The 2020 census count begins in Ohio in April and grassroots organizations are teaming up to ensure this one will be as accurate as possible.
Five Ohio nonprofits - including the 鈥� will share a $250,000 grant to distribute to organizations promoting census participation.
Ohio Children鈥檚 Defense Fund executive director Tracy N谩jera says the money will be used to spread census information to hard to reach groups like new parents, immigrants, students, and racial minorities. She says the impact of inaccurate counts is significant.
鈥淚f we have an undercount similar to what we had in the last census and what researchers are projecting us to have, Ohio could lose out on upwards of $87 million a year.鈥�
N谩jera says the census affects how states receive federal funding and how many congressional districts the state will have.
The grant money comes from the which supports census work nationwide.
The state of Ohio is not appropriating grants for census outreach, but N谩jera says they are still using public service announcements and including information on tax forms to communicate census information to as many people as possible.
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