It is imperative to fill out the census as soon as possible.

By Lauren DeDomenic, Northside Leadership Conference, Allegheny General Hospital Partnership Coordinator

Photo by Lauren Stauffer

The Trump Administration ordered the census count to end on September 30^th in August, reversing the original pandemic extension of October 31^st. On Thursday, September 24^th, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh issued a preliminary injunction to suspend the revised end date for the count and to require the Census Bureau to continue counting until the original October 31^st deadline. As of September 29^th, the Trump Administration appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Census Bureau announced operations would continue until October 5^th.

Despite the possible extension, it is imperative to fill out the census as soon as possible. The Census determines the amount of federal funding that communities receive for schools, healthcare, roads, housing, and more. The census is used to allocate over $1 trillion dollars annually nationwide, and around $39 billion in Pennsylvania. It is estimated for everyone who remains uncounted, we lose $2,000 in federal funding per year. The federal funds can be used locally for everything from the Port Authority to Head Start Programs, which help children prepare for elementary school.

Census data helps to determine the quality of life throughout the Northside community. The extension would allow more time for hard to count or undercounted residents to have the chance to complete the census. Please remind your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors to fill out the census, their livelihood depends on it. Let us make sure the Northside is Counted! To make sure all Northside residents have the opportunity to be counted, census takers will be at the Northside Farmers Market in the Allegheny Commons Park from 3-7pm on Friday, October 2^nd.

For updates on the census deadline, please visit 2020census.gov.

This article is sponsored by the Northside Leadership Conference.

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