by Phil Sparks
The mailer has been sent to thousands of households, from Georgia to Minnesota, and tells recipients that “strengthening our party for the (next)… elections will take a massive grassroots effort. As a key facet of our overall campaign strategy, the Republican Party is conducting a Census of Congressional Districts all across America.” The mailer misleads people by saying on the front of the envelope, in bold letters, that the mailer is a Congressional District Census. Above the recipient’s address the mailer says “Census Document Registered To.” There is even a “Census Tracking Code.” notice attached to the mailer.
(Click here to see a PDF copy of the mailer.)
And the object of the mailer itself? To raise money for the GOP. The mailer is straight from the Republican National Committee (RNC). What hypocrisy! This is the political party of Minnesota Republican Congresswomen Michele Bachmann, who urges her constituents not to fill out portions of the real U.S. Census form that will being arriving in mailboxes this year. She says the official census form is too invasive. Well, take a look at this faux effort by the GOP headquarters. The Republican survey asks 36 questions about political affiliation and recent voting activity. These are hardly subjects the real census would be asking anybody.
This is the party of Senator David Vitter, who introduced legislation to mandate that the Census Bureau doesn’t count everybody in America for purposes of Congressional reapportionment. The fundraiser asks recipients: “how much does it concern you that the Democrats have total control of the federal government?”
“The purpose of this document is to gather Republican opinion from across the country and raise a little money,” says RNC spokesman LeRoy Coleman. Unfortunately, this is an old GOP trick. In 2000, the RNC sent out a similar fundraising letter, disguised as a census form. The effort was quickly exposed for what it was– a scam on the American people. I guess the GOP figures that since 10 years have passed, they can gear up for another fundraising effort now that Census 2010 is ready to roll out. In the process, the GOP will tarnish the reputation of Census 2010.
In response to the scam, the head of the American Association for Public Opinion Research wrote to Michael Steele, head of the RNC, expressing dismay at this fundraising scheme masquerading as a Census 2010 form. He said, “there is potential damage to participation in the real Census if U.S. residents view the Census mailing as partisan or just another piece of junk mail.” I don’t think the GOP cares.
One Republican operative was quoted in the political newspaper Politico as declaring: “of course duping people is the point… that’s one of the reasons it works so well… they will likely mail millions this year.”
Categories: Census Form · Politics & Census 2010
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, census, Census & Politics, challenges, Congress, Congressional Oversight, mail response, Phil Sparks, privacy, Questionnaire
by Terri Ann Lowenthal
Members of Congress love to point out that the U.S. Constitution gives them authority over the nation’s decennial census. Makes some sense, since the sole constitutional purpose for the population count is to reapportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the states.
Why, oh why, then, do so few of our venerable lawmakers display information about the upcoming 2010 census on their jazzy (mostly) web site home pages?
There are 11 members of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives. Only a third have posted the 2010 census logo and message on their web sites. Most of the Democratic members haven’t, nor have half of the Republicans. To be fair, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), also chair of the Republican Census Task Force, lists the census under his “Issues Spotlight.” The issue summary assures us that the task force is working to ensure that the Census Bureau doesn’t use “sampling” in the enumeration and that all 2010 census partners are “ethical, legal and trustworthy.” Hmmm, definitely wouldn’t want to be at a census pep rally with civically-minded scumbags.
Speaking of census partners, the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee (of which the census panel is a part) has put a 2010 census message on his home page. The Ranking Republican member? No census promotion, but we know we are in good hands because listed first under Hot Topics is ACORN.
Meanwhile, some helpful representatives are promoting really important census causes, such as a bill to ensure no one convicted of DUI can hold a 2010 census job. Whew, at least we know former Rep. Vito Fossella won’t be knocking on the doors of his former Staten Island constituents. (Okay, that wasn’t very nice. But I am starting to get steamed.)
And what about those Senators, who don’t have to worry about that tedious post-census redistricting process but who surely care about the $460 billion a year in census-driven federal program allocations? With about three times the number of staffers as their lowly House colleagues, you’d think they could at least manage to post the cheerful “It’s In Your Hands” graphic and possibly offer a few FAQs. But on the subcommittee of jurisdiction, only Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) handed in his homework. (Memo to full committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman: Yes, we do care about an accurate count in Connecticut.)
People, this is embarrassing. Lawmakers are quick to complain about census planning, operations, and results. They’re understandably worried about reaching historically hard-to-count neighborhoods, and they’ve let the Census Bureau know it. But doing everything they can to help ensure a fair and accurate count, even in their own districts? Not so much.
The Census Bureau has made it easy for legislators to promote the importance of the census to their constituents; there’s even a special page – Fast Facts for Congress – just for them on the bureau’s web site. Post the colorful Ten Questions, 10 Minutes! fact sheet on your own site and give yourself a gold star. Otherwise … as my grandfather would have said … quit yer bellyachin’!
Categories: Census Outreach Efforts · Congressional Oversight
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, census, Census & Politics, Congress, Congressional Oversight, Constitution, Outreach, Terri Ann Lowenthal
by Terri Ann Lowenthal
Ask Americans to name an objective and independent consumer advocate, and chances are the Better Business Bureau would be high on the list.
So when a “warning” from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about how to avoid census scammers started circulating on the Internet, many educated and otherwise savvy people bought the message and passed it along. Several well-meaning friends sent the missive to me, asking in an innocent effort to be helpful (and maybe to impress their census-crazed friend), “Is there anything we should add before sending to our e-mail list?”
