The 2020 Census Day is fast approaching and marks the first census to be completed on the internet. Forms will soon be coming in the mail to residents with instructions. Jan Helms, City of Monmouth Census Liason, states the process is very simple:
“It is easy online. It is easy on the questionnaire if you get a paper questionnaire in the mail because you don’t send in your answers online. They have made it as easy as possible to do. You will have a specific code on your mailing that is directed just to you. We will have computers set up at various locations: the library, City Hall, Jamieson Center, United Way, just to name a few, that will have computers that you can come access. We can help you do it, we can’t do it for you, but we can help you do it,” Helms says.
Translators and interpreters will also be available to assist.
April 1st is Census Day and will be the first census that can be filled out online, which brings some uncertainty about the data being safe. Ricky Newcomb, Census Facilitator at the Western Illinois Regional Council, reports completing the census online is very secure:
“The federal government keeps it safe online through multiple levels of online security. It is important to make sure you navigate to the correct website, which will be on all of the literature that both the Census Bureau sends out and that the City of Monmouth, Warren County, and their partners send out. The actual information submitted to the federal government is safe from other federal agencies with regards to the individual information as well by law. You don’t have to worry about it being shared law enforcement or anything else. The Census Bureau is really concerned with just making sure we have an accurate count,” Newcomb shares.
Being counted in the census is very important for various local agencies in receiving funds, including infrastructure, schools, and programs provided by the Warren County United Way.
