About ¡Hazme Contar!

The ¡Hazme Contar! Campaign, is a sub-campaign of NALEO Educational Fund’s national ¡Hágase Contar! Census 2020 Campaign with a specific focus on ensuring the full count of young Latino children across the country.

The ¡Hazme Contar! Campaign will work with local and national partners, educators, school board members, childcare providers, and parent leader groups to ensure they have the tools, information, and resources needed to inform their community about the importance of counting all children in the household.

Campaign partners will have access to a variety of resources, including sample curriculum, template resolutions for school boards, informational material, sample presentations for educators and parent leaders, a comprehensive census toolkit, and earned media opportunities.  These items are in addition to NALEO Educational Fund’s existing bilingual information resources, including our national hotline (877-EL-CENSO) and website.

We look forward to working with individuals, organizations, and local and national media partners to ensure a full count of all Latino kids!

Importance of Counting All Children in 2020 Census

• • The census consistently undercounts children younger than age 5 at a much higher rate than any other age group.
  
  
• • The 2010 Census failed to count almost one million children ages 0-5.
  
  
• • The net undercount rate for young Latino children was 7.1 percent, compared to 4.3 percent for non-Latinos.
  
  
• • Approximately 400,000 young Latino children ages 0 to 4 were left uncounted by the 2010 Census.
  
  
• • Five states—California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, and New York—accounted for 72 percent of the national net undercount of young Latinos.
  
  
• • The undercount of young children means less federal funding for key federal assistance programs.
  
  

Counties with Highest Net Undercount of Latino Children

Why does this happen?

• Latinos are more likely than non-Latinos to live in hard-to-count places: for example, areas with multi-unit buildings and a high proportion of renters.

• Latinos are more likely than non-Latinos to live in hard-to-count families and households, such as multigenerational and highly mobile families, and households with complex relationships.

• Latino adults are more likely than non-Latino adults to believe that young children do not need to be reported on the census form.

Implications of an Undercount of Latino Children

• The undercount of Latino children reduces potential federal funding for state programs serving low-income families.

• Four federal assistance programs—Head Start; the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); the Child Care and Development Block Grant; and the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant—distribute $20 billion annually to states and localities based, at least in part, on census counts of the population under age 5.

• Yet 62 percent of young Latino children—more than 11 million boys and girls—currently live in or near poverty.

Everyone Counts on Census Day – April 1, 2020

• • Every household should fill out a 2020 Census form (either online, or by mail or phone) by April 1, 2020.
  
  
• • Census data are confidential and by law can only be used for statistical purposes.
  
  
• • In March 2020, every household will receive a mailing from the U.S. Census Bureau with instructions on how to fill out the census.  If a household does not respond, a paper form will be mailed on the fourth and final mailing from the Census Bureau.
  
  
• • Every family member and person residing in the household needs to be counted on the census form, including newborns who are still in the hospital on April 1.
  
  
• • The census counts everyone at the household where they live and sleep most of the time, or where they stayed on Census Day, April 1, 2020, if a child or family member splits time between two homes.
  
  
• • For the 2020 Census, U.S. Census Bureau enumerators will only visit homes that do not respond to the census.
  
  

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