American Community Survey: Advocacy for Neighborhood-Level Data Florencia Gutierrez NNIP Conference May 13, 2011

Overall Rational Data-driven decision-making= improved outcomes for children and families Support neighborhood based human services and community change initiatives ACS primary source for neighborhood-level data

Preserving the ACS Interest to undermine/eliminate ACS – Invasion of Privacy – Target for funding cuts July 2010: Congressional briefing March 2011: Congressional Briefings

Increasing Sample Size Inadequate sample size – Neighborhood data quality compromised – Unable to accurately measure impact and need 2011: Census Bureau’s budget: sample size 2011: Budget negotiations: Cuts made May 2011: Hope increase maintained

ACS User Feedback June 2011: ACS user feedback meeting – Challenges using 5-year estimates – How 5-year estimates are used – Ideal use of tract level data Findings shared with the Census Bureau Goal: Establish feedback loop

Contact Information Florencia Gutierrez Research Associate