IL Department of Human Services Announces First Day to Complete the 2020 Census Online

Illinois residents can complete the census online starting tomorrow March 12, 2020, at my2020census.gov. IDHS refuses to provide information, however, to Arab American organizations on how the state’s $20 million funding is being appropriated and which ethnic and racial groups are being prioritized or ignored

The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) announced the first day to complete the 2020 Census online will be tomorrow, March 12th on my2020census.gov.

The online questionnaire is the quickest and easiest way to get counted in Illinois and can be accessed from a smart phone, tablet, laptop, computer and terminals at local libraries. The census is nine questions long and will take less than 10 minutes to complete.

“It is extremely important that everyone knows the implications of the census and gets counted in Illinois,” said IDHS Secretary Grace B. Hou. “Completing the census online will ensure that Illinoisans get both the representation and federal funding for the critical services that they deserve.”

An accurate count of Illinois’ population is essential to ensure the State receives the funding needed to properly care for its residents and provide critical services and programs. In 2015, Illinois received $19,738,866,367, or approximately $1,535 per capita, in federal assistance for sixteen programs. Failure to count every Illinois resident will have devastating effects on Illinois’ ability to meet the needs of its residents. Even a one-percent undercount would result in the loss of $19,557,435 per year, for a decade, resulting in a total loss of $195,574,350 for the State of Illinois.

The number of seats Illinois has in the U.S. House of Representatives for the next 10 years will be determined by the census count this year. Illinoisans deserve proportionate representation in the U.S. Congress, and a fair and accurate census count is how we ensure that happens.

In June, Governor Pritzker signed an executive order that established the Census Office within IDHS and an advisory panel to guide public outreach. The $29 million approved for 2020 Census efforts in Illinois is the largest per capita investment of any state in the nation this year, and is funded through the bipartisan FY20 budget. IDHS has already awarded $20 million dollars in grants to over 350 local and community organizations to reach every corner of Illinois.

To fill out the 2020 Census questionnaire, visit my2020census.gov. For more information about the 2020 Census in Illinois and a listing of the community organizations that IDHS funded, visit census.illinois.gov.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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