COUNTDOWN TO 2010 CENSUS:
PAID MEDIA LAUNCH; ADVOCATES RAMP-UP OUTREACH;
ENUMERATION STARTS THIS WEEK IN ALASKA
- NEW LEGISLATION: NO CRIMINAL HISTORY FOR ENUMERATORS
- PEW SURVEY ON CENSUS ATTITUDES; RACE QUESTION CONCERNS; AND MORE
- NEW RESOURCES FOR CENSUS ADVOCATES
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CENSUS BUREAU LAUNCHES PAID MEDIA, ROAD TOUR
ENUMERATION STARTS THIS WEEK IN ALASKA
The
Census Bureau formally launched its massive promotion and paid
advertising campaign this month, with a road tour that will stop at
major national events and local activities in each census region and
with advertisements hitting the national airwaves during the Martin
Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Census Director Robert Groves announced the start of the "Portrait of American" Road Tour on The Today Show on
January 4. The goal, they said, is to let Americans know that the
census is coming, that participation is easy, and that they should mail
back their forms. It is "very important that everyone be fully
counted," Secretary Locke told Today co-host
Meredith Viera, while Dr. Groves said the biggest misconception about
the census is that it is "boring and long," adding that mailing back
the form "is the safe thing to do."
The national road
tour -- expected to cover 150,000 miles -- will travel to prominent
national events such as the Super Bowl and NASCAR races, while 12
smaller vehicles will stop at local events in each of the Census
Bureau's regions. The regional vehicles have been coordinating
stops with local officials and community-based groups that are
partnering with the Census Bureau to promote census
participation. Census staff will be blogging and tweeting from
road tour stops. All road tour schedules are posted on an
interactive map on the 2010 census web site (Census Road Tour).
Advertising campaign aims to boost awareness: The
Census Bureau began a $133 million paid media campaign, hoping to
increase the mail-back rates with ads in 28 languages across
television, radio, print publications, outdoor locations, and the
Internet. CBS sportscaster James Brown joined Commerce Under
Secretary for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank, Dr. Groves, and
representatives of national partner organizations to unveil the
advertisements and show off the 2010 census-sponsored NASCAR vehicle at
a Census Bureau event on January 14.
The Census Bureau said its
plan "represents the most extensive and diverse outreach campaign in
U.S. history" and is designed to reach the average person 42 times over
the course of the enumeration. The focus on raising awareness
will shift to motivational messages when census forms are mailed or
hand-delivered to most American homes in March, and targeted ads urging
cooperation with census takers will start when door-to-door visits to
unresponsive households begin in May. The Census Bureau saves $80
- $90 million in follow-up costs for each one percent of households
that return their census forms by mail.
Census count starts this week in Alaska: The
2010 census count starts on January 25 with enumeration of the Inupiat
Eskimo village in Noorvik, Alaska. Director Groves will be on
hand to help launch the enumeration in Native Alaskan villages, which
the bureau must count earlier than most American communities because
residents disperse for hunting and fishing after the still-frozen
ground begins to thaw, making access to the villages difficult.
The
Native areas are counted using the "Update-Enumerate" operation, during
which census takers visit homes to update the address list by
confirming the location of each housing unit and then enumerate
residents on the spot. The procedure is used in other remote
areas of the country, including American Indian reservations, where it
is difficult to compile accurate address lists.
Rural
communities where homes do not have city-style addresses (e.g. 123 Main
Street) are counted using the "Update-Leave" operation, when census
workers will visit homes to update the address list, add missing
addresses they might uncover, and leave questionnaires for residents to
mail back. Update-Leave procedures also will be used in several
counties along the Gulf Coast still recovering from Hurricane Katrina
and in some communities where residents only receive mail at Post
Office boxes (census forms will not be delivered to P.O. boxes).
The Update-Leave operation starts March 1, while Update-Enumerate
starts in most areas on March 22.
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STAKEHOLDER SPOTLIGHT
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) launched its Yes We Count census campaign on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, in an effort to
mobilize grassroots organizations in Black communities. The civil
rights group is focused on raising awareness about the upcoming count,
encouraging house parties, phone banking, and door-to-door canvassing
in hard-to-count census tracts in 11 states and six metropolitan
areas. The NAACP will target youth and college students through a
program starting February 22, focusing on colleges with significant
Black student populations, and will reach out to senior citizens the
last weekend in February.
The Leadership Conference Education Fund and
its four national census partners -- the NAACP, National Association of
Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, Asian
American Justice Center (AAJC), and National Congress of American
Indians (NCAI) -- are planning a National Week of Action from March 22
- 28. Grassroots organizations and faith institutions will
conduct a wide range of activities to encourage people in historically
hard-to-count communities to mail back their census forms. The
Leadership Conference developed posters, signs, and palm cards for census-related King Day events.
The Unity Diaspora Coalition,
a collaborative effort of organizations focused on native-born and
immigrant Black communities, is planning events for Black History Month
to promote the 2010 census.
