By Evan Armstrong
Community Engagement VISTA

How far would you go to protect confidential information at your job? In 1980, four agents from the FBI entered the Census Bureau’s office in Colorado Springs, armed with a search warrant authorizing them to seize census documents. While FBI agents and a search warrant would normally trump any instructions you may have at your workplace, a local census worker knew that the law states that all census information is absolutely confidential – including to the FBI, CIA, IRS, law enforcement, etc. This worker refused to allow the FBI access to census documents, and successfully held the agents off until the situation was resolved with her superiors. This is just one example of the commitment census workers have to their positions.

All answers you give while filling out your census form are strictly confidential, and protected under the law (U.S. Code, Title 13, Section 9). The sharing of individual information is prohibited, and no court, or even the President, can access your responses.

Census information remains confidential for 72 years. That means that individual information provided this year will not be available until 2082! Many Americans have used released data from censuses from 1930 or earlier to trace lost lines of their genealogy, filling in important gaps in their family history.

Census workers pass intense background checks. They are trained to fully respect individual privacy, the commitment the Census Bureau has to non-disclosure, and are sworn for life to keep this information private. Census Bureau employees are eligible for a $250,000 fine and/or 5 years in prison for revealing identifiable information about an individual or household.

So remember, information provided for the census can only help you. The census is safe and easy – the ten questions on the questionnaire do not ask for social security numbers, immigration status, or yearly income. The census is about taking a snapshot of America, allowing federal and state governments to fairly distribute resources where they are needed. The census questionnaires are mailed out in March, so get ready to participate and do your part to make the 2010 Census the most complete picture yet!

By Evan Armstrong
Community Engagement VISTA

A commonly heard criticism of the census is that it should not count undocumented citizens, a standard the Census Bureau has held since 1790. There are estimated to be more than 10 million undocumented individuals in the United States, and most of these people are working and paying taxes like everyone else. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana proposed in October that the census be modified to only count official United States citizens when reapportioning districts for 2012. This would have enormous consequences in electoral politics, but was ultimately an empty-handed gesture – preparation for Census 2010 was too far along for this proposed change to be taken seriously. However, some critics go even farther than Senator Vitter, advocating that the undocumented not be counted at all.

So to combat that, here are several important reasons why the undocumented are counted every decade:

It is in the Constitution. Non-citizens have been included in the census since its inception. The legal requirement to count every person living in the US is incontrovertible, and has been repeatedly upheld in court.

Funding for public services depends on a complete count. Undocumented individuals work, enroll in schools, stay at hospitals, and use parks. If the undocumented were not factored into census statistics, undercounted regions would not receive the necessary funding to appropriately provide public services. Schools may be too small, hospitals could become understaffed, and roads will not be redone where they are most needed. This impacts everyone in a community, not only new immigrants.

Ignoring the undocumented prevents them from assimilating into American culture. If resources are not directed to the undocumented, they may not be able to achieve the tasks needed to put them on a path to citizenship in the future. Language services

Excluding the undocumented from reapportionment would decrease participation. Fear of deportation is already a problem the Census Bureau faces, and this is despite the fact that Census data is absolutely confidential, even to other government agencies. This additional exclusion in the census would lower participation, making it harder for census workers to accurately determine the real population of the United States.

Non-citizens impact the American economy, and deserve to be valued in reapportionment. Whether an immigrant has paperwork or not, those who work pay taxes, pay social security, and join unions. The contribution of non-citizens toward the American economy makes it important for representation in Congress to reflect their presence. The undocumented are not allowed to vote, but neither are Legal Permanent Residents, many convicted felons, new refugees, or children – and you would be hard-pressed to find someone willing to argue that those groups should not be factored in to a state’s population when allocating the resources it needs.

By Evan Armstrong
Community Engagement VISTA

As covered in previous posts, it is vitally important that the 2010 Census counts every person living in America. This ensures that federal resources are allocated fairly, legislative representation is accurate, local governments understand who is living in their districts, and much more. The challenge then for the Census Bureau is discovering which populations will be the hardest to count, and how they can increase census turnout in those areas.

The Hard-To-Count (HTC) population varies by region, but there are some basic assumptions that can be made on which groups prove the most challenging to count. The government uses 12 identifiers to label HTC areas, including: language barriers, education, telephone access, unemployment rate, poverty rate, and housing vacancy rate.

People in these circumstances are much less likely to be aware of the census, to receive a questionnaire in their mail, and to know that is smart, safe, and easy to fill it out and mail it in.

