In 2019, Yolo County started outreach and education efforts for the 2020 Census. The 2020 Census is mandated by the United States Constitution and its results are used to allocate Congressional seats, electoral votes, and government program funding to state and local governments. Based solely on the funding component, a census that undercounts Californians could cost the state billions of dollars. For every Yolo County resident missed during the Census 2020 count, we lose approximately $1,950 per person, per year, for 10 years. To help engage residents, the County received funding from the State of California in the amount of $127,079 to help educate residents and reach those considered ‘hardest to count’ or those least likely to respond.
The County’s local response was built around compassion, communication and collaboration. Yolo County created a multi-pronged, multi-sensory and multi-lingual approach to Census outreach that was adaptable, flexible and transparent. The County created a local Complete Count Committee comprised of cities, nonprofits, colleges, and many others that planned, assessed and focused on a grass roots approach of individual touch points in familiar surroundings. This approach met residents ‘where they were,’ creating genuine relationships, community buy-in and trust.
Most of the education work was done before the pandemic and included training sessions, presentations, print material distribution, and more. This pre-work was crucial in allowing partners and the County to adjust strategies and still get residents to complete their survey. Partners included agencies like Yolo Community Foundation, Yolo Food Bank, First 5 Yolo, Yolo County Children’s Alliance, Yolo Healthy Aging Alliance, Winters Hispanic Advisory Committee, RISE Inc., UC Davis Center for Regional Change, UC Davis, Sac City, Woodland Community College, school districts, all four cities, and many others.
The Census officially concluded on October 15, 2020.
A. FUNDING
Funding from the State of California was provided directly to local jurisdictions two ways, the first was directly to counties, in which Yolo County received $127,079 and through community based organizations, which in Yolo County the State designated Yolo Community Foundation to receive $147,015 for supporting local efforts. Yolo County and Yolo Community Foundation collaborated together to allocate funding into crucial topics and populations while preventing overlap or repetitiveness. The County concentrated funding on advertising, distribution items, and vendors while Yolo Community Foundation concentrated on funding partners in hard to reach areas.
Here is a breakdown of the County’s funding:
| CATEGORY |
AMOUNT |
Advertising
(i.e. Yolobus, radio ads, tv spots, mailers, cold calling, Spanish and Russian paid media, etc.) |
$81,428.59 |
Printing
(i.e. flyers, posters, ink) |
$3,345.04 |
Swag Items
(i.e. tote bags, stickers, giveaways, items for homeless kits) |
$16,321.59 |
| GIS |
$11,739 |
| Food |
$585.77 |
| Administrative |
$12, 707.90 |
Here is a breakdown of Yolo Community Foundation’s funding:
| GRANTEE |
Amount |
| Associated Students University of California Davis Business Office |
$ 3,486 |
| Computers 4 Kids |
$ 4,610 |
| Health Education Council |
$ 5,000 |
| International House Davis |
$ 4,975 |
| Latino Center of Art and Culture (for Teatro Nagual) |
$ 5,000 |
| Lead4Tomorrow |
$ 2,500 |
| Mutual Housing California |
$ 5,000 |
| Center for Regional Change |
$ 4,650 |
| RISE Rural Innovations in Social Economics |
$ 39,256 |
| Yolo County Children's Alliance |
$ 29,740 |
| Yolo Crisis Nursery, Inc |
$ 2,500 |
| Yolo Food Bank |
$ 24,298 |
| Yolo Healthy Aging Alliance |
$ 5,000 |
| Yuba College Foundation (for Woodland Community College) |
$ 5,000 |
| Outreach via Spafford-Lincoln |
$ 6,000 |
Each of the grantees for the Yolo Community Foundation focused on hard to count communities in which they were a trusted messenger. They were selected because they had strong relationships within the target community, were knowledgeable about how best to communicate with them and had existing resources for reaching that community.
