MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS) - The rollout of the 2020 Census is less than six months away.

While a controversial citizenship question will not be included in the Census, many worry that some in the Latino community may still avoid filling it out.

It is something that concerns staff at places like Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers in Milwaukee, which serves a mostly Latino population. They say that getting an accurate count in the Census impacts government funding for things like Medicaid.

Staff also say that making sure children are counted in the Census is key when it comes to healthcare funding. Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers are working on programs at the clinic to encourage their patients to fill out the Census, and help put fears aside that filling it out could lead to being identified as being in the country illegally.

“We think that is important as being a trusted source in the community that people know that it is an OK thing to do because they come here and they trust us to get great care because they trust us. Using that to leverage and increase the amount of people that are filling out the Census in the community we serve we think is really important,” says Chris Rasch, with Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers.

The Latino population in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin has grown steadily over the past two decades, going from 12% of Milwaukee’s population in 2000 to 17% in 2010.