How You Can Start Preparing For A Fair And Complete Count

Census 2000 Education Kit

How You Can Start Preparing For A Fair And Complete Count

February, 1999

Although Census Day (April 1, 2000) is more than a year away, there are many key local activities that must begin now and continue through the census to ensure the best count possible, whether or not scientific sampling methods are used in the 2000 census . Here are some examples of what communities can do now to prepare for the 2000 census:

Address List Development

A complete list of every residential address in the country is fundamental to an accurate census, regardless of the counting methods used. The Census Bureau has been developing its Master Address File (MAF) for several years, working with the Postal Service and local governments. From now through 1999, the Bureau must complete its address list.

Starting this past August, the Bureau has hired thousands of workers to verify address lists in rural communities (i.e. places without city-style addresses). These workers are literally driving down every road and street to be sure that every housing unit it can locate is included on the lists.
Starting this winter, the Bureau began verifying and completing the address list for suburban and urban communities. Temporary workers will walk (or drive) every block and street to check addresses and add or delete information, as necessary.

What stakeholders can do:

Work with local governments (city and county) to provide address information to the Census Bureau, particularly for housing units that may be hidden, new or otherwise hard-to-locate.
Refer qualified applicants to the Bureau for employment, to assist with address identification and later for local census office and enumerator positions. Individuals interested in census jobs may call their regional (or local) census centers. The contact numbers are listed at the end of this document.

Local Census Offices

The Bureau will open and begin staffing all of its 500 local census offices in 1999. Recruitment and hiring

The Bureau is hiring now for address listing positions. In 1999, the Bureau will begin recruiting and hiring employees for its local census offices. Local office positions will include supervisors, crew leaders, and some administrative or data entry positions. But most of the hiring will occur in the spring of 2000, when enumerators will be hired to visit unresponsive households.
The Bureau tries to hire enumerators and address listers who live in the communities in which they will work.
Positions are temporary for varying periods of time. There are no benefits offered, but the employees will be eligible for unemployment benefits once they complete their work successfully.
The Bureau will have a special program to recruit and hire welfare recipients, mostly for enumerator positions in 2000.
Generally, temporary employees must be U.S. citizens but exceptions will be made if qualified citizens are not available.
Individuals interested in census positions should call their regional (or local) census center. The contact numbers are listed at the end of this document.

Foreign Language Questionnaires

The Bureau will only mail questionnaires in English but residents may call a toll-free number listed on the form (and advertised in other ways) to obtain a census form in the following languages: Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Chinese, and Korean.
The Bureau plans to set up questionnaire language assistance centers to help people fill out their forms. The centers will have questionnaire guides in about 30 languages to help non-English speakers fill out the forms.
The questionnaire assistance centers will be run through a combination of paid (temporary) Bureau employees and community volunteers.

What stakeholders can do:

Help the Census Bureau identify appropriate locations for questionnaire assistance centers.
In 2000, help promote use of the centers through local social organizations, places of worship, community-based newspapers or newsletters, places of employment, service providers (i.e. health clinics), and other places where people tend to congregate .
Recruit volunteers to help staff questionnaire assistance centers during the census.
Promotion, Outreach, and Advertising
For the first time, there will be a paid advertising campaign to promote the 2000 census. The advertising agency Young & Rubicam was awarded the contract to develop the ad campaign.
The Bureau will make promotional materials available to local organizations but does not have funds to provide financial support for local promotion and outreach campaigns that supplement the Bureau's national campaign.
The Bureau has contracted with Scholastic, Inc. to develop and distribute a Census in the Schools program. The purpose is to encourage and help educators to include information on the census in their curricula.

What stakeholders can do:

Work with local elected officials (particularly mayors or county commissioners) to establish a Complete Count Committee (CCC) for the city or county, as soon as possible.
The CCC, usually headed by the mayor or other top officials, should include representatives from a wide range of local social and economic sectors, such as: ministers and other religious leaders; civil rights activists; corporate and union officials; media, entertainment, and sports personalities; educators; community-service providers; and other civic or business influentials in the community.
The CCC should work with the Census Bureau's regional partnership coordinators, who can provide information, promotional materials, and speakers. The contact numbers for the Census Bureau's regional offices are listed at the end of this document.
Help ensure that teachers and school administrators are prepared to discuss the census in the classroom, using the materials distributed through the Census in the Schools program.

The Homeless

The homeless will be counted through a separate enumeration effort focused on service providers such as shelters, soup kitchens, or health clinics that serve the homeless.

What stakeholders can do: