Recent and Proposed Changes in How the Census Bureau Collects and Processes Race and Ethnicity Data

In 2020, the Census Bureau made some important changes to how they collect and process race and ethnicity data. These changes were intended to better capture the increasingly diverse racial and ethnic identities of the U.S. population, while still following the 1997 Federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. However, these changes also raise some questions about the validity of the Census Bureau’s “Two or More Races” classification in 2020, particularly for Hispanic and Latino individuals. They also complicate comparisons with race data from before 2020, making it difficult to assess change over time. In this blog post, we discuss the consequences of the Census Bureau’s recent changes to how they collect and process race and ethnicity data, as well as the proposed revisions to the OMB standards for the classification of federal data on race and ethnicity.

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Census Bureau Releases First Population Estimates for Connecticut’s “County-Equivalent” Planning Regions

Today, the Census Bureau released the first postcensal population estimates for Connecticut’s nine planning regions. These nine planning regions are the new county-equivalent geographic units that the Census Bureau will be using for Connecticut (see our earlier blog post on this topic). This is the first Census Bureau data product to be released using Connecticut’s new county-equivalent geographic units.

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HDC Launches 2023 Hartford Youth Data Fellows Program!

Ten youth from Hartford joined the Hartford Data Collaborative this past January to serve as the first full class of Hartford Youth Data Fellows. This program is a follow-up to the Hartford Youth Researchers program from the spring of 2022 and is part of CTData’s mission to empower an ecosystem of data users. This year’s group is larger than 2022’s class and includes seven high school seniors and three college students. 

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Kate Eikel
Celebrating Black History Month

February 2023 marks the 96th year of celebrating the incredible accomplishments and contributions of Black and African American residents nationwide. Since 1976, the month of February has been designated as Black History Month (whereas prior to 1976, this event was celebrated for a week). In this post, we will highlight various data facts and achievements to celebrate our Black and African American residents in Connecticut.

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Connecticut Evictions Have Surpassed Pre-Pandemic Levels

In February 2022, we released a shocking analysis of the eviction crisis in Connecticut diving into topics such as the disparities of evictions of certain demographics, along with analysis of representation in court and the outcomes depending on representation. We are working on an updated analysis with evictions data through the end of 2022, which will be released sometime in the next few months. This blog post will provide a general overview of eviction trends from 2017 through the end of 2022.

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Jason Cheung
HDC & Hartford Youth Researchers Issue Report on First Year of Hartford UNITY Project

The Hartford Data Collaborative (HDC)  provided the City of Hartford’s Department of Families, Children, Youth, and Recreation (DFCYR) with the first report on its investment in programs for children and youth starting in the summer of 2021 and continuing through May 30, 2022 (FY2022). Hartford’s UNITY Program provides grants to local program providers serving Hartford youth and is funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act and is designed to engage children after the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. This project was the first in Hartford to require providers receiving over $5,000 in grant funds to join the Hartford Data Collaborative and share their data with HDC

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2021 American Community Survey Data: Connecticut Sees an Increase in Health Insurance Coverage

Health insurance coverage in Connecticut has changed from 2010 to 2021, and in this post, we take a look at both state and town-level trends.  

We used town-level data from the recently released 2017-2021 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, as well as the 2012-2016 ACS 5-year estimates, and the American Community Survey 1-year estimates for state-level trends.

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Census & ACSJill Walshacs
2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates Released: Explore Data For Your Town!

The American Community Survey (ACS) is administered by the United States Census Bureau on an ongoing basis, from January through December of every year. The 2021 ACS 5-year estimates (covering the period from January 2017 through December 2021) were released on December 8, 2022. As usual, we have created an interactive tool for you to explore the data.

Our interactive tool covers a variety of topics, including economic, demographic, education, language, and many other data topics disaggregated by town along with comparisons to previous 5-year periods.

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CTData 2022 Mini-Conference Recap: What You Need to Know about Using Census 2020 Data

The 2020 Decennial Census faced unprecedented challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic, political interference, natural disasters, and the implementation of a new approach to privacy protection called differential privacy. We invited two experts to share what this means for using Census 2020 data. Amy O’Hara is a Research Professor in the Massive Data Institute and Executive Director of the Federal Statistical Research Data Center at Georgetown University. Elizabeth Garner is the State Demographer at the Colorado State Demography Office.

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CTData Conference Recap: Population Estimates & Updates

Each year, the Census Bureau produces population estimates for each state and county that are different than the ACS t-year survey that many of us are used to. These are called Population Estimates, and these are the official measures of population & housing units between decennial censuses. In this conference session, you will learn about the methodology that undergirds these annual data and learn about the ways you can access the data through the US Census Bureau.

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CTData Conference Recap: Census Bureau Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Demo

The Longitudinael-Employer Household Dynamics Data (LEHD) Products combines state administrative data with census data to understand various aspects of the workforce. During this conference session, we learned about several of the LEHD products, and learned how to use them. Watch the video to learn how you can use these products to inform your decision-making.

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Hartford Youth—Apply to be one of HDC’s 2023 Youth Data Fellows!

The Hartford Data Collaborative has opened its application for Hartford youth to join HDC starting in January 2023. The Hartford Youth Data Fellowship is a 5-month data training and community-based project development program for Hartford students as part of the Hartford Data Collaborative. The program is designed to increase data literacy and analysis skills for high school seniors and college students and improve their confidence in interpreting data and sharing their insights with others. These skills and experiences will serve youth in their college and career explorations and provide an analytic foundation for youth interested in using data to make an impact in the Hartford community.

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Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month

National Disability Employment Awareness Month is observed annually in October, recognizing people with disabilities' essential roles in a diverse and inclusive American workforce.

From the American Community Survey, 5-year estimates for 2016-2020, we looked at three data tables for Connecticut's population with a disability: population, employment, and median earnings. Below are some of the highlights from the data.

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Celebrating Connecticut’s Hispanic and Latino Residents

This week marks the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, a reminder for the nation to recognize and celebrate our Hispanic and Latino community members.

In this blog post, we share a profile of Connecticut’s large and vibrant Hispanic and Latino population using data from the 2010 and 2020 Decennial Census and the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year estimates.

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