Acting Census Director Updates Task Force on Preparation for 2010 Census
By Larry Jones
February 2, 2009
Acting Census Director Updates Task Force on Preparation for 2010 Census
By Larry Jones
Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2010 Census Task Force, opened the January 19 meeting by reminding mayors of the importance of census data, noting that over $300 billion dollars in federal funds is distributed to state and local governments each year. He also pointed out that a 1999 study conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors revealed that over a ten-year period, cities lose an average of $2,263 in federal funds for every person missed by the census. "For my city, that translates into $104,969,255 that we have lost in federal funding over the course of the decade," he said.
Census Bureau Update
Tom Mesenbourg, Acting Director of the U.S. Census Bureau, told mayors that next year, the Census Bureau will count over 300 million people living in 143 households and 86,000 group quarters. The Bureau has taken a number of steps to prepare for this monumental task:
12 Regional Census Centers and the Puerto Rico Area office are open for business.
142 of the 150 Early Local Census Offices are now open and the remainder will open in February in support of the national address canvassing operation.
Efforts to conduct address canvassing, the operation of verifying every address on the Census Bureau's address list, will start in April and efforts to hire and train 140,000 census employees who will travel every road in America, is well underway.
People interested in working on the 2010 Census should call the toll free jobs line at 1-866-861-2010. Between October and March 2010, the Bureau will be recruiting another 3.1 million persons to fill 1.2 million jobs.
The Census Bureau is working with its primary contractor, DraftFCB, to develop and implement advertising for the 2010 Census. The primary goals are to increase the response rate and reach the hard-to count populations.
Congress and stakeholders have expressed concerns about the Bureau's communications budget. In response, the Economic Stimulus Bill included additional funding for both advertising and the Bureau's partnership program.
Mayors should begin planning for Complete Count Committees, which should be comprised of representatives from local government, business and community leaders.
Mayors should also begin working with community leaders, especially those that serve historically missed populations, to develop strategies to communicate with them the importance of the 2010 Census.
The Undercount, Census Challenge Process
Jamie Alderslade, Senior Vice President for Social Compact, a Washington (DC) consulting firm that has helped many cities challenge lower-than-expected Census Bureau population estimates, spoke to mayors about census challenge process. He described how the Census Bureau designed the Census Challenge program to empower local governments to contest census population estimates, and to reorganize and prepare existing local data as evidence of population change.
To date, he said 190 local governments have challenged the Census Bureau's population estimates, which has resulted in the Census Bureau making adjustments to add back 1.2 million people to the contesting cities' populations. Social Compact has provided technical assistance leading to successful census challenges to cities across the nation including: Detroit, New Orleans, San Francisco and Toledo.
Congressional Oversight
Daryle Piggee, Staff Director of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and the National Archives, told mayors that the 2010 Census is a high priority of Representative William Lacy Clay (MO), Chairman of the Subcommittee. He said the Subcommittee would like to see funds included in the Census Bureau's budget to establish a uniform system for challenging the Bureau's population estimates. He also pointed out that the undercount is a big concern. And making sure a system is in place to deal with this issue in a systematic way is a priority.
Piggee explained that the subcommittee is very encouraged by the new Administration and looks forward to working with new leadership and all stake holders to make the 2010 census a success.
|
