As the U.S. Census gears up for the 2020 count, groups in Washington are training volunteers to make sure communities that are traditionally undercounted are included.
Washington state allocated $15 million to community-based groups to make sure everyone gets counted. Traditionally, immigrants and people of color are undercounted.
Heather Villanueva, who works with the Washington Census Alliance, says people are hesitant to fill out the census form. So, the goal is to have respected community leaders contact respondents one on one.
“We thought that the best to way to get the right information out, and to fight any disinformation, is to actually talk to them with people they trust,” she said.
The so-called “trusted messengers” are being trained now. One point they’ll be conveying is that the people who fill out the census form on time — either online or over the phone — won’t get a visit from a government census worker.
