Why the Census Matters to Shelby County

The census is a count of everyone living in the United States every 10 years. The census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. The next census is in 2010. Your participation in the census is required by law. It takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Federal law protects the personal information you share during the census. Census data are used to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute billions in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year.

Census data is used to determine how the community is changing and what its needs are.

MONEY: Congress uses census data to allocate funds under various federal grant programs to state and local governments. Many grant programs also rely on census data. Because the annual population estimates use the census counts as a base, if a community's population is undercounted in the census, these funds get misallocated for an entire decade. What are some things that are impacted by census data?

Medicaid Highway Planning and Construction Unemployment Insurance Foster Care Social Services Grants

Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Grants Vocational Education Community Development Block Title 1 Grants to Schools Emergency Food and Shelter

What Is a Person Worth?

Eighteen of the largest federal grant programs rely (at least in part) on census data to apportion funds totaling almost ½ trillion dollars each year. Simply put, each person’s count is estimated to equate to $826 per year. As such, if you are not counted in Shelby County the economic impact could be $8,260 or more over the next decade! And that’s just for one person! If the census for Shelby County is undercounted by just 1% the loss could be over $16M in lost federal funds!

REPRESENTATION:

Census data is used to determine U.S. Congressional and Local representation. This includes the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and local representatives in the Alabama state legislature.

Accurate local statistical data is used for determining school and state legislature districts; to assist with infrastructure, public health, environmental protection, and disaster relief services amongst other services. Many state-funded grant programs also rely on Census data. Because the annual population estimates use the census counts as a base, if a community's population is undercounted in the census, these funds get misallocated for an entire decade.

HOW:

The Census Bureau will mail or deliver questionnaires to your house in March 2010. A second form will be mailed to households that do not respond to the initial questionnaire.

Households that still do not respond will be called or visited by a Census worker.