skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, April 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Tribal advocates keep up legal pressure for fair political maps; 12-member jury sworn in for Trump's historic criminal trial; the importance of healthcare decision planning; and a debt dilemma: poll shows how many people wrestle with college costs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Civil rights activists say a court ruling could end the right to protest in three southern states, a federal judge lets January 6th lawsuits proceed against former President Trump, and police arrest dozens at a Columbia University Gaza protest.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

Renewed Calls to Ensure Minnesota Children are Counted in Census

play audio
Play

Thursday, April 2, 2020   

MAHNOMEN, Minn. -- The nation is almost at a standstill as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds, but that isn't stopping the 2020 Census from getting under way.

In Minnesota, residents are being reminded to ensure all children are counted, even those in temporary situations.

Minnesota has a strong reputation of participating in the census, scoring 81% in the 2010 count.

But the state isn't immune to issues of undercounting young children. Nationwide, at least 1 million were not accounted for in the last go-round.

Liz Kuoppala, executive director of Mahube-Otwa Community Action Partnership in west central Minnesota, says there's a common scenario where that can happen.

"Sometimes, youth who are pregnant or parenting are couch hopping and they don't know where they should be counted or where their young children should be counted," she explains.

Kuoppala adds there are fears that people doubling up at a home might get them in trouble with a landlord, but she says the census is confidential. She says people should count themselves wherever they are right now to ensure those areas get necessary funding.

The 2020 Census formally kicked off Wednesday, even as field operations have been delayed because of the coronavirus crisis. But residents still can fill out forms recently mailed to them, or provide information online.

Kuoppala's group, along with other organizations such as the Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota, say the census shapes federal funding over the next decade, including money for early childhood programs and SNAP benefits.

Kuoppala says that's why it's important to fill out the forms, but many counties in her area are well below the current statewide response rate of 46%.

"This is just very concerning," she stresses. "Not only children would be missed, but the larger population as well."

Advocates say other factors that can lead to children being undercounted is mistrust in immigrant communities of the government, and grandparents temporarily raising their grandchildren


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The Bureau of Land Management's newly issued Public Lands Rule is designed to safeguard cultural resources such as New Mexico's Chaco Culture National Park. (Photo courtesy SallyPaez)

Environment

play sound

Balancing the needs of the many with those who have traditionally reaped benefits from public lands is behind a new rule issued Thursday by the Bureau…


Health and Wellness

play sound

Alzheimer's disease is the eighth-leading cause of death in Pennsylvania. A documentary on the topic debuts Saturday in Pittsburgh. "Remember Me: …

Social Issues

play sound

April is Financial Literacy Month, when the focus is on learning smart money habits but also how to protect yourself from fraud. One problem on the …


Outdoor recreation added $11.7 million to the Arizona economy in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Arizona conservation groups and sportsmen alike say they're pleased the Bureau of Land Management will now recognize conservation as an integral part …

play sound

Across the U.S., most political boundaries tied to the 2020 Census have been in place for a while, but a national project on map fairness for …

Workers harvest a field before the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. (Jeff Huth/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

An annual march for farmworkers' rights is being held Sunday in northwest Washington. This year, marchers are focusing on the conditions for local …

Social Issues

play sound

A new Gallup and Lumina Foundation poll unveils a concerning reality: Hoosiers may lack clarity about the true cost of higher education. The survey …

Environment

play sound

As state budget negotiations continue, groups fighting climate change are asking California lawmakers to cut subsidies for oil and gas companies …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021