Colleagues, Please see below for the most recent statement from the Census Bureau regarding the 2020 Census and COVID-19. I will be participating in the call that Beth mentions (tomorrow at 1:00 PM eastern) and will report on any further news. Deborah    From: mailto:GOTC-Census-owner@civilrightscoalition.org <mailto:GOTC-Census-owner@civilrightscoalition.org> On Behalf Of Beth Lynk Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 5:40 PM To: mailto:GOTC-Census@civilrightscoalition.org Subject: [GOTC-Census] Coronavirus and the Census - Updated Census Bureau Statement, Coalition Call and Resources   Hello All,    As we all prepare for peak census operations to begin tomorrow, I wanted to share an update on coronavirus census impacts.    Below you will find the Census Bureau's updated statement and guidance on operational changes and messaging. Note additional guidance from the Census Counts coalition is forthcoming. Keep in mind  that this is a great time to elevate the ways to respond to the census without interacting with people during the self response phase.  A key message to lift:    There are three ways to respond to the 2020 Census from the comfort of your own home - online, by phone or by returning the paper questionnaire! Just a reminder, the website accepting census responses  will go live on March 12 at 2020Census.gov. Households will begin receiving invitations to participate in the 2020 Census March 12-20.  Census Bureau core message: "It has never been easier to respond on your own, whether online, over the phone or by mail—all without having to meet a census taker." (See more below)   I know there additional questions about how this all may impact census outreach. To surface and answer those the Census Counts Campaign and the Funders Census Initiative (FCI) will be holding an update call to discuss operational shifts and resources available in detail on Friday, March 13 at 1 p.m. ET. https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwld-isqjMu_bhI0_e6iUTYEN4SN3wupA.   Thank you.   Beth Lynk   Updated Census Bureau statement: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/statement-coronavirus.html   Census Bureau Statement on Coronavirus and the 2020 Census MARCH 11, 2020 RELEASE NUMBER CB20-RTQ.05 MARCH 11, 2020 — The U.S. Census Bureau is carefully monitoring the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and will follow the guidance of federal, state and local health authorities. We have also established the Census Bureau COVID-19 Internal Task Force to continuously monitor the situation and update our Pandemic Addendum to the Census Bureau Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plan.  Our preparation and contingency planning centers on two key principles: The health and safety of our staff and the public is of the utmost consideration and importance. We must fulfill our constitutional obligation to deliver the 2020 Census counts to the President of the United States on schedule, and we must adhere to our core task of counting everyone once, only once, and in the right place. The key message right now for anyone with questions about how COVID-19 will affect the 2020 Census: It has never been easier to respond on your own, whether online, over the phone or by mail—all without having to meet a census taker. >From March 12-20, households will receive the first of several invitations to participate in the 2020 Census. We are encouraging everyone to respond online as soon as you receive your invitation with the provided instructions to go online. Instructions include the web address for the online questionnaire in English as well as where to respond online in 12 additional languages – ensuring over 99% of U.S. households can respond online in their preferred language. The invitation will also include phone numbers for English and the 12 additional languages – ensuring over 99% of U.S. households can respond over the phone in their preferred language. Telephone assistance is available seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. EDT for those who prefer to respond by phone. Some households—in areas less likely to respond online—will receive a paper questionnaire in the first mailing; all households that have not responded online or by phone will receive a paper questionnaire between April 8 and April 16. The paper questionnaire includes a prepaid postage envelope to return it by mail. Census takers plan to conduct the Nonresponse Followup operation in a handful of communities beginning as early as April 9, and across the country on May 13. Households can still respond on their own during this phase (online and phone response is available through July 31). The Census Bureau will closely follow guidance from public health authorities when conducting this operation, as we do when conducting all field operations.  If we need to delay or discontinue nonresponse follow-up visits in a particular community, we will adapt our operation to ensure we get a complete and accurate count.  Currently, we are successfully conducting fieldwork for some of our non-decennial surveys by phone in areas where we are seeing an outbreak. Similarly, partnership specialists are working with local partners and conducting meetings that may have been in person by phone and teleconference.  