As the KIDS COUNT grantee for Kentucky for nearly 40 years, Kentucky Youth Advocates knows the importance of counting kids!

Each year, we report on child well-being in each of the 120 counties of our Commonwealth. Many key data points included in the annual report come from the Census, including measures like children living in poverty, children with health insurance coverage, and population data that allows us to calculate rates to make the data comparable across different sized counties. Essentially, the Census is a foundational tool to help us understand where kids in Kentucky are thriving and where they could use support to achieve their full potential.

A report released this summer shows how funding for major federal programs is determined in part by census counts. Census Matters: How the Census Shapes Funding for Children from the Project on Government Oversight reviewed federal funding guided by Census data and identified 70 programs that focus on children. In FY 2023, those programs accounted for $792.77 billion (or 35% of all Census-guided federal funding) distributed across the 50 states and District of Columbia. 

Programs for children and youth with funding guided by Census counts include:

  • Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
  • National School Lunch Program
  • Title I and Special Education grants to school districts
  • Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), part of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) 
  • Foster care 

What does this mean for Kentucky?

Census counts determine how funding for those 70 programs is distributed across states, so the accuracy of Kentucky’s Census count determines whether or not we get our share of funds for the children of Kentucky. 

In FY 2023, Kentucky’s share of funds from those programs was $2.9 billion in programs focused on children and $1.2 billion in programs focused on youth. In the 2020 Census, however, we know Kentucky had an undercount of children ages 0-4 of nearly 4%.

Start now

Kentucky will be best positioned to secure a complete count if we begin preparations now for Census 2030. Here are three steps you can take:

  • Spread the word about how the Census count matters!
    Check out the resources at kyyouth.org/censusky/, including social media posts and other information sheets.
  • Educate people in your network
    Reach out to Tara at KYA to schedule a presentation about the importance of the Census at an upcoming meeting.
  • Learn about the LUCA process and encourage your county to be involved
    A complete Census count starts with an accurate Census address list, and local governments can play a key role. Engaging with LUCA is especially important for communities that have experienced natural disasters or had significant housing growth since 2020.

Kentucky kids count on us – let’s start outreach for 2030 now so we don’t leave federal funding on the table to support their healthy development!