update August 14, 2020

 



Census Bureau Adapts Operations to Ensure Everyone Is Counted

AUGUST 14, 2020 — As the U.S. Census Bureau continues to monitor the impacts COVID-19 has on 2020 Census operations, changes to operations are being deployed to ensure the safety of staff and the public while maximizing the number of households that respond on their own to the 2020 Census.

“We are taking steps and adapting our operations to make sure everyone is counted, while keeping everyone safe,” said Census Bureau Director Dr. Steven Dillingham. “Our commitment to a complete and accurate 2020 Census is absolute. In this challenging environment, we are deploying these tactics to make sure we reach every household in every community. If you haven’t responded, the time to respond is now! Responding to the 2020 Census online, on paper, by phone, or in person with a census taker, helps secure vital resources for your community.”

As of today, over 63.5% of households have responded to the 2020 Census. People can still respond online, over the phone or by mail — all without having to meet a census taker.

The Census Bureau will follow up with some nonresponding households by phone.

In order to supplement our capabilities to send census takers to households in person, the Census Bureau is training census takers to follow up with households by phone. Using information provided to the Census Bureau and third-party purchased data, the Census Bureau has a strong contact list for both landlines and cellphones assigned to houses on the Census Bureau’s address list. These phone calls will enable the Census Bureau to have maximum flexibility for conducting field operations, and is one more method that census takers can use to reach nonresponding households.. If a voicemail is available, the census taker will leave a message asking the household to call one of the Census Bureau’s call centers.

Census takers have begun following up with households nationwide. Census takers will continue to follow up with nonresponding households in person, and will follow CDC and local public health guidelines when they visit.

If no one is home when the census taker visits, the census taker will leave a “Notice of Visit” with information about how to respond onlineby phone or by mail, to encourage response. During Census Bureau tests, the “Notice of Visit” proved successful in encouraging people to respond on their own to the census.

The Census Bureau will mail an additional paper questionnaire to nonresponding households.

To encourage more households to respond on their own to the 2020 Census, the Census Bureau is contacting nonresponding households by mailing an additional paper questionnaire to some households that have yet to respond.

The Census Bureau is sending a seventh mailing, including a paper questionnaire, in late August to early September to the lowest-responding census tracts.

The Census Bureau is emailing households in low-responding areas.

The Census Bureau recently announced that households in low-responding areas would be receiving emails to encourage response to the 2020 Census.

The emails will go to all households that the Census Bureau has contact information for in census block groups with a response rate lower than 50%. This will include households who may have already responded. In total, the Census Bureau expects to email more than 20 million households in these low-responding areas. The email messages will come from 2020census@subscriptions.census.gov and will give recipients the option to opt out of receiving future messages.

The Census Bureau is using email addresses that households have provided in response to another Census Bureau program, or received from states (such as from their WIC, SNAP or TANF programs) or from a commercial list.

In addition to contacting households through these new methods, the Census Bureau is increasing other outreach efforts during one last push to encourage everyone to respond to the census online, by phone or by mail. The Census Bureau recently announced that it has launched Mobile Questionnaire Assistance, a program that offers assistance with responding at locations, such as grocery stores and pharmacies, in low-responding areas.

Additionally, the Census Bureau has expanded its paid advertising, launching a series of new advertisements aimed at increasing online response. Now, 45 non-English languages are receiving some level of paid media support.

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Public Information Office

 

SOURCE: https://2020census.gov/en/news-events/press-releases/adapts-2020-operations.html?utm_campaign=20200825pmc20s1ccptnrs&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery



update August 7, 2020


Statement from U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham:

Delivering a Complete and Accurate 2020 Census Count

The U.S. Census Bureau continues to evaluate its operational plans to collect and process 2020 Census data. We are announcing updates to our plan that will include enumerator awards and the hiring of more employees to accelerate the completion of data collection and apportionment counts by our statutory deadline of December 31, 2020, as required by law and directed by the Secretary of Commerce. The Census Bureau’s new plan reflects our continued commitment to conduct a complete count, provide accurate apportionment data, and protect the health and safety of the public and our workforce.

Learn More
Complete Count: A robust field data collection operation will ensure we receive responses from households that have not yet self-responded to the 2020 Census.

  • We will improve the speed of our count without sacrificing completeness. As part of our revised plan, we will conduct additional training sessions and provide awards to enumerators in recognition of those who maximize hours worked. We will also keep phone and tablet computer devices for enumeration in use for the maximum time possible.
  • We will end field data collection by September 30, 2020. Self-response options will also close on that date to permit the commencement of data processing. Under this plan, the Census Bureau intends to meet a similar level of household responses as collected in prior censuses, including outreach to hard-to-count communities.

Accurate Data and Efficient Processing: Once we have the data from self-response and field data collection in our secure systems, we plan to review it for completeness and accuracy, streamline its processing, and prioritize apportionment counts to meet the statutory deadline. In addition, we plan to increase our staff to ensure operations are running at full capacity.

Flexible Design: Our operation remains adaptable and additional resources will help speed our work. The Census Bureau will continue to analyze data and key metrics from its field work to ensure that our operations are agile and on target for meeting our statutory delivery dates. Of course, we recognize that events can still occur that no one can control, such as additional complications from severe weather or other natural disasters.

Health and Safety: We will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our workforce and the public. Our staff will continue to follow Federal, state, and local guidance, including providing appropriate safety trainings and personal protective equipment to field staff.

The Census Bureau continues its work on meeting the requirements of Executive Order 13880 issued July 11, 2019 and the Presidential Memorandum issued July 21, 2020. A team of experts are examining methodologies and options to be employed for this purpose. The collection and use of pertinent administrative data continues.

We are committed to a complete and accurate 2020 Census. To date, 93 million households, nearly 63 percent of all households in the Nation, have responded to the 2020 Census. 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. If you know someone who has not yet responded, please encourage them to do so today online at 2020census.gov, over the phone, or by mail.

 

 



update March 23, 2020

The Census continues to hire from Cabell in the hopes of putting these folks to work as soon as it is safe to do so.

See this short video for information

Census DRCC_11_16_18 15 sec Recruiting Video

 

Local Contact:
Shellie Wingett, Area Recruiter
Beckley/Recruiting/Philadelphia
U.S. Census Bureau
O: 304-256- 9820 M: 304-415-4054
census.gov | @uscensusbureau
Shape your future. START HERE 2020census.gov


The 2020 U.S. Census is now open! 

It is very important that EVERY PERSON be counted – how Federal funding is divided up in the coming decade is decided by the outcome of the census.

Please take time to respond now and encourage each of our volunteers and families we serve to do the same.

How to Respond

The 2020 Census is happening now. You can respond online, by phone, or by mail.

Here is the link – https://2020census.gov/

Your response matters.

Health clinics. Fire departments. Schools. Even roads and highways. The census can shape many different aspects of your community.

Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year.

The results determine how many seats in Congress each state gets.

It’s mandated by the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2: The U.S. has counted its population every 10 years since 1790.

See how your answers shape the future.

Watch the PSA on  https://2020census.gov/

 

CENSUS 2020 – online open, end field data collection by September 30, 2020