We designed our 2020 operations precisely so we could offer multiple ways to respond. In so doing, we are able to make necessary adaptations at the local level for special operations as well. For instance, “group quarters,” the operation which counts people in nursing homes, college dorms, prisons and other institutional living facilities, includes a myriad of ways to respond, such as via eResponse, paper listing or self-enumeration by the facility. The same is true for “service-based enumeration” which counts people experiencing homelessness at the site where they receive services. The site administrators have multiple options for response. In short, where a community, facility or service organization makes a change that would affect any field operation, we will adapt to make sure we are getting the same population counted another way. We will work to share information about any change in operations with local authorities, community partners and the media. We will also work with community partners to continue to encourage self-response through the end of the nonresponse follow-up phase. We also have significant contingency budget to address costs of operational changes. As needed, we will hire additional workers, manage operations out of different offices or mail additional reminders or questionnaires to areas affected by an outbreak. We will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate steps in consultation with public health authorities. ###   From: Beth Lynk Sent: Friday, March 6, 2020 4:46 PM To: mailto:statescount@civilrightscoalition.org <mailto:statescount@civilrightscoalition.org>; mailto:GOTC-Census@civilrightscoalition.org <mailto:GOTC-Census@civilrightscoalition.org> Subject: Update about census outreach in the wake of coronavirus   Hello census advocates,   With the evolving spread and response plans to the https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html, we understand there are questions around how this will or may impact https://qz.com/1812717/the-us-census-has-built-in-resistance-to-coronavirus/, census stakeholder outreach and communities that have been historically missed in the census.    The health and safety of the communities we serve — as well that of the coalition partners and our staff who are so deeply engaged in this work — is paramount, and the Census Counts campaign is closely following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the U.S. Census Bureau.    We thought it may be helpful to send a note to you all with how we are viewing the impact of the virus. This is a great time to elevate the ways to respond to the census without interacting with people during the self response phase.  A few messages to lift:    There are three ways to respond to the 2020 Census from the comfort of your own home - online, by phone or by returning the paper questionnaire! Just a reminder, the website accepting census responses  will go live on March 12 at 2020Census.gov. Households will begin receiving invitations to participate in the 2020 Census March 12-20.  The Census Bureau has plans in place for if/when a pandemic occurs during census operations - this includes the coronavirus. They will continue to stay up-to-date on the status of the virus and adjust their plans accordingly. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/statement-health.html    You should connect with your community leaders, state officials and organizational leadership on any changes to your outreach plans.  However, given that many cities and localities are asking for people to limit the number of large gatherings and many events are being cancelled, we wanted to share some ideas for ways you can potentially divert your resources to still reach your communities! Instead of tabling in-person, use that time to phone bank, text bank or even spend time to create a presence online Ensure there are flyers, palm cards, and materials at grocery stores, community centers, clinics and other essential locations Drop-off literature with information on how to self-respond so that people are still hearing about the census   It’s good to be cautious, but no need to panic! We are not suggesting you change your on-the-ground strategies, you know your community best and can determine where and when this becomes a necessity. It’s always good to ensure you have a plan B or backup plan when it comes to outreach so that you can quickly shift and still support the census in any case.   We are always happy to talk through ways to shift tactics if you are looking for anything specific. We will talk through this more on the https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeD9IZjHKPueDl47K89j_uhPoEWtVQO2dQIIo1sqISnPIkf5Q/viewform?usp=sf_link Monday at 12pm ET (for national groups) and on the https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecMzlvwa6ZH1zwhqPQXdtrBe4sz3uDCA3cfAWq8TPcl3Vozg/viewform Monday at 5pm ET (for state groups).   In the meantime, if you have questions please don’t hesitate to reach out!   Thanks again, Beth   P.S. If you need a friendly (and catchy) reminder to wash your hands - check out https://youtu.be/V9YirNgAzXI from Vietnam!          Beth Lynk (she/ her) Census Counts Campaign Director  The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights The Leadership Conference Education Fund 1620 L Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, D.C. 20036 602-750-6042 – mobile mailto:Lynk@civilrights.org  http://www.civilrights.org/ http://www.censuscounts.org   PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachments may contain privileged or confidential information and is/are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s). Any unauthorized use or disclosure of this communication is prohibited. If you believe that you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. To unsubscribe from this listserv please send email to mailto:gotc-census-unsubscribe@civilrightscoalition.org To unsubscribe from this listserv please send email to mailto:censustaskforce-unsubscribe@civilrightscoalition.org