March 11, 2020
Kim Eckhart, KIDS COUNT Project Manager Dr. Tracy Nájera, Executive Director
614-221-2244 614-221-2244
keckhart@childrensdefense.org tnajera@childrensdefense.org
Ohio Children Younger than Five Years Old were Most Missed Population in the 2010 Census – Statewide Campaigns Fight to Reverse that Trend in Upcoming Count
COLUMBUS – In the 2010 Census, children under the age of five were the most commonly missed population in the decennial count. This undercount was also a particular issue for Ohio and the state is at risk of missing nearly 100,000 in the upcoming count. Missing children in the census count is bad news for our country and particularly for our state. For every individual missed, regardless of their age, Ohio is estimated to lose between $1,200-$1,700 in federal funding. These much needed federal resources support critical programs like Children’s Health Insurance, nutritional programs, Pell grant allocations, small business loans, and infrastructure projects like roads and bridges. The bottom line is that Ohio can’t afford to miss a single person in the 2020 Census.
The state of Ohio is committed to ensuring that everyone is counted. The Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio will be participating in two days of action this month to raise awareness of the 2020 Census and to make sure that parents, kinship care providers, foster parents, direct service providers, and others are aware that they need to count and encourage others to count their young children, babies, and infants in the upcoming census. A five-year-old missed today will not have another opportunity to be counted until they’re in high school and that’s potentially tens of thousands of dollars that their community would have missed.
“We are excited to partner with organizations throughout the country and right here in Ohio to raise awareness about the importance of the census,” said Kim Eckhart, KIDS COUNT Project Manager.
- On March 18th the Count all Kids! day of action will include a statewide social media campaign and Facebook Live event
- March 25th Every Children Counts! day of action will include a series of social media events organized by Groundwork Ohio, Pre4CLE, and the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
“We will also be sharing a communications toolkit for all statewide partners to post images, complete text to pledge cards, and engage in other activities as part of these two days focused on our youngest Ohioans,” said Ms. Eckhart.
CDF-Ohio encourages all organizations that serve parents and young children to participate in one or both of these days of action to make sure that all Ohio children are counted.
For more information, please download the communications toolkit.
Also, visit the Ohio Census Advocacy Coalition for more census information and resources specific to the state of Ohio: https://www.ohiocensus.org/
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The Children’s Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.
2020 Census Young Child Undercount Communications Toolkit 3.11.2020 FINAL