TITLE
WITHDRAWN
Recommendation to receive and file a presentation on the status of Census 2020 planning and direct City Attorney to prepare a resolution to establish a City of Long Beach 2020 Census Complete Count Committee. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
The decennial census is a point-in-time population and housing count of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Island Areas as of April 1st of each census year. Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution mandates an enumeration of everyone residing in the U.S. every ten years. This includes people of all ages, races, ethnic groups, citizens, and noncitizens. Population totals are due to the President by December 31st of the census year for reapportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and to the states one year from census day for redistricting, to define representative boundaries for congressional, state, and local legislative districts. Results of the decennial census also determine sampling frames (address lists) for the American Community Survey (ACS) and other Department of Commerce-Census Bureau (Census Bureau) surveys that, in turn, produce essential trend-data on the economy, housing, crime, poverty, unemployment, health, education, and other demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
Decennial census data are also used as a basis to facilitate the distribution, directly and indirectly, of more than $675 billion in annual federal funds. These funds are received through 132 programs and delivered to states and local communities, providing them with essential resources for public safety, transportation, environmental protection, housing, health and human services, community and economic development, and education. The State of California (State) receives approximately $77 billion in federal funding each year. The City of Long Beach (City) receives more than $80 million annually in federal funding and approximately $32 million in non-federal population-based grants. According to the California Department of Finance, the State could lose $1,950 per year for ten years for each person not counted in the decennial census. Combined with the importance of ensuring for an equitable share of political representation and federal resources, accurate decennial census data are foundational to reliable research, planning, and informed decision-making concerning the advancement of public policy, commercial enterprise, philanthropy, and other related public and private interests impacting the well-being of states and local communities.
California is designated by the Census Bureau as the hardest to count state in the nation, with approximately 10.4 million Californians living in census tracts and block groups labeled “hard-to-count” (HTC). The Census Bureau currently defines a HTC census tract or block group as one where more than 27 percent of households are not likely to complete the decennial census questionnaire, based on mail-return rates in 2010. HTC groups generally include, but are not limited to, racial and ethnic minorities, low-income communities, highly-mobile residents, people residing in non-traditional housing or experiencing homelessness, and particularly young children under age five. Los Angeles County (County) is the largest county in the nation with the highest number of HTC census block groups. Long Beach has the second highest number of HTC census block groups of any city in the county, behind Los Angeles.
Changes in Methodology
The Census Bureau is facing significant financial constraints for the 2020 Census. To contain costs and concurrently ensure a high-quality population count, the Census Bureau is leveraging technology to implement a modernized and more efficient 21st Century decennial census. In 2020, the nation will experience its first ever digital census that will also rely heavily on automation and the use of administrative records and third-party commercial data for its administration. With these administrative changes, there will be a reduction in field-operations (offices and outreach) and greater reliance on technology for the population count. The Census Bureau also has decided to add a citizenship status question to the decennial census questionnaire for the first time since 1950. This decision is subject to the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court decision expected in June 2019 on litigation by several states and cities, including New York and California, to prevent the addition of the citizenship question. The City is a co-petitioner in California’s case, along with Los Angeles County and the Cities of Los Angeles, Oakland, Freemont, and Stockton.
With these historic administrative changes by the Census Bureau to the decennial census, several new census undercount risk factors have become apparent. Risk factors generally include:
• Having a complete and accurate address list on file with the Census Bureau;
• Convenient access to computers and/or broadband service and level of digital literacy, particularly for HTC populations;
• Heightened privacy and trust concerns, particularly with immigrant communities;
• Language access for linguistically diverse communities; and,
• Availability of physical locations where people can complete or receive assistance with completing the census questionnaire.
To account for these historic changes to the decennial census, the State has made an unprecedented investment of $100.3 million for 2020, to support planning and outreach efforts statewide. This investment includes $10 million in FY 2017-18 to encourage local jurisdictions to participate in the Census Bureau’s Local Update to Census Addresses (LUCA) program and $90.3 million in FY 2018-19 for State and local census outreach. The State’s focus is primarily on engaging HTC communities in the census to avoid an undercount and any subsequent loss of resources and Congressional representation. An additional $54 million is proposed for the FY 2019-20 State Budget. As a comparison, for the 2010 Census, the State allocated $2.1 million for statewide census planning, likely a reflection of the State budget crisis occurring at that time. The most recent significant State investment in the decennial census occurred in 2000, which was $24.7 million. Of the $90.3 million available in FY 2018-19, the State has allocated $26.7 million for direct contracts with counties across ten regions to administer and distribute census funding to local communities across the State. Counties will contract with and allocate funding to cities. Due to the level of need, the County received a funding allocation of $9.3 million - the largest of any region. The City expects to receive $322,000 from the County to support census planning and outreach for HTC areas. Most cities are relying exclusively on counties to lead census outreach. However, some cities, like Long Beach, are being proactive to do much more to ensure for a locally-tailored approach that complements and strengthens County outreach efforts. The State also allocated $27 million to contract directly with large Administrative Community-Based Organizations (ACBOs) focusing either on outreach to HTC populations statewide or HTC areas within a designated region. Region-specific ACBOs will administer funding to smaller, local community-based organizations for HTC outreach. The California Community Foundation was selected as the ACBO for the County region. A comprehensive breakdown of the State’s Census 2020 funding, qualified activities, and corresponding allocations is available at: <https://census.ca.gov/funding/>.
