Complete Count Committee

Census overview:

The U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 2) mandates a headcount every 10 years of everyone residing in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas of the United States. This includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups, citizens, and non-citizens. 

The population totals from the census determine the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives. States also use the totals to redraw their legislative and school districts. The population totals also affect funding in your community, and data collected in the census help decision-makers know how your community is changing.

Challenges related to the census 2020:

• Federal funding for Census 2020 is well below funding levels at equivalent points in previous 10-year Census funding cycles.
• Low federal funding is especially concerning because mail-in response rates declined from 78 percent in 1970 to 63 percent in 2010. The Census Bureau requires greater resources to conduct in-person outreach to households that do not respond to initial Census mailers.
• The Census Bureau plans to include a new question on citizenship status, which it did not test rigorously for its potential to depress response rates.
• Respondents will complete the Census fully online for the first time, adding new challenges for ensuring that even those without ready access to the internet complete their questionnaires.

Framingham's Complete Count Committee:

Serving as an advisor to the Mayor, the Complete Count Committee (CCC) seeks to increase awareness and motivate residents to respond to the 2020 census. The committee includes a cross-section of community members who work to establish creative outreach strategies in Framingham’s hard to count communities. The CCC works closely with the Census Bureau’s Partnership Specialists, the Massachusetts Census Equity Fund, and the Statewide Complete Count Committee.

Framingham's Hard to Count Tracts:

Free workshop/informational session: 

Is your organization interested in learning more about the census and how it affects our community? Please contact Alaa Abusalah at ama@framinghamma.gov or 508-532-5510.