About Us

The California Complete Count Effort (CCE) of the Office of Governor Schwarzenegger’s mission is to ensure that Californians get their fair share of federal resources and Congressional representation by encouraging the full participation of all Californians in Census 2010. The State’s role is to convene, coordinate and partner with the Bureau, local and tribal governments, foundations, community based organizations, faith-based groups, schools, businesses, the media, and others. The State is building on the lessons learned from the Census 2000 campaign, which resulted in a Census questionnaire return rate exceeding national standards. These best practices include:

  • Conduct outreach at the grassroots level
  • Establish close partnerships and coordination with the Bureau, counties, cities, and community based and faith based organizations
  • Target outreach invested in areas and populations least likely to respond (children, males 18-28 years of age, African Americans, Latinos/Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, farmworkers, and homeless)
  • Locally produce paid-media messages in culturally appropriate, native language
  • Deliver messages through individuals trusted within the HTC communities
  • Conduct high touch and high impact outreach events within HTC communities
  • Ensure Governor’s Office, Cabinet Secretaries, and State Agencies and Departments commitment to provide staff and make outreach resources available to the campaign
  • Locate Census Questionnaire Assistance Centers (QACs) (sites where community members can receive assistance in filling out their Census forms) in the areas where people are least likely to respond
  • Staff QACs with trusted individuals able to provide culturally appropriate aid in native languages

Given the importance of grassroots and local efforts, the State has committed $1 million of the project’s $2 million budget directly to the top thirteen hard-to-count counties in the State to fund local outreach programs (these 13 counties make- up almost 80 percent of the States hard-count population. The remaining $1 million is being invested by the CCE in programs incorporating the State’s existing assets and applying Census 2010 best practices. CCE staff has worked to build partnerships and leverage outside resources to ensure that the most effective practices are funded and implemented. The importance of these partners cannot be understated and California’s outreach strategy would be detrimentally affected without their participation and commitment to reduce the undercount. It is only through partnership and collaboration that we will succeed in counting all Californians! Be Californian, Be Counted!