CONTACT: ACNJ, Peter Chen, (630) 544-4936 (cell) | pchen@acnj.org Census Day Events Urge All to Complete 2020 Census Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) is commemorating Census Day on April 1st with livestreamed activities, including a children's book reading and a live question-and-answer session. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped in-person events, the 2020 Census is easy to respond to at home. In a time of public health crisis, appropriate funding for emergency services, health insurance coverage, hospitals, health care centers, food and nutrition supports and unemployment insurance has never been more critical. Additionally, public health data for allocating hospital beds and staff depend on accurate Census counts. And yet, New Jersey continues to see a low self-response rate. “More than 60 percent of New Jersey households have yet to respond,” said Peter Chen, policy counsel at ACNJ, “leaving New Jersey at risk for losing out on critical funding for schools, roads and hospitals. This year, though the pandemic has dampened efforts to advocate in person, self-responding has never been easier. Households can respond online at 2020census.gov or over the phone at 844-330-2020 in over a dozen languages, as well as through the mail. It takes most people less than 10 minutes to complete.”
ACNJ urges all New Jersey residents to complete the Census and include all people living in the household, especially young children. View the live response rate map.
Participate in the #CensusSelfie Challenge.
Join the Facebook livestream. To encourage Census awareness and completion, ACNJ is hosting a #CensusSelfie challenge. People on social media are encouraged to take a picture of themselves responding to the Census and tagging five people to challenge to post their own #CensusSelfie. ACNJ is also hosting a livestream reading of the We Count! children's book at 11:30 AM by Cecilia Zalkind, ACNJ president and CEO, on April 1st, followed by readings in Spanish and Haitian Creole by ACNJ Census outreach specialists Miguelina Maldonado and Weslyne Zizzamia. This will be followed by an “Ask Me Anything” question-and-answer event at 12:15 PM with ACNJ policy counsel Peter Chen. Organizations across the country and state have events planned for April 1, 2020. A complete listing can be found at Census Counts. ### Advocates for Children of New Jersey is a statewide non-profit child action and research organization dedicating to ensuring that every child has the chance to grow up safe, healthy and educated. | 
