On Friday, November 8, Connecticut held its first-ever Census Create-A-Thon (#CreativesForTheCount). This event brought together Census Complete Count Committee representatives, municipal leaders, grassroots organizers, designers, content strategists, and media experts to create materials to reach hard-to-count communities across the state. During the four-hour event, teams developed over 20 communications materials such as posters, billboards, and public service announcements about the importance of Census 2020. CTData Collaborative Director of Community Impact, Elizabeth Grim, and Old Saybrook Selectman, Carol Conklin, won second place and $250 for the best content for their design: “I’m Learning to Count: Count Me in 2020.” Thank you, Expressiones Cultural Center in New London, for graciously donating the award.
Read MoreCTData has traveled state to state on the conference circuit over the past few months. We recently attended the American Community Survey (ACS) Users Data Conference in Washington, DC; the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Meeting in Milwaukee, WI; the Census State Data Center Conference in Charlotte, NC; and the Association for Public Data Users Conference in Washington DC. One of the most pressing topics of discussion was the 2020 Census and its new differential privacy policies. To help you gain some clarity about these contested policies, we’ll provide background about the census, discuss existing privacy protections, and describe upcoming changes to Census 2020 under differential privacy.
Read MoreWith Census 2020 on the horizon, Riordan-Nold discussed potential census challenges—new and old. This will be the first census that people can complete online, and while this will create new opportunities for participation, Ms. Riordan-Nold reminded the audience that not all households have Internet access. According to the 2017 U.S Census American Community Survey 5-year estimates, fifteen percent of households had either no Internet subscriptions (~200,000 households) or dial-up only access (~6,700). The cities of Hartford, New Britain, Waterbury, New Haven, New London, Norwich, and Bridgeport had the highest percentage of Connecticut households with no Internet or dial-up only. North Canaan, Plainfield, Ansonia, Putnam, Derby, Winchester, and Killingly all topped the list for suburban/rural towns.
Read MoreWe have some exciting news: Connecticut’s Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz has formed a Complete Count Committee for the state, and Connecticut Data Collaborative’s Executive Director Michelle Riordan-Nold will serve as a member!
Read MoreWant to earn extra money while positively impacting your community?
The Census is now hiring for full-time and part-time temporary jobs that begin in 2019 and 2020, and a majority of the openings are for census takers. Now through June 2019, most of the recruitment will be for Address Canvassing, which entails working during the day and updating lists and maps to ensure an accurate count.
Read MoreThe Hartford Courant published an op-ed written by Michelle Riordan-Nold about the importance of the 2020 Census for the State of Connecticut. In case you missed it, we've published the article.
Read MoreToday, the U.S. Census Bureau, released the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates (2013-2017). These data are the only data available at the census tract and municipal level for Connecticut. We have created a tool that enables you view changes for: median household income, population estimates, population without health insurance, poverty status, and median rent. (User beware: when comparing data overtime using ACS 5-year estimates, only use non-overlapping time periods.) CTData has over 50 ACS datasets that we process and curate and will be updating these datasets over the next couple weeks.
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Our Census 2020 Kickoff is less than a week away! View the agenda above to get a sneak preview of the day's events.
Read MoreThe Connecticut Data Collaborative (CTData) has been designated as the lead organization in the U.S. Census Bureau’s State Data Center Program and Connecticut’s official source for Census data, as the state and nation approach the 2020 Census. The designation was made on behalf of the State of Connecticut by Governor Dannel Malloy, and is effective immediately.
Read MoreOn our monthly open data calls, we have provided updates on data in the news and the biggest newsmaker by far has been Census 2020. Besides the challenges the Census Bureau has faced in maintaining their federal funding and finding new leadership, a recent hiccup has put the accuracy of the Census 2020 count in jeopardy.
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