Don’t be afraid to be counted, even if you are not a documented resident. Census forms are completely confidential for 72 years and cannot be shared with anyone, including welfare and immigration agencies. No court of law, not even the President of the United States, can access your individual responses. Census workers are highly motivated to protect your answers – they are subject to a $250,000 fine and/or a five-year prison term for disclosing any information that could identify a respondent or household.

Governments use census data to allocate billions of dollars in funding for education, public safety, housing, roads and bridges, human services and community services. Community organizations use it to develop social service programs for seniors and children, and businesses use it to identify where to locate factories, shopping centers, movie theaters, banks and offices – activities that lead to new jobs! The loss in funding for government services for just one uncounted person in Broward County was estimated at $1,300 by the 2000 Census Monitoring Board. An undercounting of 1,000 residents could mean a loss in funding for Broward County of $1.3 million or more!