Once every 10 years, our nation undergoes a census, the single best source of information about the demographics and growth potential of the US market.
An accurate census count is critical to the federal government accurately distributing more than $800 billion in federal funds to local communities
each year.
Accurate counts in the census affect federal funding distributions for many public programs, including child care subsidies and the Child and Adult
Care Food Program (CACFP).
They also help allocate funding more equitably for other programs children rely on like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC), the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid, foster care, adoption assistance, Section 8 of the House Act of 1937,
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and community health centers. Learn more here.
Unfortunately, in 2010, the census missed over two million children age 4 and under – or one out of every 10 young children. In fact, so many young
children were missed in the last census that states collectively lost over a half a billion dollars a year ii every year for the last decade. The
number of young children missed in the census has been growing steadily for 40 years.
In 2020, thread supports taking action to reverse the chronic undercount of young children and will help spread the word about the
importance of the 2020 Census to help ensure a complete and accurate count of all Alaskans.
Check back here in January for census fact sheets, special events in your community and other news, or visit Alaska Counts today.