Simply Put

Programming: WE COUNT! The 2020 Census Campaign Simply Puts WE COUNT! Campaign reached 600,000 families in person and online across the country - with books, educational materials, programming and events available in 15 languages. Patterson New Jersey was counted in the 2020 Census, and has been re-designated as a Class One City. Patterson had been undercounted in the 2010 Census, especially among immigrant communities just barely missing designation as a Class One city. Repercussions of this undercount included a loss of political power and ten years of significant underfunding for government programs that directly affected children and families. The WE COUNT! Campaign began as a small intervention planned for Patterson, New Jersey funded by the Taub Foundation and other local funders to address this undercount. By the end of the Census, the WE COUNT! Campaign was adopted by thousands of community-based, county, city and state-wide organizations and government agencies across the country. Statewide early childhood programs in New York NJ, California and the US Virgin Islands customized their book and programming with support from Simply Put. New Products included: The WE COUNT Book was illustrated by eleven artists, each representing their family's cultural heritage and was written with parents and early childhood educators across Patterson, NJ. The book teaches kids how to count, while answering parents' real questions about the safety and necessity of being counted in the 2020 Census. Additional Media: An animated version, narrated by Auli'i Cravalho (star of Disney's Moana); ebooks, census activity sheets, Placemats, and a PJ Party event kit for family engagement programs were all free online (www.wecountkids.org) Programming included: An evaluated strategy for community educators to take on the role of "Trusted Advisors" giving and reading WE COUNT! with families, and then competently (and confidently) support their participation in the census. Live and online professional development training and an early childhood curriculum, Distribution:The national campaign was funded by the Carnegie Corporation and the Census Funders Collaboratives. Hundreds of state,city and community based organizations adopted WE COUNT to reach families with young children.