US Census Bureau - https://census.gov/ - Lorraine Ralston, US Census Bureau, m.ralston@2020census.gov
- Kim Beckham, US Census Bureau.
- Presentation - https://coalitionfiles.blob.core.windows.net/files/The%20Road%20to%202020%20(Tacoma%20Homeless%20Coalition--8%20Mar%2019).pptx
- Washington Counting for Dollars - https://coalitionfiles.blob.core.windows.net/files/Washington%20Counting%20for%20Dollars%20(GWU%20Report).pdf
- Partnership Fact Sheet - https://coalitionfiles.blob.core.windows.net/files/Partnership%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
- 2020 Census, at a glance - https://coalitionfiles.blob.core.windows.net/files/The%202020%20Census%20at%20a%20Glance.pdf
- 50 ways Census data are used - https://coalitionfiles.blob.core.windows.net/files/50%20Ways%20Census%20Data%20Are%20Used.pdf
- Thanks for having us here
- Our objective is to count every person in the Country once and only one, and in the right place (but hopefully not trying to put folks in their place – that never ends well.-ed)
- Census day is April 1st, 2020. Sounds like a long time away (when I was a younger man, that would have seemed like a long time away, but as I age…not so much –ed).
- The Census is in the Constitution – founding fathers thought we should count everyone every 10 years. In 1790, the Census was done by US Marshalls and they counted 4 million people (Washington thought it was an undercount – complaining of poor transportation, limited technology, and a disinterest in being counted –ed.)
- Why do the census
- We divvy up the 435 House of Representatives using Census counts. In 2010, Washington State, based on the census numbers, gained a representative.
- $675B are dispersed using census data – food stamps, section 8 housing, transportation funding,
- The state of Washington gets some $1,914 per person per year for everyone that is counted. If they aren’t counted, we don’t get the funding
- Used for transportation planning, hospital and school locations, businesses use census data – we all use it to some extent.
- New in 2020
- We are going on-line – most of the population will answer the census using the internet. Hoping some 45% of the country will respond via the internet
- The more who self-respond, the lower the cost.
- Can also call a toll free number to fill out the census – paper forms are available as well.
- Re-engineering “Address Canvassing” – how we determine where people are living. We used to have people walk the streets to validate all residences. Now will only do this with 30% - will use past census responses to determine where residential units are located (have you heard about google maps? Just a little time-saving suggestion…-ed)
- Using data in the public system – use the mailing list from the Post Office to validate where people live. This will be a huge cost savings.
- Our field workers will use tablets to capture census information, instead of on paper forms. This will be a cost savings and allow for faster counting.
- In 2019 – will be determining where people need to be counted – understand where new construction has happened, changes in municipality borders. Also need to find where people who were displaced by natural disasters are living
- In 2020, will be working to motivate people to get counted.
- In March of 2020 – the online portal will open March 23rd, 2020. It will probably stay open till mid-April.
- We count people in prision, in the military, in transient locations, in nursing homes, in dormitories, all in different ways.
- Some Alaskans will be counted in January, because ice melt prevents access to some communities.
- By December 31st, 2020 data must be presented to the President.
- What do we ask?
- Short form and long form used to be used. Now have a new, annual American Communities survey, where they ask questions about income, technology ownership
- The Census is just a count, with 10 basic questions (the first census was just 6 questions – 1) head of household name. Who is in the household – organized by: 2) free white male count age 16+ 3) free white male count under 16. 4) free white female count. 5) all other free person count. 6) Slave count. If you’re wondering which category American Indians would fit it, the answer is none of them. Not counted. –ed.)
- Where do you live
- Phone number
- Count of people in household
- Name
- Gender
- Age and Date of Birth
- Race
- Self-identified cultural background – for instance, able to identify as a white person, but culturally Italian Irish.
- Ask who lives at that address but is somewhere else on the day of the count.
- Ask relationships of household members
- Citizenship question – this question was added by the Secretary of Commerce – is before the Supreme Court now and we are hoping they decide soon so we can print forms
- Census available in 13 languages on-line, printed in English and Spanish, and language guide is available in 59 languages.
- In March, 95% of folks will get a postcard in the mail and will ask you to participate. If we think you have good access to the internet, you’ll get a code (which will automatically enter you address when you go on-line to fill out the survey).
- 5% will get a census worker visiting you to do the census – like rural areas in Maine, or location without addresses.
- After April 1st, you’ll get a couple of reminders, and then if no response, a paper copy of the census.
- If no response, we’ll make every attempt to physically visit and count.
- Census data is confidential, it is only reported in aggregation. Never report personal data, just the aggregate data. This is part of the census law (Title XIII). This is a lifetime oath you take when you work at the census bureau. There is no knowledge of the Census bureau having released personal identifying to anyone. It will be released – by not for 72 years. It is released 70 years after the census by law, but the census needs a couple years after a count to have time to do the release.
- Partnership Program – part of our mission is to educate people that the census is coming.
- We want to encourage people to self-respond
- We want to engage with different organization to get to populations that are hard to count
- Hard to count populations
- Foreign born and immigrants – not realize they need to fill out the census, or are fearful of it (so maybe don’t ask the census question – just a thought. –ed.)
- Children under 5 - parents forget they have babies – this data is used for headstart funding and more. One hospital is including a note on the diaper when kids go home reminding their parents to fill out info on the child on the census.
