The American Community Survey is America's premier source of data on critical issues including education, employment, housing, and more. As a crucial component of American democracy, it is vital that we strengthen and invest in the ACS.

In spite of its crucial importance to our communities, the ACS is less familiar to many than the decennial census. To uplift the importance of the ACS, The Leadership Conference Education Fund and Census Counts has designated August to be ACS Awareness Month. 

This August, we uplifted the importance of the ACS through a two-part webinar series about the ACS, social media posts, and a new set of informational resources to support your outreach. As ACS Awareness Month draws to a close, The Education Fund compiled all the resources that were developed to create awareness about the ACS and its impact on our communities. 

Please share these resources with your networks, and let us know about any events or other outreach tools that you’ve developed on the ACS.    

We look forward to continuing this important work with you. 

The Leadership Conference Education Fund, in partnership with Census Counts (a collaboration between The Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, NALEO Educational Fund and National Urban League) and States Count Action Network (a joint effort led by The Education Fund and State Voices)

The American Community Survey: Two-Part Webinar Series

Part One: ACS Data, Education, and Outreach

Part Two: ACS Operations, Promotion and Community Engagement 

Census Bureau Resources

• American Community Survey website
• Resource guide - How to talk about the Decennial census vs the ACS
• Handbooks for ACS Data Users
• ACS response rates by state and nationally

Partner Resources

• The Census Project’s updated ACS report (stay tuned for fact sheets to come!)

• National Congress of American Indians two-pager on What Users of Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives Need to Know

Social Media Engagement

The Leadership Conference posted about the American Community Survey under the hashtag #ACSAwarenessMonth to help demystify why the ACS asks certain questions and how ACS data impact our lives. You can view our series of #ACSAwarenessMonth posts below. Feel free to retweet or add your own!

What is the ACS (featuring The Census Project’s recent blog on the ACS!)

Why does the ACS ask about…

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Housing

Employment

Education

Broadband

Health Insurance &

SNAP Benefits

Language Spoken at Home

Disability and Veteran Status

Upcoming Events

Stay in the Loop!

States Count Action Network

Co-led by The Education Fund and State Voices, the States Count Action Network is a collaborative space to hold strategy discussions and share resources in preparation for the 2030 Census and the American Community Survey. S-CAN consists of state and national groups with state affiliates, including advocacy organizations, direct service providers, and more.

Click on the link below to sign up!

Data Disaggregation Action Network

The Data Disaggregation Action Network works to advance federal and state policies as they relate to data disaggregation by race and ethnicity through the creation of a state and national advocacy infrastructure to engage stakeholders and policymakers on the need for disaggregated data.

Click on the link below to sign up!