Broward County, Florida and
other municipalities organized a "Paint the Town Red" day on January 5,
encouraging all county employees to wear red to promote awareness of
the census. County workers also include the census logo on all
business e-mail communications they send, to draw attention to the
upcoming count.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) will
kick-off its 2010 census campaign with a discussion and reception on
January 28 at 4:00PM at the group's office (1732 Wisconsin Ave., NW,
Washington, DC). The event will feature remarks by Philadelphia
Regional Census Director Fernando Armstrong and Arab American Institute
Foundation Executive Director Helen Samhan, a long time member of the
Census Bureau's decennial census advisory committee. All
organizations are welcome to attend; RSVP to Abed Ayoub at aayoub@adc.org.
Groups
representing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders will organize census
activities in conjunction with the Lunar New Year in February, while NALEO and other Latino advocacy and faith groups participating in the ya es hora ¡HAGASE CONTAR¡ campaign are planning events in conjunction with Cesar Chavez Day on March 31.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce became
the 150,000th 2010 Census Partner earlier this month, pledging to
encourage census participation through its three million member
businesses. The Chamber is a member of the 2010 Census Advisory
Committee. According to the Census Bureau, the number of 2010
census partner organizations has exceeded the number in 2000, the first
year of the program; 99 percent of partners are at the local level.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority is planning a Census Awareness Day for February 27. The Rainbow PUSH Coalition will promote the 2010 census through churches, asking ministers to spread the message to their congregations.
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NEW BILL AIMS TO TIGHTEN RESTRICTIONS
ON HIRING 'CRIMINALS' FOR CENSUS JOBS
Rep.
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), a member of the House census oversight
subcommittee, introduced legislation on January 21 that would prohibit
individuals convicted of any crime or facing pending charges for any
crime from serving as census enumerators. H.R. 4484 defines
"crime" as "any criminal offense other than a minor traffic offense."
In
a press statement, Rep. Chaffetz said that enumerators with criminal
records "can have serious detrimental effects on the American people's
confidence in the Census. The safety and security of Americans in
their homes are at stake." The congressman said he asked the
Census Bureau last fall for data on the number of temporary employees
hired for the 2010 census with criminal offenses on their records but
did not receive the information. Subsequent meetings with Census
Bureau and FBI staff, Rep. Chaffetz said, indicated that people
convicted of "'certain' property crimes; minimal marijuana use;
prostitution; Peeping Tom (unless it leads to sex offender
registration); and DUI" would not be disqualified from 2010 census
jobs. Enumerators are sent door-to-door starting in May, to
collect information from households that do not respond to the census
by mail or telephone.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in an October 2009 report (GAO-10-132T)
that "fingerprinting during [Spring 2009] address canvassing was
problematic," noting that 22 percent of 162,000 address canvassing
staff had "unclassifiable prints that the FBI could not process" due to
poor quality. Of those, the GAO said, more than 200 workers
"might have had [disqualifying] criminal records." The Census
Bureau was taking steps, the GAO noted, to improve the finger-printing
process. Rep. Chaffetz said the GAO report prompted his concern
about the hiring of people with criminal histories.
Census
Director Groves issued a statement on October 13, emphasizing that 2010
census job applicants must undergo an FBI name background check and,
for the first time, a fingerprint check. "Our goal is clear:
Americans must be confident that if ... a census taker must come to
their door to count them, we've taken steps to ensure their
safety." Census informational materials do not specifically say
which criminal convictions would make an applicant ineligible for
employment.
The Chaffetz bill, which currently has no cosponsors, was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
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THE REST OF THE NEWS ...
Survey on census attitudes: A new survey by the Pew Research Center
revealed that most Americans have a positive view of the decennial
census, with 90 percent of people saying the census is "very" or
"somewhat" important and 80 percent reporting that they will
"definitely" or "probably" participate. The Center conducted the
survey for People & the Press in early January, a week before the
Census Bureau launched its multi-million dollar paid advertising campaign
that will blanket television, radio, print, and social media from now
through the spring.
The survey also found that about one in six
Americans (16 percent) "might not" or "will not" answer the census;
more than a third of those people said they had not heard of the
census, indicating the importance of the awareness phase of the
promotional campaign now underway. The Pew report says lack of
knowledge about the census is highest among young adults and Hispanics,
but at least two-thirds of each group is aware of the upcoming count
and more than four in five report that they are familiar with the
census after it is described to them.
The Pew Research Center is
a "a nonpartisan 'fact tank' that provides information on the issues,
attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take
positions on policy issues." The full report and survey results are
available through the Pew Research Center's web site at "Most View Census Positively, But Some Have Doubts."
