by Carly Rothman

Based on its performance in the past two censuses, New York State lost five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. If we want our fair share of resources — and the right information to use them wisely — we must improve our participation in the 2010 U.S. Census.

“We cannot afford for New York to be undercounted,” said New York Congressman Joseph Crowley at an event in his Queens district last week.

Census data is critically important. Demographic information informs government decisions about where to build things like new hospitals, schools and roads. Census data is used to calculate the number of delegates each state gets in the U.S. House of Representatives and to determine representation in state and city legislatures.

Census data is also used to allocate federal dollars for social services — including nutrition and income security programs that are critical in the fights to end hunger and childhood obesity, such as public assistance, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC).

Completing the census is simple and safe. It includes just 10 questions, takes 10 minutes or less to complete and is completely confidential: by law, individual responses cannot be shared with other federal agencies or used against respondents by any government agency or court.

Questionnaires were mailed out last month, and officials are hoping most people will submit their forms by April 15 — TODAY! This will reduce the need for census takers to collect responses door-to-door in May.

But so far, the outlook is grim. As of April 12, just half of households in Queens had turned in their forms, and only 53 percent of Bronx households had done so, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) wrote in an article for The Huffington Post. Just 31 percent of Williamsburg, Brooklyn residents had turned in their forms by April 8, according to The New York Times.

These three boroughs were among the worst-counted places in the country in 2000. Citywide, only 55 percent of residents submitted their census forms — less than 12 percent of the national average.

So this year, let’s get counted, New York! Below are resources you can use to participate in the census yourself, or to encourage others to do so.

• Get information about the Census in 59 languages — including short videos in all 59 languages that show how to complete the form
• Call a toll-free Telephone Questionnaire Assistance Line
• Lost or never received a form? Visit one of New York’s “Be Counted” sites to fill out a questionnaire.
• Check out your community’s participations rates