Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman has kicked off the county’s outreach effort for the 2020 Census with local government and community leaders. Pittman announced a Complete Count Committee in an effort to ensure adequate federal and state resources are devoted to Anne Arundel County.

“In terms of state and federal funding, if you don’t get counted then you don’t count ― and that has real consequences,” said Pittman. “In [the current census tract] in Brooklyn Park, nearly a quarter of the people did not get counted in 2010. We’re not going to let that happen in 2020. That’s why we’re kicking off this effort today to make sure everyone counts in Anne Arundel County.”

The Brooklyn Park Library is in Census Tract 7501, which has a population of 4,086. According to data from the 2010 census, nearly 23% of the tract did not respond to the last census. That corresponds to 939 people failing to be counted, which translates to $1,821 per person and a total of $1,709,919 in state and federal funding lost to this community.

In accordance with federal census guidelines, Pittman established a Complete Count Committee comprised of community leaders and local government officials to encourage the public to be counted in the 2020 census. Pittman appointed Harry Freeman, a community leader and military veteran who works as an analyst on Fort Meade, to chair the committee.

More information on Complete County Committees can be found at www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/newsroom/press-kits/2018/ccc.pdf