- Seniors are not typically hard to count, but with the computer component, this may be a tougher group to count. One County is looking at some youth/senior combination events to have the tech savvy youth assist the seniors with the count.
- Homeless
- We are still working on how we will count the homeless populations
- I don’t need to tell you how challenging of an issue this is.
- We used “service-based” enumeration”. We count them at the place where they usually get service. We count them where they are on census day on April 1st, 2020. We don’t ask folks if they are homeless. We also don’t publish any records about the percentage of people who are homeless. There are other ways to count and estimate the homeless population. The US Census bureau is not trying to count them different from anyone else. Will count at soup kitchens and shelters. Will do outreach to parks and such. (“We shall count on the beaches, we shall count on the landing grounds, we shall count in the fields and in the streets, we shall count in the hills; we shall never surrender…” -ed). Will hire an outreach team to come up with a list of service based locations and non-sheltered locations. We’ll confirm all these locations.
- With folks experiencing homelessness, we do in person interviews.
- We treat all with dignity and respect.
- We will count over a 3 day period in the end of March (27, 30,31), 2020. These counts will be done at night. Our enumerators will go out to the service based enumerators and
- Please promote the census with your clients – the services they use may be impacted by the count. Let them know that the government will not use this data against them (that will be reassuring, no doubt. –ed.) Please help the enumerators do their jobs. We want to reassure them we keep the data confidential. We don’t get SSN or credit card information.
- How to partner
- Put a link for jobs on your website
- Put up posters or flyers
- Hold a census event
- Send an e-blast to employees
- Celebrate 1 year to go on April 1st, 2019
- Create a complete count committee – Pierce County has one
- Have a Resolution/Proclamation
- Migrant workers – not such a big concern in this part of Washington
- Renters – very hard to count. People who rent don’t necessarily feel like a part of the community. Reach out to tenant organizations and housing authorities
- ROAM – new database on the census website – publicly available. http://www.census.gov/roam
- I pulled up Pierce County – this shows all the census tracks in Pierce County – it is not typically a political boundary.
- Quite a few different shades of blue – undercounted areas – are in Pierce County
- One example – a tract east of Lakewood – is predicted to be hard to count. They think this census track will have 35% not self-respond to the census. We’ll need to hire workers to go out and count these folks. We can look at the demographics and see why this might be the case. Some 30% of the tract is foreign born, and that might help us come up with a plan. 90% of the people in that tract are renting. With that, we can come up with a plan to reach out to this community and make sure they get counted.
- This is a high level overview of our plans.
- Area census office will be opening this summer
- People will come to you
- Question – why don’t you use the Point in Time count that the Counties do for the homeless. Lorraine – they will use that data in some way.
- Maureen – given that you don’t track people who are homeless, what do they put in as an address? Lorraine – I’ll have to get back to you on what they put in when they live in an unsheltered location. If they are in shelter, they’d put that in.
- Theresa – can you say how you are changing how you count incarcerated folks. Lorraine – I misspoke, we didn’t change, we will get a list of who is incarcerated from the facilities on census day.
- Maureen – what about people who are in the Northwest detention center, or on our side of the border. Lorraine – we will count them, but I’m not sure how. If you are in the United States and spend the majority of your time here, we will count you.
- Martha – you count folks on April 1st. you said the 3 March dates – 2 are on weekends, where many services are not open. Lorrain – I’ll see why those date where chosen.
- Al – if I were Latino, and I encountered question 8 – the Hispanic origin, I might think it is targeting immigrants. Lorraine – we ask this because of federal rules. We hope the concerns people have about these questions don’t impact the count.
- Al – how will you count people who refuse to be counted on the homeless outreach night? If we can only get partial data, we will attempt to do that – estimate age and such.
- Al – This is an area ripe for fraud – how do you know the postcard in the mail is legitimate? Lorraine – I’m not sure how we are going to do that. We’ll have an outreach effort to educate on what a real worker looks like.
- Al – you will be going out at night to dangerous areas. Will you pay organizations for staff time to accompany you? Lorraine – I don’t know – but we’d have to go out into those areas with folks who know the area.
- Patricia – Do you ask for names? Lorraine – yes, so we don’t duplicate counts. There is a substantial quality control that would throw out duplicates. Snow birds often fill out two. We do lots of quality control. Patricia – how can you be sure you don’t double count people.
- Patricia – why do you ask relationships of household members. Lorraine – (I’m not sure which handout Lorraine was referring to, but I like this one - https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/decennial/2020/operations/planned-questions-2020-acs.pdf -ed)
- RoxAnne – if they choose to have citizenship on the form, if folks refuse to answer, what happens then? Lorraine – we will try and get any information that isn’t filled out. If you leave it blank, we’ll try to collect complete information
- Patricia – what are the gender options. Lorraine – just two, but you can choose whichever you want. Some of these questions has to do with how the Federal Government tracks populations.
- Question – will people not answer because they are non-binary? Lorraine - possibly
- Brandon - Last census, I thought there was a way for LGBTQ to identify. Or was it on the American Communities Survey. Lorraine – I’m not sure the history of that question.
- Lorraine – we are interested in coming and speaking to any group – our operations folks will probably be coming to talk with you as we get closer.
|
|