By Julie BUTCHER

Once each decade, the U.S. Census Bureau attempts to count every person in the nation. The current enumeration began on April 1 and will end on Sept. 30.  A complete and accurate count of California’s population is essential. The data collected by the decennial census determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives and is used to distribute billions of dollars in federal funds to state and local governments.

“You matter. Your presence here matters. As peculiar as it may sound, you could save your life and livelihood, or your neighbor’s, just by filling out your census form,” Robert Alvarez wrote in “Save Lives! Fill Out Your Census” (https://tinyurl.com/yyne4rr8).

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of the census to everyday life in the United States. The vast amount of demographic information it gathers determines who gets how much political power in Congress and the states; it steers more than a trillion dollars in federal funding for health care and other critical services; it guides long-term economic decisions by governments, corporations and mom-and-pop stores; it helps determine the location of highways and schools, hospitals and housing, police and fire stations,” the New York Times editorial board wrote on Sept. 12.

The Census is happening now! All Californians can now complete the 2020 Census a https://my2020census.gov/, by mail or by calling (844) 330-2020 for English; for any other language, find the number at the census website. A census ID is not required for households to respond online or by phone.

Those who need California information on any aspect of the census can find it at https://census.ca.gov/census-101/.

Beginning in August, census enumerators were out in the field. Census workers are knocking on doors to follow up with households that have not yet responded to the census and are there to help. Information on how to identify a census worker can also be found on the website.

Numerous census events are planned throughout Los Angeles County until the end of the month. For details, visit https://tinyurl.com/y59mgndg.

  Julie BUTCHER