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Officials, communities readying for 2010 Census

Census activities throughout the region are already underway

Counting the entire population of the United States will begin in 2010, and many communities in the Twin Cities metropolitan area are already working on 2010 Census activities. That’s because the implications of the decennial count – from congressional representation to funding for highways – are big.   

Starting in late April and early May, newly hired census "enumerators" will be out verifying addresses with handheld computers. Local committees are already forming to encourage residents to participate in the survey and help ensure all their neighbors are counted, especially in areas that are traditionally difficult to count. 

“The 2010 Census is a community event that just happens to take place nationwide,” said Dennis Johnson, census director for the Kansas City region. 

The U.S. Constitution dictates that a census of every person living in the country be conducted once every 10 years. The census is used to apportion members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and population information is the basis for allocating federal program funds.  

Reapportionment, federal aid at stake

The decennial census serves as the basis for many activities, from determining how federal housing, transportation, transit, and healthcare dollars are allocated, to determining the number of members each state has in Congress. Preliminary estimates suggest Minnesota may lose a congressional district following the 2010 Census, which will likely directly affect the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

“Minnesota is right on the edge, and we could lose one of our districts,” said Barbara Ronningen of the State Demographer’s Office. “It's really important that we count every resident in the state.”

Each year, $300 billion in federal aid is distributed to states based on the census. According to the Minnesota State Demographer’s Office, that breaks down to approximately $1,000 per person for each of the 10 years affected by the census.

“To get our fair share, Minnesota needs to count every resident,” Ronningen emphasized.

The census also affects a number of other state-aid formulas. In Minnesota, several aid formulas have population thresholds (small-, medium-, large-sized communities) to categorize communities, and others have a direct or pro-rated population basis in determining actual aid amounts. (Note: in the metro area, the Metropolitan Council forecasts population – it’s not exclusively based on the census.)

For example, cities with populations above 5,000 receive access to municipal-state aid transportation improvement funds (about $111 million total in 2008), but cities with populations below 5,000 do not. According to current estimates, there are about 65 cities and 40 townships in the metropolitan area with populations below 5,000.

“Population forecasting is a key responsibility for the Council, and it’s important that we have good data to understand how the region will grow,” said Council Chair Peter Bell. “Each community has a stake in assuring a complete count. Community leaders need this information to prepare for their communities’ needs for the next decade and beyond.”

In addition, Council districts will likely be adjusted by the state legislature as a result of the census.

Census timeline: The work is under way

For the next several months, the Census Bureau will be hiring staff for the census effort in addition to organizing state and local officials and promoting participation to help assure a complete count.

The Census Bureau will open a total of eight offices throughout the state to manage the census, including several in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The St. Paul and Duluth offices opened late in 2008. The field supervisors and crew leaders for the St. Paul office have all been hired, and dozens, perhaps hundreds of address canvassers will be hired and trained by mid-April.

Another group of staff will be hired in August or September to prepare for in-person visits to homes that haven’t returned the mailed questionnaire. For more information about census employment, call 866-861-2010 or see the U.S. Census Bureau's jobs information.

Throughout the spring and summer, census staff will be verifying addresses to assure that when questionnaires are mailed next year, they will go to the right places. Census workers will also begin visiting group quarters, such as college dormitories, prisons and nursing homes, in late 2009 and early 2010.

Group quarters are among areas noted as “hard-to-count” by census officials. Extra resources are devoted to these hard-to-count groups to assure they are tallied completely.

All households now received short census form

Questionnaires will be mailed to every household in the country in March 2010 and delivered to places, such as American Indian reservations, where mail cannot be delivered. Census officials encourage residents to fill out the questionnaires and return them right away to reduce the number of households a census taker must visit in-person. Households that do not receive a questionnaire should contact the local census office to receive one.

The questionnaire will ask 10 basic questions, intended to clearly tally and categorize each person who lives in the household. Information including age, gender, race, country of origin, and relationship to others in the household will need to be provided for every person in the home, including children.

In past years, individuals were asked to complete a longer form. However, the American Community Survey, which surveys a sample of residents annually about household income, employment, and other demographic information, has removed the need to ask an extensive list of questions for the decennial census.

Officials expect the shorter form will be easier for folks to fill out and may result in a higher response rate.

Census information is protected under federal law, and census employees are prohibited from releasing personal information to anyone – even other federal agencies. For example, in 1980, census staff in Colorado Springs held off four FBI agents with search warrants to seize census documents until the situation could be resolved. No census information was released.

Complete Count Committees are forming

While the local census officials are busy hiring and training staff, a crew of “partnership specialists” is out working in communities to encourage the creation of Complete Count Committees. These committees serve as a way to bring different interest groups together, including government and community agencies, to build awareness for the census and encourage members of the community to participate.

Complete Count Committees may be organized in a number of ways – either geographic area, or by focusing on a particular segment of the population. Committees have been formed throughout the country to assure youth and children are counted, as well as religious groups in a community. In Minnesota, complete count committees have already been formed to assure the various ethnic populations in the state are accounted for in next year’s census.

The committees are volunteer-based and are primarily focused on raising awareness. Census officials say a trusted member of the community will have a greater impact on a person’s behavior – in this case, participation in the census – than other organizations will.

The State Demographer’s Office has planned a series of meetings throughout the state to encourage local officials to create Complete Count Committees. For more information about the meetings or to create a committee, contact the State Demographer’s Office at 651-201-2473 or check Minnesota's 2010 Census website. More resources are available from the U.S. Census Bureau.