B. (EXTENDED) TIMELINE
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial timeline for the Census was pushed back to provide partners, counties and the Census Bureau more time to engage residents and review the final data. Below are some of the dates and phases that were given a revised deadline:
| |
Planned Schedule |
Revised Schedule* |
| Self Response Period |
March 12 – July 31, 2020 |
March 12 – October 15, 2020 |
| Nonresponse Follow Up |
May 13 – July 31, 2020 |
July 16 – October 15, 2020 |
Group Quarters Count
(i.e. senior care, dorms, etc.) |
April 2 – June 5, 2020 |
April 2 – September 3, 2020 |
Service Based Enumeration
(i.e. soup kitchens, shelters, etc.) |
March 30 – April 1, 2020 |
September 22 – September 24, 2020 |
| Homeless Count |
April 1, 2020 |
September 23 – September 24, 2020 |
Census Process Apportionment Counts
(population, final housing, un-duplication) |
December 31, 2020 |
Likely January 9, 2021 or later** |
| Census Redistricting Data Deadline |
March 31, 2021 |
Unsure yet if extended but CB will try to stick as close as possible to this date. |
| State of CA Redistricting Deadline |
October 31, 2021 |
Peremptory extension date of 12/15/21 if data received later than expected |
* Link
** Link
C. GIS
The Census is also an important time in which counties and states are able to make edits and review data points pertaining to the following programs that impact funding, boundaries, reporting, and statistics.
Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS): The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the BAS annually to collect information about selected legally defined geographic areas. The BAS is used to update information about the legal boundaries and names of all governments.
Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA): LUCA is the only opportunity offered to tribal, state, and local governments to review and comment on the U.S. Census Bureau's residential address list for their jurisdiction prior to the 2020 Census. The Census Bureau relies on a complete and accurate address list to reach every living quarters and associated population for inclusion in the census.
New Construction: The New Construction Program provides tribal, state, and local governments an opportunity to update the U.S. Census Bureau’s residential address list with living quarters for which construction is in progress during or after March 1, 2018 and completion is expected by Census Day, April 1, 2020.
Participant Statistical Areas Program (PSAP): The PSAP enables invited participants to review and update selected statistical area boundaries for 2020 Census data tabulation following U.S. Census Bureau guidelines and criteria. Standard statistical geographies include census tracts, block groups, census designated places and census county divisions (in selected states).
Redistricting: The results of the census are used to adjust or redraw electoral districts based on where populations have increased or decreased. State legislatures or independent bipartisan commissions are responsible for redrawing congressional districts. The U.S. Census Bureau provides states with population counts for this purpose.
D. OUTREACH
Outreach took on many forms locally during the 2020 Census and evolved once the COVID-19 pandemic started. Yolo County staff attended more than 70 events, including community meetings, senior center events, Christmas parades, library events, back to school nights, and many more. In addition, County staff worked with departments and staff to advertise the Census, including election advertisements, YoloWorks job fairs, WIC packets and texts, 211 questionnaires, webpage icons, and many more.
Below are some (not all) of the outreach tactics that were used for the 2020 Census:
- Posters placed at post offices, businesses, laundromats, restaurants, senior centers, and more.
- Essential kits for the unsheltered including information and fundamentals like first aid, blankets, lights, food and more.
