State and local leaders have been urging Alabamians to fully participate in the 2020 Census, and awareness efforts received $1 million in grant funding this week.

Gov. Kay Ivey, who announced the grants Monday, said they would be used to support efforts to promote, educate and encourage participation. The money was awarded to 34 agencies and groups who are assisting with the census as part of Ivey’s Alabama Counts initiative.

The grant funds, which were approved by the Alabama Legislature, will come from the 2019-2020 Education Trust Fund budget. The grants are being administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs.

ADECA acts as the state’s liaison to the U.S. Census Bureau and the lead state agency for 2020 Census outreach and preparation. The census formally begins in mid-March 2020, when every Alabama household address will receive an invitation to respond.

Ivey said accurate census data is important because the numbers have a direct impact on billions of dollars in funding that affect a wide array of programs. The thought was echoed by Kenneth Boswell, director of ADECA.

“ … Thanks to the Legislature, ADECA is able to partner with entities across the state for education and outreach efforts to ensure that Alabama gets its fair share of funding and to help ensure fair representation for the state in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Boswell said.

Collin Daly, chairman of the Limestone County Commission, said accurate data would have impacts here, too.

“With our continued growth, it is imperative that Limestone County gets a complete count in the 2020 Census,” he said. “Funding for programs such as heath care, education, housing assistance, infrastructure development and many more that are so important to our county are tied in some form to census data.”

Grants awarded

Regional groups that will receive funds tied to census efforts include:

• Alabama Community College System: $80,052 to establish help centers on their campuses and adult education sites and conduct events to promote awareness and provide places to fill out the census;

• ARC of Madison County: $40,000 to focus efforts on reaching disabled residents statewide;

• City of Decatur: $5,500 to host community events that will promote census awareness; and

• Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments (TARCOG): $40,000 to conduct outreach efforts to the aging population in the organization’s five-county coverage area, which includes Limestone.

Census takers

In August, groups of 2020 Census workers began canvassing parts of Limestone County as a means to verify address information. Those efforts wrapped up in mid-October.

About 750 census workers are being sought in the Limestone area, and the Athens-Limestone Public Library has been assisting in finding them by hosting job fairs. The first fair was held Monday, but a second is set for 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, in the library’s technology center.

Those interested in attending should have an email address and a way to log in because email addresses of applicants will have to be verified before the application can be accessed. The process takes 15 to 20 minutes.

According to the 2020 Census website, workers in Limestone County will make $16 per hour, receive paid training and be paid weekly. Census employees may also receive reimbursement for work-related mileage.

Visit https://bit.ly/2LlfRYE to learn more about the job fair or https://2020census.gov/en/jobs.html to learn more about employment with the Census Bureau.