Photos of the Event are Available Here
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced the creation of the Suffolk County Complete Count Committee to ensure that all county residents are accurately counted and represented in the 2020 U.S. Census. The goal of the County’s Complete Count Committee is to maximize participation, increase the response rate and educate residents on how to respond. For the first time, the 2020 U.S. Census will allow residents to respond online, in addition to by phone or mail.
The Committee will be comprised of local governments, business organizations, advocacy organizations, ministerial and community organizations to increase awareness and motivate residents to respond to the 2020 Census. In addition, Suffolk County will host a job fair and not-for-profit information session on February 28 and in the subsequent months to ensure that Suffolk County residents have the opportunity to apply for Census jobs, which range in pay from $17.00 per hour to $35.50 per hour.
“An accurate U.S. Census count is vital to not only ensuring everyone is represented, but to ensuring Suffolk County residents get the appropriate state and federal funding,” said Suffolk County Executive Bellone. “Through the work of the Suffolk County Complete Count Committee, our communities can rest assured that Suffolk will be as prepared as possible to guarantee everyone is counted, regardless of race, gender, age or sexual orientation.”
Complete Count Committees are volunteer committees established by state governments, local governments, community leaders and organizations to increase awareness and motivate residents to respond to the 2020 Census. Complete Count Committees play an integral part in ensuring a complete and accurate count of the community in the 2020 Census. During the 2010 Census, nationwide, there were over 10,000 Complete Count Committees formed with the Census Bureau.
While Suffolk County has the fourth largest hardest to count population in New York State, certain populations have historically been disproportionately undercounted in the decennial Census. Approximately 40 percent of Suffolk County's current population lives in hard-to-count neighborhoods and those undercounted can be denied an equal voice in their government, which also translates in a loss of federal and state funding for education, housing, transportation and community development. Suffolk County’s major hard-to-count communities include Islip, West Babylon, Huntington, Lindenhurst, Brookhaven and Riverhead.
These actions complement those at the state level as well. On Monday, the County Executive was appointed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to the New York State Complete Count Commission to inform and help direct the State’s efforts.
Ian Hull, Deputy Regional Director, New York Regional Census Center, U.S. Census Bureau said: “Suffolk County is taking an active role in ensuring a complete and accurate count with the creation of the Complete Count Committee. The 2020 Census is critical to every community in Suffolk County and the creation of this Committee will help make certain everyone is counted in 2020.”
Kevin Law, President and Chief Executive Officer, Long Island Association said: “Ensuring a fair and accurate count in the 2020 Census is important to our economy as the data is used to allocate federal and state funds to our region and businesses rely on the demographic information to find customers and workers. Thus, the LIA commends County Executive Bellone for leading the effort for an accurate count and why the LIA made support for an accurate census count one of its top priorities for 2019.”
David Okorn, Executive Director, Long Island Community Foundation said: “We applaud the leadership of the County Executive in establishing a committee to raise awareness, debunk myths, and support efforts to ensure an accurate population count for Suffolk County because census data affects so much of what matters to us, and our region. An accurate population count is especially important to our hundreds of donors who support education, the arts, environmental protection, food programs, and other safety net programs – as their generous donations cannot get it done alone; appropriate government funding that is informed by census is critical.”
Rebecca Sanin, President/CEO, Health and Welfare Council of Long Island said:“Demographics have shifted rapidly on Long Island necessitating new, innovative strategies to ensure an accurate count. Given that Census data is used to determine the distribution of federal funding for programs that are critical in our communities, every Long Islander is ultimately a stakeholder as so much is at stake for our region.”
Suffolk County has extended invitations to over 80 organizations to become members of the Suffolk County Complete Count Committee inclusive of:
- Urban League of Long Island
- SUNY Suffolk
- Long Island Regional Planning Committee
- Teachers Federal Credit Union
- Child Care Council of Suffolk
- Children's Museum of the East End
- North Fork Spanish Apostolate
- Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce
- Suffolk County Human Rights Commission
- Farmingdale State College
- Town of Babylon
- Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association
- Timothy Hill Children's Ranch
- Healthcare Education Project
- Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk, Inc.
- Long Island Head Start
- Little Flower Children and Family Services
- Long Island Coalition for the Homeless
- Stony Brook Medicine
- Greater Long Island Clean Cities Coalition
- Family Community Life Center
- Suffolk County Veterans Service Agency
- Long Island Black Educators Association
- Women’s Diversity Network
- LIPA/PSEG
- National Grid
- Amistad
- Hudson River Healthcare
- Huntington Resource Center
- Eastern Baptist Association of NY
- AFL-CIO
- Nassau Suffolk Building Trades
- Long Island Farm Bureau
- Suffolk OTB
- Newsday
- Roslyn Savings Bank
- Carecen-Pathway to Citizenship Long Island
- Pronto of Long Island
- Salvadoran Consulate General of Long Island
- Brentwood Chamber of Commerce
- Long Island Hispanic Association of Pastors
- Salvadoran American Chamber of Commerce
- Peruvian Chamber of Commerce
- Economic Opportunity Council of Suffolk Community Based Initiative Program
- Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce
- Islip Town NAACP Branch
- Concern Riverhead
- East End Arts Council
- Suffolk County Historical Society
- Hallockville Museum Farm
- IGHLP Inc.
- Riverhead Community Awareness Program
- Diocese of Long Island Inc.
- Shrine of Our Lady of the Island
- Sacred Heart of Jesus & Mary Roman Catholic Church
- Riverhead United Methodist Church
- Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church
- St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church
- St. Isadore’s Roman Catholic Church
- Kent Animal Shelter
- Literacy Suffolk
- Rural Migrant Ministry
- Organización Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island
- Bridgehampton Child and Recreational Center
- Parrish Art Museum
- New Hour for Women and Children
- United North Amityville Youth
- Riverhead Police Department
- Long Island Home Builders Care Development Corp.
- Long Island Pharmacist Society, Inc.
- Nurses of the Counties of Long Island
- Long Island Housing Services
- Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Long Island
- Long Island Immigrant Alliance
- India Association of Long Island
- Long Island Family Care Coalition
- Herstory
- Long Island Chapter -- National Coalition of 100 Black Women
- 100 Black Men of Long Island
- Suffolk County Asian American Advisory Board
- The Sierra Club of Long Island
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