First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Senate leadership with an urgent request to include extended deadlines for 2020 Census processing and reporting in critically needed COVID relief legislation or another timely vehicle.

Excerpt from the letter:

The 2010 Census missed counting one in ten children under age five, the highest rate for any age group. The 2020 Census has been buffeted by a number of problems not experienced in the 2010 Census. Due to the delays and difficulties caused by the pandemic, extended deadlines are needed to make sure the Census Bureau has time to produce high-quality data in the 2020 count. Without this extension, the 2020 Census count of young children will be even worse than ten years ago, leaving families without their fair and legislatively allocated share of resources for children’s health insurance, child care, schools, foster care, and other essential services.

Read the full letter