The 2020 Census count is underway across the country, and currently Owensboro ranks first amongst Kentucky’s top 10 most populous cities with its response rate of 55.5 percent. Daviess County ranks third out of all counties across the state with a response rate of 56.4 percent.
Though this is good news for members of the Daviess County Complete Count Committee (DCCCC), there is still a long way to go until their goals are met. Due to the spread of COVID-19, the committee has faced some roadblocks along the way.
“Our plan of action that we had begun to put in place was derailed by the coronavirus,” said Chad Gesser, a leading member of the DCCCC.
Gesser and his team had submitted an application for a grant to the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky that focused on the action plan that had been put in place. Gesser said he had felt confident the grant would be awarded to them.
However, the plan called for a number of in-person events in traditionally hard-to-count neighborhoods in Daviess County. The neighborhoods identified are the same ones that currently show the lower response rates on the 2020 census, Gesser said.
“While we do hope we can revisit the plan of action to hold in-person events in those areas, of course, as of now, that plan of action is on hold,” he added.
Because the census determines the amount of federal funding Owensboro and Daviess County will receive over the next 10 years, the results will determine growth and sustainability for most of the city’s and county’s most important programs and services.
Mayor Tom Watson made a video he posted to the City’s Facebook page on April 3, encouraging the residents of Owensboro to use some of their free time while social distancing to complete the census at home.
“The results of the 2020 census will help determine how $675 billion in federal funds will be distributed to our communities every year for the next decade,” he said. “OBKY is directly impacted by our response rate, which determines the number of federal funds we will receive for our roads, our schools, health departments and health services, social service programs, assistance for senior citizens, veterans, low-income families, just to name a few.”
Gesser said there are some other options for the DCCCC, including implementation of digital messaging on marquees and Facebook advertising because there are so many eyes on social media right now .
“My personal opinion is we should stick to these types of messaging until the [social distancing orders] start to be relaxed,” he said. “We certainly cannot plan any door-to-door or face-to-face type activities in the short term.”
While Census Day was scheduled to take place April 1, Gesser said the U.S. Census Bureau’s plan is to accept self responses through the end of the summer.
Though the DCCCC was hoping for a high response rate between 85-90 percent for the 2020 Census, that number is now expected to land somewhere between 75-80 percent.
