CAA celebrated #CensusDay the best way we know how – by getting out the count. For every person not counted in the #2020Census California risks losing up to $20,000 of federal funding for crucial public programs. In addition, an undercount could also jeopardize California’s number of congressional seats.
That is why we have been engaging with the Limited English Proficient Chinese immigrant community to make sure they receive accurate and up to date information in language accessible materials so they can easily take part in the count.
Hong Mei Pang, Director of Advocacy states, “Census is the cornerstone of America’s democracy. Our participation is safe and confidential, and an accurate count is necessary to retain California’s political representation in Congress.”
Pang continued, “Furthermore, it ensures that our communities can get a fair share of taxpayer-funded resources for public programs that can support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, while investing in our children and California’s future.”
Vulnerable communities like communities of color and immigrants are historically undercounted for a variety of factors like lacking language accessible materials and a mistrust of the federal government. That undercount means missing out on crucial federal dollars that fund life saving public programs. In addition, the 2020 Census is the first to be primarily digital and exclude a paper form in Asian languages which can be an initial steep hurdle for many of our community members.
Our staff and Census Outreach Specialists have been phone banking and conducting digital outreach via WeChat to reach immigrant Chinese communities to motivate participation and make their voice heard. We are also providing phone-based questionnaire assistance and sharing virtual Census information in Chinese (Traditional Chinese; Mandarin and Cantonese). Community members can call 415.761.3222 or access Census news and information via CAA’s Official Wechat account: CAASF2019.
“We’ve engaged in a communications strategy to really help motivate participation, but also have worked on policy measures to remove the barriers related to language access,” Pang said. “We have launched an official subscription account on a very popular site called “We Chat” to facilitate information sharing, dispel myths, and encourage people to participate in the census.”
Do your part and be counted today! Find easy ways to fill out the census below and get in touch if you or some you know needs help with the survey.
• Online via my2020census.gov (English, Chinese Simplified, and 11 other languages)
• Phone (English: 844-330-2020; Mandarin: 844-391-2020; Cantonese: 844-398-2020)
• Paper questionnaires (English/Spanish only) will be mailed to addresses that have not yet responded between April 8-16
