by Dan McClelland
The 2020 census officially concludes September 30 and in the weeks until then enumerators are working diligently in the North Country communities to get everyone counted by the finish line.
“September 30 is the last day that households can either self-respond, either online, over the phone or on paper and that's also the last day we'll knock on doors,” Jeff Behler, census spokesman, explained this week.
He said that when census workers go to anyone's door they always produce a photo identification, with their photo, an expiration date and the U.S. Department of Commerce water mark on it. The census is always conducted by that federal agency.
“Most carry a bag with their paper supplies in it and their smart photo, because that's how we collect the data!”
After interviewing the resident the census-takers then enter the data into their smart phone, he explained.
“They are also required to wear a mask when they are out in the public, regardless of what local restrictions may be!”
Mr. Behler stressed that mask-wearing is a requirement. “Whenever we learn of people not wearing them, we deal with those issues as we hear of them.”
He said things have gone relatively smoothly in this year's census. “There have been some issues like every census where someone points a gun at an enumerator” or makes other threats. “Some of these things typically happen every census!”
There have been some incidents in the North Country where people show up at a door and say they are with the census bureau and they don't produce the required ID.
“Now that we are door-knocking, this is when scams typically start...this is when people say: 'hey, I'm from the census bureau.'”
Mr. Behler said his agency alerts local authorities when that happens.
He said the questions on any census form are very simple. “Name, age, address, date of birth, race and ethnicity, whether or not you are of hispanic origin. We ask for a phone number, the person's sex, whether they own or rent their home and the relationship to the first person that is listed on the census form...mother, father, son, daughter.”
“Important things for people to know is we don't ask for citizenship status, for bank account information, for money, for social security numbers.” Mr. Behler said asking those questions are normally what happen if scams are underway.
“That should always raise a red flag that this is a scam” and the fake enumerator is a scammer.
If anyone feels they have been scammed or they just want to check out the process they can call the regional telephone number at (212) 8827100, he told the press.
“We'll do the leg work. We'll let you know if it's a legitimate survey. -And if it's a scam we immediately notify the local media, local law enforcement and notify all of our partners.” Those people include elected leaders, church officials, business owners, etc.
“We let everyone know there is a scam going on in their area so they can get the word out to everyone in their area,” Mr. Behler stressed.
He noted this is his third census and the numbers this time are better than in the past.
“We finished the 2010 census with a final self-response rate of 66.5%. That's one of our bench marks” of success. “That means that 33% of the people enumerated we had to go out and knock on the door to get their date.”
He explained when all numbers are tabulated, both self-responses and those who were interviewed by a census worker, they will get data from 100% of the addresses they are expected to canvass.
“Going into the 2020 census process several years ago, before we knew anything about COVID 19, we had predicted we would be at 60.5% at the time we would begin knocking on door.”
“We needed to know how many people we needed to recruit and hire and train. So we have to come up with an estimate” of self-responders.
He said that actual self-responders this time hit 63.5%- three points more than there initial estimate. “And this was before COVID.”
Asked if he was content with how everything in the census process has gone this time, Mr. Behler said he was. “I'm extremely pleased, especially with the self-response. I think we overachieved in a lot of areas. “Hiring has been excellent. We were worried after COVID struck. Would a lot of the people who applied eight months ago still be interested?
He noted initial recruiting began in October, 2018. “Some people could have applied that early.”
Mr. Behler said the start of this year's census was pushed back due to the pandemic. “The start of knocking on doors should have been May 13 and concluded July 31. But because of COVID we had to shift the start to August 9 and conclude September 30.
What type of person is a census enumerator? We asked.
Mr. Behler said it depends on the geographic area, but typically they are retired people, housewives, “any and all of the above.
He said many time the people who apply are recently retired. “This is a gig job...an eight-week job!”
“Some people just want to earn extra money. Where there are college campuses, a lot of times students apply because it's short-term employment.”
He said if his agency had been able to stick to its original schedule- May to July would have been perfect for students, since they are out of class then in the college year.
“This time we had student enumerators, but not as many as we typically would have had.”
“We had some people we hired who were no longer interested because of the schedule change or because of the COVID-19 scare itself.”
Some were genuinely concerned about meeting the public during this time and we understand that, he noted.
He said a typical enumerations takes between five and ten minutes, depending upon the number of people in the household who have to be interviewed. “On average it's five minutes for a family of four!”
One person can fill the census form out for their entire family, but everyone must be listed, he said of the process.
“We are basically taking a snap shot of the country,” who is living in America and where they live. “On April 1 2020 that's when we snap the camera.”
He said regardless of when the census form is completed, all questions relate to the April 1 date. “For example where did you live on April 1, 2020?”
Enumerators in the upstate region are paid $20 per hour.
“And the great things about these jobs are you choose the days and hours you work,” Mr. Behler stated.
“-And then we assign you work based up those choices. If you have a full-time job and just want to work for the census on evenings and weekends, you can be very successful!”
A person could easily work 20 hours a week for eight weeks and get the job done? “Absolutely,” he replied.
Why is it important that everyone gets counted in a census?
“It boils down to two things: representation. The number of seats the State of New York will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. The trend has been New York has lost seats because of population declines. While states like Texas and Florida, where populations are growing, gain Congressional seats.”
He said each state will use the census data to do their redistricting for drawing voting precincts, their school districts. He said local governments will use the data to determine boundaries for their legislative districts.
Mr. Behler said businesses typically use census data for the planning and marketing. “They want to grow where they know they will have a customer base and the abilitiy to hire employees.”
“When we talk about the distribution of federal fundings around the nation we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars each year.”
“Funding things like Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, WIC but also for fixing the nation's infrastructure: bridges, tunnels, roads, parks, community block development, etc.
Census data also determines, he said, how federal school meal grants are formulated, Title I grants, Headstart, Pel grants for college students. “One of the most things is health care, showing there are enough hospitals in communities, that there are enough beds in the hospitals, supplies they need, that there are enough fire stations, police departments, ambulances- all of those are based on formulas that will use 2020 census data.”
He explained that the 2020 census report will be a living document with statistics to guide the country for the next ten years.
“That's why it's so important to get the message out far and wide that everyone must be counted. The five minutes they take to complete the census is an investment in their futures for the next ten years.”
Mr. Behler directs the U. S. Census Bureau's New York district, one of six in the country. The New York district covers New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico.