What Counts for Missouri’s Kids

Governor Parson’s office convened the first meeting of Missouri’s official Complete Count Committee on July 25th. Many states form a state-wide Complete Count Committee in preparation of the United States Decennial Census, which will begin on April 1, 2020. Complete Count Committees work hand-in-hand with the U.S. Census Bureau to plan messaging and outreach that will resonate with the state’s citizens.

All U.S. households are required to respond to the Decennial Census, first conducted in 1790, to provide an enumeration of the population. The count is used to determine legislative representation in the U.S. congress as well as the allocation of federal resources. Complete Count Committees’ are comprised of a broad range of state and local government officials and community leaders from business, education, health care, advocacy, and elected officials. The Missouri Complete Count Committee is comprised of leaders from throughout the state and supported by Governor Parson’s office, Missouri’s state demographer, and the state library.

In addition to the Missouri Complete Count Committee, cities, counties, and other groups around the state form local Complete Count Committees to ensure their community members fully participate. In order to focus Complete Count resources most effectively various tools have been developed by both the U.S. Census Bureau as well as demographic and policy researchers to provide tools and analysis to help states reach out to hard-to-count populations such as the ‘Census 2020 Hard to Count Map’ app created by the City University of New York Center for Urban Research.

News and resources from the U.S. Census Bureau on Census 2020 can be found at the links below:

• Response Outreach Area Mapper
• 2020 Census: How to Get Involved

August 19, 2019