SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, along with elected officials from throughout the seven-county region, are joining together to emphasize the importance of Census 2020 participation by all Southeast Michigan residents.
“An accurate portrait of our population is essential to the future of Southeast Michigan, which is why our region’s leaders are coming together with a unified voice to support participation in the 2020 Census,” said Kathleen Lomako, Executive Director of SEMCOG in a press release. “Census statistics are essential to planning for future needs and to ensuring that Southeast Michigan receives the federal funds we deserve.”
What the Census is:
The Census is a count of every person who lives in the United States and its territories. It is performed by the U.S. Census Bureau every 10 years. Every resident of the United States is being asked to respond to the Census with a count of each person living in their home as of April 1, 2020.
The 2020 Census can be completed online, by phone, or via a paper questionnaire.
Why the Census matters:
Results of the 2020 Census will inform decisions about allocating hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding to communities across the country – for hospitals, fire departments, school lunch programs, and other critical programs and services.
The census helps to determine federal funding distributions for roads, schools, emergency services, public transportation, libraries, and more.
Results affect planning and funding for infrastructure – including programs for highway planning and construction, Section 8 housing, federal transit, community development, and rural water and waste disposal systems.
After each decade’s census, state officials redraw the boundaries of the congressional and state legislative districts to account for population shifts.
Privacy and data security:
By federal law, census information is private and confidential.
Personal information shared with census cannot be used against you or anyone else by any government agency or court.
Your responses can only be used to produce statistics. They cannot be used for law enforcement purposes or to determine your eligibility for government benefits.
The Census Bureau encrypts all responses submitted online and stored in its computers. To support historical research, Title 44 of the U.S. Code allows the National Archives and Records Administration to release census records only after 72 years.
Learn more at www.2020census.gov.