Black leaders issue statement on census race question: The leaders of three civil rights organizations issued a statement earlier this month on use of the word "Negro" on the 2010 census race
question, seeking to address concerns that the Census Bureau was not
sensitive to cultural preferences in the Black community. Wade
Henderson (Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights), Melanie
Campbell (National Coalition on Black Civic Participation), and
Benjamin Jealous (NAACP) said in their January 13 statement that the
2010 census is a "critical civil rights issue" and that "fair political
representation and access to a fair share of the nation's public and
private resources are riding on the 2010 count."
The leaders
noted that the census race question includes a category for "Black,
African American, or Negro" and that the Census Bureau included the
latter word in large part because more than 56,000 respondents checked
off "Some Other Race" in the 2000 census and wrote in "Negro."
Their organizations commended the Bureau for "using the 2010 census as
a test-bed for alternative wording on the questions" for future
enumerations and the ongoing American Community Survey.
The three organizations issued their statement after TheGrio.com,
a web site focused on African American news and commentary, posted an
article questioning the decision to include the word "Negro" in 2010
(it appeared on the census forms in 1990 and 2000, as well), raising
alarm bells in some Black communities around the country. The
article's author, David Wilson, subsequently appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show(MSNBC) on January 6.
Better Business Bureau victim of census scam: The
Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning Americans about a phony e-mail
that purports to be from the consumer-business mediation group.
The message, circulating on the Internet, cautions against sharing
personal information such as social security and bank account numbers
with people claiming to be census takers, but also tells people that
they only have to provide the number of people in their
household. Federal law requires respondents to answer all
questions on the census.
Last fall, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
made news by saying in several interviews that she would only answer
the census question on the number of people in her home. In a press statement on its web site, the BBB urged Americans to "get the facts" about how
to identify census takers and assured people that the "census is safe."
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NEW RESOURCES FOR CENSUS ADVOCATES
? The Census Project is now on Facebook. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Census-Project/251237523383 to see the weekly blog, become a fan, and follow Census Project activities.
? The Census Bureau has launched a new 2010 census web site in Spanish,
"to demonstrate to the Hispanic community that participation is easy,
important and safe," according to the announcement of the site's launch
last week.
? The Arab American Institute,
a member of the 2010 Census Advisory Committee, has issued an Arab
American Toolkit for the 2010 census. The toolkit includes
resources in English and Arabic to help community leaders conduct
outreach and promote participation in the count. Go to AAI's web site to download a kit; an on-line version, which AAI will update to reflect new activities, also is available.
? The Pew Research Center has launched a new web page, All Things Census, featuring information about census methods, resources, and findings. Senior Writer D'Vera Cohn, a former Washington Post reporter
who covered census issues, is overseeing the new Pew resource, which
includes an audio recording of Census Director Groves' remarks at the
Center earlier this month.
? The Brookings Institution has issued updated national tables showing the allocation of Fiscal
Year 2008 federal program funds based in whole or in part on census
data. Brookings analyzed census-driven federal assistance
programs by state, by program, and by program function. The new
analysis shows that almost $438 billion was distributed to states,
counties, and localities through 212 programs using data derived from
the decennial census. The average national per capita expenditure
was $1,440. The updated tables are available on The Census
Project web site under Fact Sheets.
The Brookings Institution will issue a full report next month on the
FY2008 analysis, including program-by-program allocation tables for all
states and the 200 largest counties and metropolitan areas.
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QUICK LINKS:
2010 Census Web Site: The
Census Bureau's new 2010 census web site offers useful basic
information on the census process, as well as sample questionnaires,
information on job opportunities, and in-language materials. Add it to
your "Bookmarks" bar to track mail response rates daily for your state
and locality starting in late March.
2010 Census Web Site in Spanish: New official 2010 census Spanish language web site.
2010 Census Jobs: Visit this web page to download a Census Practice Test and find
information about the application process and a Local Census Office
near you.
The Census Project: Visit the Census Project web site for previous Census News Briefs, fact sheets, and a weekly blog in support of an accurate 2010 census.
Leadership Conference Education Fund:
The LCEF 2010 Census campaign offers fact sheets, a toolkit, data on
the census undercount, and promotional materials to reach historically
hard-to-count communities.
Nonprofits Count:
The Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network's 2010 census campaign features
fact sheets, a toolkit, posters and swag, and state-specific resources
to help nonprofits promote census participation.
ya es hora ¡HAGASE CONTAR¡: Resources and promotional materials, in Spanish and English, targeting the Latino population.
National Urban League:
This Census Information Center web page includes links to demographic
information on the Black population, job opportunities, and other 2010
census materials.
Asian American Justice Center:
Resources and information, including in-language census forms,
targeting the Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander
populations.
Indian Country Counts: Region-specific information, events, job listings, and tools for the American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
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Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal,
an independent legislative and policy consultant specializing in the
census and federal statistics. All views expressed in the News Briefs
are solely those of the author. Please direct questions about the
information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at TerriAnn2K@aol.com.
Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested
individuals and organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is a consultant to the
nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications Consortium
Media Center in Washington, DC. Previous Census News Briefs are posted
at www.thecensusproject.org.
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