The 2020 Census is upon us and as an update the Census data will cease to be collected on September 30th. The Census is often underutilized, however maybe if we looked at the Census from a monetary perspective this wouldn’t seem like a cumbersome sheet of paper with a lot of questions, but it would be seen as a questionnaire built to help direct government funding to the areas that are needed. Contrary to popular belief funds are not just given to states by the federal government with no rhyme or reason, someone filled out a Census that effected their communities funding for an entire decade. According to census.gov 132 programs used Census Bureau data to distribute an estimated $675 Billion in funds during fiscal year 2015. In addition pogo.org states that the 2020 Census could guide approximately $1.5 trillion in annual spending across 316 federal programs. In North Carolina approximately $43,778,491,000 was the Total amount for the Census Guided Federal Spending FY2017. These are massive amounts of money that are not only used for Medicare and Medicaid, but they have room to flow into areas of education and community initiatives that can impact your children’s quality of life and education for the next decade.
Question of the Week
Question: Are there resources that provide guidance to parents to ensure my child stays on grade level with their learning?
Answer: Seek Common Ground has put together guides for parents that outline what skills your child should master by the end of the year to ensure they remain on grade level. These guides are available for Kindergarten through 5th grade, are available in Spanish, and focus on math and literacy skills. With public schools not meeting in person, Seek Common Ground wanted to provide these guides to parents, so they can keep track of their child’s learning throughout the year. The guides include helpful activities to reinforce learning everyday, tips for speaking with your child’s teacher, and other online resources that match the content. You can find these guides as well as more information about Seek Common Ground at https://seekcommonground.org/family-guides.
To ensure every child in Durham enters school ready to succeed, we lead community strategies for children birth to age 5 and their families that promote healthy development and learning and enhance access to high-quality care.
Would you like to be contacted about our programs to see if they are the right fit for you and your child/ children? Fill out our referral form!
Jim & Carolyn Hunt Child Care Resource Center
1201 S. Briggs Ave., Suite 100
Durham, NC 27703
Phone number: (919) 403-6960
Fax number: (919) 403-6963
Email address: mail@dpfc.net