City of Long Beach Approach
The Mayor’s Office and City Manager’s Office have engaged with City departments and local community-based organizations to ensure everyone in our community is counted. As an initial step of Phase I planning, the City completed its LUCA project in the summer of 2018, an eight-month process to update the City’s Master Address File with the Census Bureau. As part of this effort, the City identified 5,800 new address locations through a combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology records and the engagement of five local community-based organizations (Centro Cha, United Cambodian Community, St. Luke Holy Baptist Church, Latinos in Action, and LB Forward) in a pilot community-based canvassing initiative. Phase I also consisted of several other community engagement efforts, culminating with a collaboration with the State Census Office to sponsor one of the 24 Statewide Regional Readiness Assessment Convenings at the Long Beach Convention Center on August 2, 2018.
In September 2018, the City Census Team initiated Phase II by hiring an Executive FUSE Fellow to work with organizational and community stakeholders to develop a 2020 Census Engagement and Mobilization Plan. The goal of Phase II planning is to develop a strategic action plan for Census 2020 to guide community engagement and mobilization efforts, in coordination with the City, community organizations, and the Los Angeles County Complete Count Committee (LAC-CCC), led by the County and City of Los Angeles, in a manner that is consistent with statewide planning priorities. The primary objective of Phase II planning is to build the required organizational infrastructure within the City and community. The City Census Team has built relationships with key community partners, engaged in Countywide Census 2020 planning, activated City departments in an internal planning process, and begun forming the structure of a Long Beach Complete Count Committee (LB-CCC).
The LB-CCC will be an advisory body of community leaders, responsible for guiding the development and implementation of a strategic and broad-based public awareness and outreach campaign, to enable full participation of Long Beach residents in the 2020 decennial census. The structure of the LB-CCC will include an Executive Steering Committee and a system of subcommittees (Census 2020 Action Teams). The Mayor will invite members to participate on the Executive Steering Committee, which will consist of not more than 25 members. Subcommittees will be determined by the needs of the project and approved by the Executive Steering Committee. Members of the LB-CCC will generally include representative community-stakeholders from the following areas: Community- and Faith-based Organizations; Local Government; Education; Public Health; Business; Workforce Development; Housing; Neighborhoods; Public Engagement (Media, Special Events, Volunteers); Information Technology; and, Language and Disability Access.
To date, Phase II activities have focused on intensifying partner and stakeholder engagement, expanding organizational engagement, creating a strategic plan framework, and developing the organizational structure for a local Complete Count Committee. The City Census Team currently continues to make progress on Phase II efforts. An outline of Census 2020 phases is provided below:
Phase 1: Convene, Collaborate, and Capacity Build - FY 17/18
Phase 2: Educate, Motivate, and Activate - FY 18/19
Phase 3: Count (Deploy, Count, Assess) - FY 19/20
This presentation updates the City Council on implementation of the Census 2020 planning efforts to date, and recommends the adoption of a Resolution to establish a LB-CCC as the next step of Phase II. The City Census Team will provide additional updates at key milestones of the Census 2020 process.
This matter was reviewed by Principal Deputy Attorney Gary J. Anderson and Budget Management Officer Rhutu Amin Gharib on May 10, 2019.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on May 21, 2019, to allow timely implementation of the Census 2020 outreach efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
The requested action is expected to have a significant impact on staff hours beyond the normal budgeted scope of duties and is consistent with existing City Council priorities. Temporary staffing and some contractual services will be necessary to support management and coordination of LB-CCC Census 2020 activities. Staff will draw upon the $322,000 in State funding provided through the City’s contract with the County, but will also likely need additional one-time City resources to meet the needs of the campaign. The City’s Census 2020 campaign will also require significant staff resources from City departments that could impact existing priorities. Any additional one-time resources needed for the campaign will be requested as part of the FY 20 budget development process.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER