Census 2020 AL-AAP Member Action Kit

Use the resources below to urge families/caregivers in your practice to participate in Census 2020 and count ALL of the children living with them on April 1!

Families of young children, especially, are being targeted as part of a statewide push, Alabama COUNTS!, due to previous undercounting of children from birth to 5 years of age in the 2010 census.  In addition, many rural areas, particularly in west Alabama, had among the lowest response rates in the state. 

Parents need to hear from trusted providers about the importance of participating in the Census and counting all of their children.  One important point to note is that whoever the child is living with on April 1, 2020 (whether it is their permanent guardian or not) is the person who should count them in their census form.

To help you spread the word among your own staff, colleagues and families, we have developed this Member Action Toolkit, which follows our recent mailing of the “Whose Child is
Missing?” posters.

We encourage your practice to think outside the box in order to promote this to families—you can
host a promotional event for it, use your practice’s social media, or conduct interviews with the media about the importance.  The sky’s the limit! 

In summary, the Executive Board is asking all members to take action between now and April 1 and continue your efforts through the month of May.   

Please click the links below for the action tools to get you started today - this is your one-stop shop for tools to use in your practice and resources to back the important reasons why all children need to be counted! 
 

Tools to use to get the message to parents

Host an event in your practice!

There is nothing like a good excuse to have a party! Join practices across the state on Wednesday, April 1 (or whenever it works for your practice between March 15 and April 15!) and distribute coloring books, postcards and palm cards. Let the Chapter know if you are planning to host one and we can get a limited number of these resources to you.

Social media posts

Other links

Contact information

Linda P. Lee, APR
Chapter Executive Director
Alabama Chapter-American Academy of Pediatrics
(334) 954-2543
Email

Medical students at the Spring Meeting, alongside their sponsors
Who is mentoring whom? Medical students and practicing pediatricians alike, learning how to be "Tweetiatricians!"

Why does this matter?

  • Many Alabamians directly benefit from the federal programs in which funding allocations are determined in part by census data—including Medicaid! In fact, these programs provide about $1,600 per person in Alabama. Completing a census form will help ensure that our state receives its fair share of funding.

  • The assistance programs tied to census data are critical to all Alabamians. They support children, education, hospitals, health care, rural development and community programs that are important to rural communities. If this funding is reallocated to other states due to a poor census count, then the funding for the missing services will have to be made up in some way at the local or state
    level. This affects everyone.

  • Alabama is currently at risk of losing a Congressional representative in the 2020 Census due to projected slow growth. That means one less voice for Alabama at the federal level. We need maximum census participation to retain our current Congressional representation.

Background resources

Social media post example

Social media post example