By Allison Perrine
NEW JERSEY – In March, invitations to complete the 2020 U.S. Census hit mailboxes across the country. Normally, census takers would have begun knocking on doors by May. But because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, things are a little different this year.
According to Jeff T. Behler, New York regional director with the U.S. Census Bureau, over 11,500 census takers are trying to get as many residents as possible to complete the survey while keeping strict social distancing protocols.
All census takers must wear masks, regardless of state and local guidelines, Behler told The Two River Times. They will knock on doors and immediately step back 6 feet to create appropriate space between themselves and the respondents. Census takers will be given additional masks to provide to residents should they need or want one, as well as hand sanitizer. They are advised not to work if they feel ill and they will no longer pass paperwork back and forth with respondents.
“We are committed to a complete and accurate 2020 Census,” Steve Dillingham, Census Bureau director, wrote in a statement Aug. 3. “Building on our successful and innovative internet response option, the dedicated women and men of the Census Bureau, including our temporary workforce deploying in communities across the country in upcoming weeks, will work diligently to achieve an accurate count. We appreciate the support of our hundreds of thousands of community-based, business, state, local and tribal partners contributing to these efforts across our Nation. The 2020 Census belongs to us all.”
Historically, the U.S. Census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790 and serves an important role in the country’s past and future. Citizens are asked to fill out the survey to help determine how many seats each state gets in the House of Representatives and to account for population changes, among other benefits.
“We know businesses use the census data to determine where they want to grow into what communities; they want to know that they’re going to have the customer base or that they have the ability to hire employees,” said Behler. “But probably the biggest selling point that we’ve heard that’s really resonated with communities throughout New Jersey is the hundreds of billions of dollars of federal funding that are disseminated every year based upon formulas that use census data,” he said. That includes programs like Medicare and Medicaid, food stamps, infrastructure needs, school lunch programs, road repairments and more.
As of Aug. 14, Behler reported that the household self-response rate is 65.4 percent in New Jersey and 68.6 percent in Monmouth County, which he called “very close to normal” and a “pleasant surprise” due to the pandemic. Comparatively, in 2010 the final self-response rate was 67.6 percent throughout the state and 70.1 throughout Monmouth County. The current national self-response rate is 63.8 percent.
Data collection was originally supposed to be finalized by the end of July, with the apportionment counts delivered to Congress and the president by Dec. 31. But because of the pandemic, that schedule changed. The bureau kept the Dec. 31 deadline after initially considering extending it, and recently decided to end data collection Sept. 30 instead of the revised Oct. 31 to meet that deadline. Response rates will continue to increase until then, Behler said.
The census asks questions about a resident’s name, sex, age, date of birth, origin, race, relationship, and if they are renters or homeowners. Census takers also ask for phone numbers in case they need to contact that person again. They do not ask for citizenship status, bank account or credit card information, money, social security numbers or anything on behalf of political parties. All information is private and census takers are sworn to secrecy regarding the information they receive from others.
“Every one of these census takers has to take an oath of confidentiality and that oath goes through life,” said Behler. “They swear to this oath and they sign on it, and basically if they were to release any information that they collect regarding an individual or a household, they will be fined up to $250,000; they will be imprisoned up to five years.”
While census taking during a pandemic is challenging, some community groups have historically been more difficult to count than others. According to Behler, that typically includes communities of color, new immigrants, households with language barriers, renters, children under the age of 5, those with complex living arrangements and two-family households living in a single-family home. To get better counts from these communities, local community leaders assist the bureau in educating their neighbors on why the census is so important and how well-protected their information and responses are.
“We had libraries that had events planned March, April and May to allow the community to come in and learn about the census and then to sit down at a computer and fill it out,” said Behler, as well as “partners who were planning to have mobile kiosks.” But those plans were scrapped due to COVID-19.
And while thousands of census workers will be knocking on doors to collect data at homes across the country, the homeless population will not be forgotten in the count. According to Behler, Sept. 22 through 24, volunteers and Bureau members will visit every mobile food van, soup kitchen and homeless shelter throughout New Jersey. Appointments will be made to bring staff in to conduct a count or to stop by and pick up administrative lists that the organizations create for the Bureau.
“Basically, during that three-day period, we’re going to count the people who are served at that particular facility,” said Behler. Additionally, census takers are going out into communities to collect the locations of people experiencing homelessness who do not stay in shelters. On the night of Sept. 23 or 24, members will go to those locations and do a headcount of the homeless population.
Behler noted how health care systems have been “strained to the brink” over the past several months because of the coronavirus. Census data is used to determine federal funding for hospitals, emergency personnel, vehicles and supplies and more.
“We really stress – take five minutes to go online at 2020census.gov, fill out the census,” he said. “It’s an investment in your community for the next 10 years.”
The article originally appeared in the August 13 – 19, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
