10 | APRIL 9 • 2020 

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B

y now, every American has received an invitation 
to respond to the 2020 U.S. Census. 
This letter from the U.S. Census Bureau 
provides an individual Census ID number for easy 
response on the internet, along with a phone number 
for assistance, with a requested deadline of April 1, 2020. 
Through the next few months, cen-
sus takers will be following up with 
households who do not respond or 
who require special assistance to do 
so. 
The 2020 Census data will allo-
cate federal resources (money) and 
federal representation (the number 
of representatives in the House of 
Representatives) according to the 
population distribution of respon-
dents. So, there’
s a lot at stake. Every 
person needs to be counted.
But there are potential obstacles 
for some respondents, including lack 
of fluency in English, vision limita-
tions, cognitive impairments and 
mental health problems. 
 The U.S. Census Bureau, local 
governments and nonprofit agencies 
are engaged in a multimedia cam-
paign to encourage everyone to com-
plete their census forms. 
 
 “We want to make sure that 
everyone can respond to the 2020 
Census,
” said Char Yates, a Census Bureau media spe-
cialist based out of its regional office in Chicago. Yates 
added that the bureau provides translated web pages and 
guides in 59 non-English languages, as well as in Braille 
and large print.

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Detroit’
s Jews in under-
represented populations 
respond to the 2020 Census.

Time to be 
Counted

Jews in the D

Why It’
s 
Important

Answering nine simple questions 
is estimated to take less than 10 
minutes, but it can help ensure 
that each community receives its 
fair share of $675 billion in fed-
eral funds for highways, police 
and fire protection, job training, 
school lunches, health care and 
much more. 
Many federal program funds 
are allocated based upon pop-
ulation, so the government 
needs to know who lives where, 
including age, housing type 
and other basic demographic 
data. Congressional represen-
tation also is determined by the 
Census. 

Ellen Betel, right, helped her mother, 
Lenore Crawford, complete the 2020 
U.S. Census form online.

ED BETEL

on the cover

