By Aunt Tara

With some recent family moves, I’ve been lucky to have my young nephews living closer. It is reminding me of how simple activities like counting can be so exciting through the eyes of a child. Recently on a trip for ice cream around Halloween, I asked my young nephew, “How many eyes does your monster ice cream cone have?” His eager response was, “it used to have 2, but now it has 1!”  

Kentucky has a more daunting counting challenge ahead of us – the decennial Census will take place again in 2030. Though it seems far away, the budget that Congress will pass in December will set the stage for how well we can complete that count. The count of our population, in turn, impacts our federal funding and ability to plan for the future.  

Whether Congress provides the full funding amount requested by the Census Bureau can have a big impact on Kentucky. Though many of us receive and return Census forms quickly, factors such as trust of government, lower literacy levels, or being in remote areas where it’s harder for Census workers to visit impact response rates. Historically, a number of populations have been undercounted in the Census (including young children who can find such joy in counting things around them!).  

The Census Bureau needs an adequate budget to make sure they have the resources to engage trusted partners in the work of helping make sure everyone is counted. 

In the weeks ahead, you can take action to support a full count. Let your member of the U.S. House of Representatives and your U.S. Senators know you want a complete count for your region. Encourage them to fully fund the Census Bureau to achieve that. And if you’re a user of the national and Kentucky KIDS COUNT data books, share with them how you use data from the Census Bureau for your work.  

With preschoolers showing the way, let’s bring some excitement to this effort and count all Kentuckians!