Panel Discussion: AAPI & CENSUS 2020 COMPLETE COUNT
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Summit Event: AAPI & Census 2020 Complete Count, 1:20 pm
- Moderator: Edwin Tan, AACI Director of Advocacy & Development
- Nick Kuwada, Manager, Office of the Census, Santa Clara County
- Anne Im, Immigration Program Officer, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
- Kelly Batson, Senior Vice President, Community Impact, United Way Bay Area
- Discussant: Karthick Ramakrishnan, Director, Center for Social Innovation
The panel discussion focused on the following subjects:
Why does the Census Matter?
Funding:
- $ 675 distributed annually
- California’s share $ 76 billions
- Funding is distributed based on Census
Political Power:
- Congressional representation
- Reapportionment and redistricting
- 1990 undercounted cost a California Congressional seat
What are some of the barriers to an accurate count?
- Citizenship question may be intimidating
- Language barrier
- Multiple families live under one roof
- Not enough ethnic volunteers, community outreach persons, paid staff
- Undocumented status
- Distrust of immigration enforcement
- Cultural barriers
- The census will be taken online which could be a barrier to participants who are less computer literate.
What actions are being taken?
- Santa Clara County established the Office of Census with a website to inform and to make sure that our communities are not undercounted.
- United Way is hiring staff and giving grants to ensure the 2020 census is taken correctly.
- SVCF (Silicon Valley Community Foundation) is engaging in advocacy and grant-making to Bay Area nonprofits as part of the Bay Area Census Funders Collaborative.
- All the participating organization has websites where you can find more information.
- AAPI Data has many sources of census information as it relates to Asian Americans on their website.