The School of Social Welfare under the direction of Dr. Carolyn Peabody, Clinical Professor, has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the New York State Census Equity Fund to support the We are Still Here! Be Counted in 2020! initiative that was created for the purpose of maximizing local efforts to ensure that Suffolk County’s Native American Community is not undercounted in the 2020 census. The effort will focus on the Montaukett Indian Nation, Unkechaug Nation, Setalcott Nation, and Shinnecock Nation, as well as Native Americans not indigenous to the county, but residing in the area. Dr. Peabody has been working closely with a consortium of representatives from all four of these tribal nations.
We are Still Here! Be Counted in 2020! aims to expand the level of understanding among Native people in Suffolk County of the impact of the Census on individual tribal members and their tribal nations if an undercount reoccurs. The overall goal is to increase the number of responses to the Census, to engage the tribal leaders as active partners in educating their members and to provide a trusted voice on the importance of the census.
