The Shadow
WASHINGTON — Between March 12 and March 20, invitations to participate in the 2020 Census will start arriving in households across the country.
“The Census Bureau is ready for the nation to respond next month,” said Census Bureau Director Dr. Steven Dillingham. “Millions of Americans are applying for 2020 Census jobs, more than 270,000 local and national organizations are engaged, and in less than 30 days the majority of U.S. households will receive an invitation to respond to help ensure that every person in the U.S. is counted.”
“The 2020 Census is on mission, on schedule, and on budget to promote an accurate count,” Dillingham added. “Response is important because statistics from the census are used in distributing where hundreds of billions in funding for school lunches, hospitals, roads and much more. The invitations will remind respondents to include everyone living in the household, whether they are related or not. This includes young children. Your response will impact communities for the next decade.”
This invitation will include instructions on how to respond to the 2020 Census online or by phone.
By April 1, most households will have received an invitation delivered either by mail or by a census taker. In areas of the country that are less likely to respond online, a paper questionnaire will be included in the initial mailing to households.
Reminder mailings will be sent to households that do not respond, and in the fourth mailing every household that has not yet responded will receive a paper questionnaire.
Once households receive invitations, residents can respond to the 2020 Census by using the provided Census ID. If a household is unable to enter the Census ID people can still respond, by providing an address. Whether people respond online, by phone or by mail, it is important to respond right away.
The timeline of how and when the Census Bureau will invite households to complete the 2020 Census questionnaire is:
— March 12-20: Initial invitations to respond online and by phone will be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Areas that are less likely to respond online will receive a paper questionnaire along with the invitation to respond online or over the phone.
— March 16-24: Reminder letters will be delivered.
— March 26-April 3: Reminder postcards will be delivered to households that have not responded.
— April 8-16: Reminder letters and paper questionnaires will be delivered to remaining households that have not responded.
— April 20-27: Final reminder postcards will be delivered to households that have not yet responded before census takers follow up in person.
If a household does not respond to any of the invitations, a census taker will follow up in person sometime between May 13 and July 31.
