in Flint Thursday.   

The public was barred from attending the event out of concern of potentially spreading the deadly COVID-19 virus.  The event was streamed on Facebook.

The head of Michigan’s Census office is collaborating with other state and federal officials on ways to keep people's concerns about the coronavirus from affecting the Census count. 

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 11 with a victim succumbing in California, the first reported fatality outside the state of Washington.

State officials want people to fill out the Census this year. So there will be multiple town hall meetings across the state.

The 2020 Census in Michigan, which is handled by Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office, will be working with the Attorney General’s office and the Secretary of State to hold the meetings.

Flint’s mayor admits his city should have started preparing for this year’s census a year ago. But he says the city is trying to catch up.

You could see canvassers from the Census Bureau in your neighborhood soon.

The Census Bureau is starting its first major field operation prior to the 2020 Census: address canvassing. Basically, the Census Bureau needs to verify people’s addresses so it can accurately send invitations to respond to and participate in the census. 

Lou Canfield is the city of Grand Rapids' Development Center Manager, and the Grand Rapids 2020 Complete Count Committee liaison. He works with that committee to ensure an accurate count from Grand Rapids.

In wake of reports of communities at risk of being undercounted for the 2020 U.S. census, organizations in West Michigan are investing in ways to make sure people of color fill out the census and are represented.

On Tuesday, Heart of West Michigan United Way, a nonprofit organization in Kent County, awarded grants to 19 agencies in Kent County to support census outreach in undercounted communities.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer says President Trump’s proposed citizenship question on the upcoming U.S. Census form will discourage participation. She says that would cost Michigan political power in Washington as well as federal money for schools, health care, and roads.

“I think with a lot of the rhetoric that’s happening in this country right now to add this question will create fear and will keep us from getting a complete count here in the state of Michigan,” she said.