It’s National Census Day!

Today, April 1, 2010 is the “official” day that the 2010 Census population count is meant to occur. Since logistically it can’t really all be done on the same day, hopefully you’ve mailed back your Census form by now. See my former posts here and here for more info about the importance of completing the Census forms.

A cool, new feature this year is up-to-date information about Census participation rates across the country. The Census posts updates on its website to show and compare the participation rates as the forms come in. Since we all love a healthy competition, as of March 31 these were the participation rates for Kannapolis and our neighbors:

• Kannapolis – 53%
• Concord – 57%
• Salisbury – 54%
• Huntersville – 57%
• Mooresville – 56%
• Cornelius – 54%
• Davidson – 40%
• Charlotte – 49%
• Cabarrus County – 57%
• Rowan County – 55%
• N.C. average – 54%
• U.S. average – 52%

And for your reference and statistical fun:

• N.C. county with highest participation rate – Perquimans County – 63%
• N.C. city/town with highest participation rate – Town of Washington Park – 74%!!
• City with highest participation rate – Dubuque city, IA – 70%
• States with top 5 participation rates – Wisconsin (62%), South Dakota (62%), North Dakota (61%), Nebraska (61%), Iowa (60%) – something is working in that part of the country!

So we’re doing OK in Kannapolis but still have a long way to go. In 2010, our participation rate was 72%. It would be great to hit 80% this time!

Be Counted in the 2010 Census!

I moved here from Atlanta and still get email updates from the local newspaper. There was an article from this morning that talks about how DeKalb County missed out on $41 million in federal funding because more than a quarter of their residents weren’t counted in the 2000 Census. That is a huge number that pays for things like schools, social services, and health care!! Let’s not let that happen in Kannapolis, Cabarrus, and Rowan Counties!! (Yes, we are affected by the overall county counts as well.)

I wrote a previous post about what the 2010 Census is about, and there is some additional information on our website. Our local outreach efforts have included:

• Contacting churches and asking them to include information about the Census in their bulletins and messages.
• Making Census information available at the local library and to large local employers.
• Presenting Census information to Cabarrus Smart Start and their partners, the Kannapolis City Schools (including their ESL teachers), Cabarrus Health Alliance, the Employment Security Commission/JobLink office, and CMC-Northeast.
• Encouraging the media and other non-profit partners to help get the word out about the Census.
• The Census is working directly with the Hispanic Learning Center, Cabarrus DSS, and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

Despite these efforts, I worry that Kannapolis and neighboring communities will still be undercounted. Those at risk of becoming homeless, immigrants, and many others are disconnected from typical media sources and probably aren’t aware that the Census is coming and how important it is to fill out the form. Another big barrier is trust and getting people to understand that the information provided is confidential and cannot be traced back to an individual.

How you can help with the 2010 Census:

1. Fill out the form and mail it back.
2. Encourage your friends, relatives, co-workers, church members, and other acquaintances to fill out the form.
3. Get your church, civic groups, and non-profits to put information about the Census in bulletins, make announcements, etc.

Let’s be counted and not miss out on any funding!

2010 Census Jobs

I was at the open house of the local Census office in Concord on Friday. The office will manage the Census operations for the six-county area (Anson, Cabarrus, Montgomery, Rowan, Stanly, and Union) for the upcoming Census 2010 population count. This includes people who knock on doors to make sure residents fill out their form and mail it back.

I learned that there will be 76,000 Census jobs available in the Charlotte region, and 1,100 Census jobs in our local area. These are mostly temporary jobs. Anyone who is interested can apply online.

Census forms will be mailed out in mid-March, so encourage others to fill out the form and mail it back! Funding for health care, transportation, schools, and other services are based on an accurate population count. Census 2010 – it’s important, it’s easy, and it’s safe.

Census 2010 Campaign Starting Soon

Our Planning Director (Ben Warren) and I attended a meeting this week for the Cabarrus County Complete Count Committee. This is a group representing a wide range of organizations throughout the community who are working to get the word out about Census 2010.

Yup, the next decennial Census is coming up, where everyone living in the United States is counted. You’ll get the form in the mail in mid-March to fill out an mail back. You will hear much more from us and others in the coming months about Census 2010 and the importance of it, but here are some interesting facts that we learned in the meeting.

• $400 billion in federal dollars are distributed each year to states, counties, and cities based on Census data. That’s money for schools, hospitals, roads, social services, and other key services.
• Census data are also used by states, local governments, developers, and retailers (to name a few) to make key business and investment decisions.
• Of course, Census data are also used for Congressional redistricting. The more people you have in an area, the more representation you will get in the House.
• The response rate in Kannapolis for the 2000 Census was only 66%, compared to 67% in the United States. Overall, the numbers are much lower than we would like.
• For every percentage point that we are able to increase the response rate, we save the federal government $90 million. That’s our tax dollars, people!
• If you don’t fill out the form and mail it back, a Census worker comes knocking on your door – up to 6 times until they get you. That’s where the expense of a low initial response rate comes in.
• Privacy and confidentiality are of utmost importance to the Census Bureau. Any identifying information (name, address) is kept confidential for 72 years (at which point it is made available for genealogy research). The 2010 Census does not ask any questions about immigration status, social security number, and so forth.

The top groups of undercounted people have been Latinos, African Americans, and Native Americans. We will be working to reach out to these groups as much as we can. If you would like to help with the outreach campaign, we would love to have you! Please contact me or Ben Warren.

The bottom line message is:  Census 2010 – it’s important, it’s easy, and it’s safe. There are only 10 questions asked and it should only take about 10 minutes. Encourage people to fill it out an mail it in!