City plans door-to-door census outreach, sending staff for training in Philadelphia

Councilors and staff said the city intends to revive a door-to-door outreach program to improve census response in communities with strong fears about being counted. The speaker said the model draws on work done in the summer of 2018 and that grant funding will pay for training in Philadelphia.

A council member urged outreach to marginalized groups and asked how the city will capture populations sometimes omitted in official counts. "Knowing within marginalized and oppressed communities that there is a strong fear around being honest," a councilor said, calling for educational work to ensure trans people and other groups are counted and feel safe to participate. Staff said the grant covers travel and training and that the objective is to build trust through service and relationship-building ahead of the census.