<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592834322694.png" alt="When the pandemic shut down campuses this spring, it complicated efforts to get accurate counts in college towns like Lawrence, Kansas. Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service" />
 <figcaption>When the pandemic shut down campuses this spring, it complicated efforts to get accurate counts in college towns like Lawrence, Kansas. Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service</figcaption>
 </figure>By CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-06-22/one-in-three-kansas-households-has-yet-to-fill-out-census">Kansas News Service</a>Amid a pandemic that has slowed efforts to count Americans, more than
 a third of Kansas households haven’t yet responded to the U.S. Census.In some counties, especially in rural areas, <a href="https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html" target="_blank">less than half</a> of the population has filled out the forms that help steer <a href="https://www.kansascommerce.gov/about-us/census/" target="_blank">billions</a> in federal dollars and resources to the state each year.One recent, high-profile example: Medical supplies that Kansas received from the <a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2020-04-06/kansas-is-looking-high-and-low-for-gear-to-protect-health-care-workers-from-covid-19" target="_blank">Strategic National Stockpile</a> to combat COVID-19 went out to counties based on their 2010 Census counts.As a whole, Kansas’ 65% rate so far is slightly ahead of the national response rate. But <a href="https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html" target="_blank">participation</a> in the census varies dramatically so far, even within individual counties and towns.Take Dodge City. Some census tracts in the area have topped 75%. Others, in the town’s south, remain around 40% or 50%.Those
 areas include neighborhoods with lots of newcomers to the country, and 
lower-income areas such as mobile home parks, according to Blanca Soto.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/6/1592834405404.png" alt="Participation rates so far are higher in the north of Dodge City than the south. U.S. Census" />
 <figcaption>Participation rates so far are higher in the north of Dodge City than the south. U.S. Census</figcaption>
 </figure>Soto leads the push for census participation in the southwest part of
 the state for Kansas Appleseed, a group that focuses on poverty, access
 to food, and other issues.Though this year marks the first time people can <a href="https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond.html?cid=23756:census%20online:sem.ga:p:dm:en:&amp;utm_source=sem.ga&amp;utm_medium=p&amp;utm_campaign=dm:en&amp;utm_content=23756&amp;utm_term=census%20online" target="_blank">fill out the Census online</a>,
 many families don’t have computers or smartphones. Others haven’t taken
 the U.S. Census before, and don’t know how the count works. Those with 
family members in the country illegally might be especially fearful.“With
 the immigrant community, trust (in) the government is a problem,” Soto 
said. “They don't really feel comfortable giving out their personal 
information, for fear that the information will be shared with 
immigration services or the police department.”By law, the Census Bureau must keep people’s responses <a href="https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/factsheets/2019/comm/2020-confidentiality-factsheet.pdf" target="_blank">confidential</a>. The information cannot be used by immigration or law enforcement agencies.The
 pandemic has postponed much of the work that grassroots groups and 
community leaders envisioned for promoting the census, forcing them to 
adapt.“Unfortunately, southwest Kansas is also one of the 
hotspots for COVID-19, which kind of complicates our work,” she said. 
“We are kind of just waiting for it to be pretty safe to go out in 
person, to talk to families and the community.”Thousands of cases of coronavirus have been linked to Kansas <a href="https://www.hppr.org/post/despite-meatpacking-plants-efforts-kansas-workers-say-were-right-next-each-other" target="_blank">meatpacking plants</a>, mostly in the <a href="https://www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov/160/COVID-19-in-Kansas" target="_blank">state’s southwest</a> corner.When
 coronavirus shut schools down, Kansas Appleseed put explainers and 
stickers about the census into the lunches that many families still 
picked up each day.The group has also taken to the airwaves on popular Spanish-speaking radio programs, and released videos in other key languages — such as Arabic, Somali and K’iche’ (a Mayan language from central America).Other hard-to-count groups include very young children, military families and college students.College
 students should count where they live during the school year, says 
Emily Kelley, who coordinates outreach work for the U.S. Census Bureau 
in Kansas and Oklahoma.Normally, census workers go door to door 
in college communities during the spring semester to help make sure that
 happens. COVID-19 not only threw a wrench in face-to-face visits, she 
said, it also meant many students didn’t return to their college towns 
after spring break.“K-State students comprise almost half of the 
population in the city of Manhattan,” Kelley said. “So making sure we 
count them is really, really important.”The Census Bureau wants college students to fill out their forms with the address they would have occupied on April 1, had the pandemic not shut down their schools.Kansas receives billions of dollars each year tied to census figures.More than <a href="https://gwipp.gwu.edu/counting-dollars-2020-role-decennial-census-geographic-distribution-federal-funds" target="_blank">300 federal programs</a>
 rely on the Census Bureau’s decennial count to guide spending, 
including dozens aimed at supporting rural communities. It steers 
dollars for everything from water and road infrastructure to libraries.George
 Washington University researchers looked at a handful of major health 
programs — including insurance for children — for 2015. It pegged <a href="https://gwipp.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2181/f/downloads/GWIPP%20Reamer%20Fiscal%20Impacts%20of%20Census%20Undercount%20on%20FMAP-based%20Programs%2003-19-18.pdf" target="_blank">the stakes for Kansas</a> at about $30 million in annual lost funds for each 1% of the population that goes uncounted.“We
 hoped we would be over 80% response rate at this time.” said Wendi 
Stark, who coordinates census outreach efforts for the League of Kansas 
Municipalities. The pandemic forced them to rethink. “Our goal is to 
make sure that we have over 80 percent by July 31.”In August, 
census workers will fan out to homes that haven’t replied. The more 
people reply by phone or mail, or online, the less knocking those 
workers will have to do amid a pandemic.Census workers will keep knocking on doors through October.Many
 rural areas with low response rates in Kansas depend heavily on P.O. 
boxes for mail delivery. That complicates matters because census workers
 <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/director/2010/03/what-if-you-usually-receive-your-mail-at-a-post-office-box-but-didnt-get-a-census-form.html" target="_blank">had to hand-deliver</a>
 packets to homes there instead, hanging them on doors or gates. This 
year, the pandemic pushed that work back until May, meaning many homes 
only received written notice a few weeks ago.Soto remains confident that response rates will climb once volunteers and census workers can get out more.Kansas
 created committees across the state this year to loop neighborhood 
groups, pastors, doctors, educators and others who have the trust of 
their communities into the work of spreading the word.“For a lot 
of the Latino communities,” she said, “schools are a really trusted 
voice. What the school says, they know that it's going to be true and 
it's going to be reliable.”Celia Llopis-Jepsen reports on consumer health and education for the Kansas News Service. You can follow her on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/Celia_LJ" target="_blank">@celia_LJ</a> or email her at celia@kcur.org.

One in three Kansas households has yet to fill out census