- Monthly flyers delivered to the Yolo Food Bank for distribution
- Presentations at all the senior centers, including inserts in senior center mailers and emails
- Farm worker outreach at migrant centers and farms and through Yolo Farm Bureau
- Inserts in utility bills for the cities of Davis, Winters, Woodland and West Sacramento and Waste Management and Recology
- Back to school night tabling at various schools throughout the County
- Presentations and handouts to teachers and students K-College level
- Cold calling more than 4,000 residents in the Capay Valley and Knights Landing about the Census
- Radio ads geotargeting Latinos in Yolo County
- Facebook ads geotargeting Latinos in Yolo County
- Instagram and Twitter campaigns
- Magazine inserts
- Facebook group presentations
- Social media giveaways for college students
- TV ads on UC Davis campus and flyers on Unitrans
In addition, examples of some of the funded activities through Yolo Community Foundation include, but are not limited to:
- RISE conducted extensive community outreach at events (before the pandemic), at community members' workplaces (e.g., farms), and in the course of providing other services (e.g., food distributions, walk-ins to RISE's facility). In light of the pandemic, the strategy shifted towards no-contact outreach, such as by phone, via flyers and door-hangers, etc. The organization also created radio advertisements, lawn signs, and a large campaign style sign, conducted canvassing, and distributed census messaging via a taco truck and an ice cream truck. It also engaged in outreach via social media and paid media.
- The Yolo County Children's Alliance integrated census outreach into a wide range of existing events, including food distributions, family literacy nights, presentations on local services, and more. They also engaged in phone banking, text banking, and mailings to a large number of community members. The organization also recruited local community leaders to canvas their neighbors and drop off Census care packages that promoted participation.
- The Yolo Food Bank ("YFB") conducted one-on-one outreach and supported census taking during food pickups before the COVID shutdown; after the shutdown, when YFB moved to distributing food boxes to recipients' homes, the organization included census outreach messaging in the boxes. The organization also did outreach via social media and to partner organizations.
- The Center for Regional Change conducted a social media campaign, including competitions and giveaways, to encourage students to fill out the census; it also conducted outreach to various campus organizations to share the same message.
- Family Hui (Lead 4 Tomorrow) conducted digital outreach to its program participants, as well as broader social media outreach, in multiple languages. It engaged in phone-based outreach to its participants, as well as broader phone banking in the communities it serves.
- Mutual Housing California conducted a Yes We County pre-pandemic, then shifted to no-contact outreach with the shutdown. Residents led a text-banking effort, texting the census link and other information to 1000 fellow residents. Staff also engaged in phone- and social media outreach.
- Woodland Community College conducted outreach to students via peer ambassadors, social media, and staff outreach.
E. INITIAL RESULTS
Counting all Yolo County residents was a huge undertaking: counting children, families, the homeless, the elderly, students and everyone in between. The COVID-19 pandemic added additional timeline and outreach issues as many in-person activities were canceled. As a result, the window for the self response period was extended to allow residents from March 12 through October 15, 2020 to respond online, by mail, or by phone. Throughout that eight-month window, Yolo County was consistently in the top 10 counties statewide for self response rate and ultimately finished the self response period with 74.2%, which is higher than the County’s 2010 self response rate of 71.5%, an increase of 2.7%. Out of that 74.2% self response rate, 63% was online, which is no surprise due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following are the self response rates per city in 2020 and 2010:
| |
2020 Self Response Rate |
2010 Self Response Rate |
| Winters |
77.6% ( increase of 1.9%) |
75.7% |
| Woodland |
76.5% ( increase of 1.6%) |
74.9% |
| Davis |
76.6% ( increase of 2.5%) |
74.1% |
| West Sacramento |
73.9% (increase of 4.0%) |
69.9% |
The final tally on counted residents by county and tract are still being tabulated by the Census Bureau and not yet available. However, the State of California’s initial results have been provided, showing that 99.9% of California residents were counted, with 30.3% enumerated in the nonresponse follow up period and 69.6% in the self response period.
After collection activities are complete, Census Bureau experts run and review output from programs to un-duplicate responses, determine final housing unit status, populate any missing housing unit data on household size and finalize the universe to be included in the apportionment count file. The statutory deadline to provide this information is December 31, 2020 but is more likely to be January 9, 2021 or later.*
* Link
F. NEXT STEPS/RECOMMENDATIONS
The next steps of the 2020 Census include receiving the full results and statistics by county from the Census Bureau in mid-2021 and waiting for the final changes and reviews for the GIS programs. |