Iowa child, family advocate named to census advisory panel

A longtime Iowa advocate for children and families has been appointed to the U.S. Census Bureau's National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations - the ones it's hard for the census to find and count.

Charles Bruner, the executive director of the Child and Family Policy Center in Des Moines, will be part of the 32-member panel that advises the census bureau on a range of variables that affect the cost, accuracy and implementation of its programs and surveys, including the once-a-decade census.

The advisory panel helps the bureau better understand issues that affect statistical measurement, said U.S. Census Bureau Director John Thompson. Its assistance helps the bureau provide 'relevant and timely statistics in an increasingly technologically oriented society.”

The committee members serve at the discretion of the Census Bureau director. TheyMembers are selected from applicants based on expertise and knowledge of the cultural patterns, issues and/or statistical needs of traditionally 'hard-to-count” populations. The Bureau also seeks balance based on geography, age, gender, race, ethnicity, technical expertise, community involvement and knowledge of census programs.

At its most recent meeting earlier this month, for example, the panel discussed counting hard-to-reach populations such as children, racial and ethnic populations, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other populations.

Another subset of the panel is working on identifying which languages and the language services to provide in support of the 2020 census.

Bruner will serve a three-year term and may be reappointed once. The panel meets twice a year and has conference calls and web conferences between meetings. Panel members are not paid, but are compensated for travel and other expenses.

At the Child and Family Policy Center, a non-profit organization established in 1989, Bruner offers technical assistance to states, communities and foundations on child and family issues. He also heads the technical assistance of the federal National Center for Service Integration.

With funding from various foundations, Bruner, who served in the Iowa Legislature for 12 years, also directs the State Early Childhood Policy Technical Assistance Network, providing evidence-based assisting decision-makers on school readiness.

He has written widely on public policy approaches to developing more comprehensive, community-based responses to to child, family and neighborhood needs.