In 2010, an undercount of over 200,000 children in California had significant impacts on funding and resource distribution for organizations serving young children and their families. To avoid this issue during the 2020 Census, the First 5 Association of California partnered with Head Start California and the California WIC Association to provide outreach to hard-to-count families and underrepresented populations. It was a new and innovative role for the First 5 Association to play, so they enlisted the support of VIVA Social Impact Partners to evaluate their impact and effectiveness, and to implement change in real time.
Can activating a network of diverse partners promote civic engagement and lead to an accurate Census count?
The First 5 Association of California leveraged its 58 local First 5 County Commissions and forged new partnerships with others to share resources and create clear and consistent outreach messaging in an effort to ensure an accurate Census Count. Acting as a convenor with these partners was a new role for the Association and an evaluation was sought to understand the Association’s effectiveness. VIVA developed an impact evaluation approach, conducting interviews during the 2020 Census work to provide real-time feedback. VIVA also analyzed feedback at the end of the project for reflection and learning.