Deafblind DATA Act Mandates New Census Count: Annual State-Level Reports Start in 2026

The new Deafblind DATA Act is all about fixing a classic policy problem: if you can’t count them, you can’t help them. This bill targets the significant data gap surrounding Americans who are deafblind—meaning they experience both hearing and vision loss at the same time.

The Problem with the Current Count

Right now, the government doesn't have a reliable count of the deafblind population. Estimates vary wildly, which makes it nearly impossible for states and service providers to plan effectively for specialized needs like communication assistance or job training. The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) collects data on hearing loss and vision loss separately, but it doesn't cross-reference those two groups to get a specific count of people with both impairments. Essentially, the data is there, but no one is connecting the dots.

Connecting the Dots: What the Bill Requires

This Act forces the Census Bureau to connect those dots. Under Section 2, the Bureau must use the existing ACS data to identify and estimate the total population that reported both hearing difficulty and vision difficulty. This is a smart move because it avoids the cost and delay of creating an entirely new national survey; it just uses the data already being collected.

Within 180 days of the bill becoming law, the Census Bureau Director must report back to Congress on the feasibility of this plan. More importantly, starting in 2026, the Bureau must begin publishing an annual, public table with this crucial information.

What’s in the Annual Report?

This annual table, mandated under Section 2, will finally give advocates and policymakers a clear picture of this community. The data will be broken down by state and include key demographic and economic details for the deafblind population, such as age, sex, race, employment status, educational attainment, income, and poverty status.

Think about the real-world impact: If you’re running a non-profit that provides specialized job coaching, you need to know if there are 500 or 5,000 deafblind adults in your state to plan your budget and staffing. If you’re a parent advocating for better educational resources for your deafblind child, having solid, official numbers makes your case much stronger. This data moves the conversation from vague estimates to concrete facts.

Keeping the Data Safe

The bill is clear that while the data must be public, individual privacy is paramount. The Census Bureau is strictly required to ensure that no information published in the annual table can be traced back to any specific person. This is standard practice for the Census Bureau, especially when dealing with smaller populations or specific demographic cross-sections, and it’s a necessary safeguard to maintain trust and protect confidentiality.

Ultimately, this is a straightforward, targeted piece of legislation designed to solve a technical data problem that has massive real-world consequences for a vulnerable population. By utilizing existing data collection methods, the Deafblind DATA Act promises to deliver the reliable statistics needed to ensure better services, better planning, and better outcomes for deafblind Americans across the country.