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PRESS RELEASE
Baltimore Census Count to Conclude on October 15 per SCOTUS Ruling
Baltimore will conclude its two-year Complete Count Committee and Census Action Plan with dozens of community organizers, businesses, non-profit and grassroots organizations
BALTIMORE, MD. — Today, Baltimore City will end its Census operations, and the City will now wait for updated population counts from the Census Bureau this spring. Baltimore began Census planning over two years ago. In the fall of 2018, Baltimore launched a Census 2020 Complete Count Committee with former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski and the late Congressman Elijah Cummings as honorary co-chairs. Soon after, a comprehensive Action Plan was released, and the City of Baltimore began identifying partners and trusted messengers in the community to help with the 2020 Census count.
“While we are very frustrated by the Trump administration's decision to abruptly end the 2020 Census count and the Supreme Court of the United States' ruling to uphold their decision, we remain optimistic that our Complete Count efforts over the last two years position us ahead of comparable cities in response rate,” said Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young. “I encourage all residents that have not completed the 2020 Census yet to do so now. I want to thank all of our Complete Count Committee members for your tireless efforts and dedication to the City over these past 2 years and the residents of our city who have gone door-to-door to ensure their neighbors are counted.”
With millions of dollars of federal funding and political representation at stake, Baltimore decided to tap into local organizations and community leaders to reach the hardest-to-count populations in the City. Baltimore’s Census Mini-Grant program distributed over $100,000 to 30 small organizations to provide funding for community events and technology.
The Mount Clare Community Association was one of the recipients of a mini-grant. “Mount Clare has been an underdeveloped and disenfranchised community for decades. We were ecstatic when the Planning Department provided us with the resources to promote the 2020 Census in our "Hard to Count" neighborhood. Many of our residents didn't understand the importance of the Census until we provided personal examples of how the survey would affect resources for them and the future generations, [and the] grant provided us with the opportunity to educate our residents on the importance of completing the census and how it will affect the development or the lack thereof in our community.”
Baltimore's goal is for 73% of households to participate in the 2020 Census. So far, Baltimore's household self-response rate of 56.7% lags just behind our 2010 household self-response rate of 59%. In 2010, there was no Presidential election, online Census platform to explain, pandemic, or inconsistent federal messaging to navigate. Once we include the Census household responses completed by the federal enumerator canvassing effort, we can calculate the overall Baltimore Census household response rate. besting or remaining competitive with the current self-response rates in our peer cities shows the success of the Baltimore Complete Count Campaign as the count arrives at an abrupt conclusion. While Baltimore will fall short of its goal of a 73% self-response rate, comparisons among similar cities show success as the campaign ends. In comparison with Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Memphis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee, Baltimore will conclude with the 3rd highest response rate. When compared to 2010 performance, Baltimore’s -2.8% difference is the 2nd best.
“Baltimore, Detroit and Memphis did better than average based on vacancy rates and 2010 response history,” mentioned Complete Count Committee member, Peter Duvall, “Tremendous progress was made between October 1st and today, possibly averting a complete disaster.”
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