In the 2000 Census, 20% of Americans lived in Hard-To-Count areas. And unfortunately, this problem is the most noticeable in communities for racial and ethnic minorities. Organizing data by race reveals these troubling statistics (courtesy of US Census Bureau):

-  78% of Native American majority tracts are Hard-To-Count
-  73% of Hispanic majority tracts are HTC
-  61% of African American majority tracts are HTC
-  But less than 1% of tracts that have a high concentration of Non-Hispanic Whites are HTC

Minorities are the most at-risk of being undercounted in the census, which drains valuable funding and attention away from the wards that most need it. When language barriers, fear of government, and unfamiliarity with the census are factored in as well, achieving high turnout in HTC areas becomes a formidable challenge.

And aside from race and ethnicity, there are many other ways to identify at-risk groups less likely to fill out census forms. People leading nomadic lifestyles are harder to track down, as are those with a high fear of government. The indicators used show that recent immigrants, the homeless, college students, extreme rural communities, racial/ethnic enclaves, and people living in poverty are some of the most vulnerable populations to being undercounted.

So remember, it is important to recognize how important the census is to everyone in the country! Maximizing turnout is in your interest, for local and state resources depend on an accurate count to provide the necessary services to every county in America.

To look up your address and see if you live or work in a HTC area, try out this resource from the Community Research Institute in Michigan: http://www.cridata.org/htc/ . Scores over 60 are labeled as Hard-To-Count by the Census Bureau.

To see maps of the Hard-To-Count areas in Missouri, visit: http://oa.mo.gov/mocensus/publications/

By Evan Armstrong
Community Engagement VISTA

Next up in the Census 2010 series is a brief list of why it is important for everyone to participate, and how the census will benefit you!

–It is required by law–
Some people might say that the census isn’t meant for everybody, but this is not true. The goal of the census is to enumerate every person residing in the United States, regardless of their legal status. You cannot ‘choose’ not to participate – if you first ignore the questionnaire in the mail, and then avoid talking to Census workers at your house, you can be prosecuted under the law. The fine for refusing to fill out a Census form is up to $5000.

–Allocation of federal funding–
Counting an accurate, maximum number of people living in an area forces the federal government to acknowledge an area’s complete population, making it harder for budget cuts toward necessary services to be approved. $400 million in federal funds are allocated annually throughout the United States, and census data is the primary source for determining the proportions each state receives.

–Community infrastructure–
If your community is undercounted, a different district may, for example, get permission to build a new school you would have received monies for otherwise. Or if the city you work in is undercounted, new highways may be routed to somewhere else instead, based on census population statistics. Even in natural disasters, emergency responders use census statistics to determine the resources and personnel they dedicate to aiding an afflicted area. Census data is used for everything from mapping district boundaries to mapping new bus stops.

–Representation–
Every ten years, electoral lines across the nation are redrawn, and census data is used to determine how many seats in the House of Representatives each state will have. Right now, Missouri is projected to lose a seat, but only by the slimmest of margins. Ensuring that every person living in Missouri is counted could save that seat, allowing Missouri to maintain its current level of influence in Congress and in national elections.

Remember above all else, the census is safe, easy, and beneficial to you and your community!

By Evan Armstrong
Community Engagement VISTA

The following is the first of a series of blogs about Census 2010.

In the coming months, if you ever hear anyone wondering why the government spends so much time every ten years counting everyone, let them know that it isn’t just some fancy government spending operation! A decennial census is actually mandated by the Constitution, and everyone living in the U.S. is required to participate.

The U.S. Census Bureau is in charge of the arduous task of counting everyone in the country. There are tweaks and changes to each decade’s census, going back from the very first census in 1790 that was administered by U.S. Marshals on horseback! That census counted slightly fewer than 4 million people, while the 2010 Census is expected to count well over 300 million. Later entries will go into detail about what the upcoming census will entail, but this initial post will give you a timeline of important dates in the next year.

February-March 2010: Census questionnaires are mailed or delivered to households nationwide.
— Once you get your questionnaire, just fill it out and send it in! If you fill out the questionnaire completely, you will not be visited by any census workers later.

April 1, 2010: Census Day
— This is the last day to send in your questionnaire before census workers begin going door-to-door to locate everyone who has not already been counted. It is much more cost-effective to send the form in rather than being visited by a worker, so do your part!

April-July 2010: Census takers visit households across America
— The government hired over 800,000 census workers in 2000, and the effort is expected to be even greater for the newest census!

December 2010: A population count is given to the President
— After this date, data collected is begun to be used for electoral redistribution, the providing of community services, and the local allocation of over $400 billion annually based on census statistics.

April 1, 2082: Census data from 2010 becomes public.
— If you are concerned about privacy, look at this date. After collection, census data is absolutely private for 72 years! Census employees are held to absolute confidentiality, face jail time and fines if they divulge information, and take their jobs extremely seriously! Census data cannot be used to prosecute individuals for any offenses, even by the federal government. There is absolutely no risk of filling out a census form, your information is both confidential and safe.

For more information on the 2010 census, see: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/