My answer: TRASH IT, before this doctored message hoodwinks more unsuspecting readers! Yes, folks, the right wing has misappropriated the BBB’s name to spread falsehoods about census participation that might scare people away from the count or encourage a lack of cooperation with census takers.
Oh sure, the e-mail includes just enough truths to lend it an air of legitimacy for the average person, such as not giving out social security numbers and bank account information to people claiming to be with the Census Bureau. But the red flags are everywhere … except most Americans don’t know enough about the census to spot the glaring errors.
Aside from misusing the BBB’s name (hello, FBI Cyber Investigations Unit?), the message is outdated and factually incorrect: It confuses the 140,000 handheld device-carrying address listers of last spring with the million enumerators expected to knock on doors armed only with paper and pencil in May 2010. Oops!
And then there’s the tell-tale reference to that bain of Republican’s census existence, ACORN. Be alert, the faux BBB staffer says, because no one from this former census partner organization should be asking you for census information. Uh, okay, we’ll keep our eyes open.
More alarming, though, the e-mail assures Americans (in CAPITAL letters!) that they need only offer up the number of people in their household. (Is it legal for Rep. Michele Bachmann to moonlight as an anti-census consultant?) I may be sensitive, but this sounds like an invitation to violate federal law. No wonder the real authors prefer to remain anonymous.
The message ends as so many e-mail scams do, with a friendly nudge to “share the information with family and friends.” And apparently lots of people want to be helpful, judging by how far the e-mail has spread.
Here’s my suggestion: If you receive this sham e-mail, write a letter to your local newspaper, warning others of the scam and setting the record straight. I frankly don’t care if the 6th district of Minnesota is undercounted (you get what you vote for!), but I do care about the rest of the state and historically hard-to-count communities around the country.
For more information about the phony e-mail and a statement from the real Better Business Bureau, visit http://www.bbb.org/us/article/phony-bbb-e-mail-spreads-fiction-about-2010-census;-get-the-facts-14542.
Categories: Complete Count · Politics & Census 2010
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, Better Business Bureau, census, Census & Politics, Census Day, Census Operations, Census questions, challenges, Complete Count, Congress, mail response, NRFU, privacy, Questionnaire, Terri Ann Lowenthal, undercount
January 19, 2010 · 1 Comment
by Terri Ann Lowenthal
In 1987, the new chairman of both the House census oversight subcommittee and the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-CA), took one look at the draft 1990 census form and asked me, in his lovely lilting Caribbean voice, “Terri Ann, dear, why does the race category for Blacks include the term ‘Negro?’” He was a little incredulous, but after Census Bureau staff patiently explained the research behind the decision to include a term generally viewed as outdated, Chairman Dymally was satisfied and the matter didn’t generate much additional discussion.
In fact, it was another term tested for the race category that drew more ridicule; I recall a well-known Black leader remarking, “Afro American? Afro is a hairstyle, not a race!” Needless to say, that term was not included on the census form; instead, the Census Bureau added African American to “Black or Negro” in 2000.
“Negro” stayed on the form for 2010, despite the passage of many decades since the term was widely accepted and used to describe Black Americans (Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall used the word in his opinions). One reason: More than 56,000 respondents wrote in “Negro” on the 2000 form – almost half of them under age 45 — despite the term appearing alongside “Black” and “African American.” But now, many younger Blacks – who equate “Negro” with historic inequities and social subjugation; who might not even know that their grandparents’ birth certificates bear this racial identification – understandably are asking why.
A writer for TheGrio.com, an African American news site, raised the issue on The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC) on January 6. The public response was swift but as varied as the cultures that make up the Black experience in America. For a sample of reaction, I needed to look no further than my own social circles. My best friend e-mailed immediately and in horror: “Is this true? OMG!!!!” and later said she was inclined to ignore the whole exercise because her identity went beyond Black – her grandfathers were White and Hispanic; a great-grandfather was Portuguese. “Skip the race question,” I implored, “or check off all of the categories, but answer the d*?! census!” But this from our terrific southern Connecticut partnership specialist, who is Black: She patiently explained at a recent Complete Count Committee meeting that her extended family in the South never used the terms “Black” or “African American.” “They don’t relate to those words,” she told me.
Should census questions anticipate changing cultural and social mores on race, ethnicity, and ancestry? Yes … but those preferences are not clear-cut and are continually evolving. It’s also worth remembering, in the shadow of the King holiday, that we collect race data in the decennial census to help ensure compliance with the nation’s civil rights laws. Data that are murky or not easily understood in the context of historical discrimination might not reveal a clear picture for effective monitoring and enforcement.
To some extent, the Census Bureau will always be behind the curve, given that research and testing start before the previous census ends and since questions are finalized several years before each count. And no small matter: Preferred descriptions of identity often don’t fit neatly into a scientifically designed questionnaire. Nevertheless, Census staff must start working closely with all race and ethnic communities now, to understand how each population views itself and to evaluate a wide range of options for measuring the tapestry that is America, without undermining overarching civil rights goals or the statistical integrity of the data.
Conversations about race inevitably generate an endless range of opinions and deeply felt emotions. But translating distaste for terminology into a boycott, when it’s too late to change the form, is not useful. The only helpful driving emotions now should be anger at the historic inequity of a differential undercount in the census, and a passion to overcome it. With enough energy directed toward that goal, we can make real progress in restoring fair political representation and access to public and private resources that improve the quality of life for all communities.
Categories: Census Form
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, census, census & race, Census Bureau, Census questions, challenges, Complete Count, Outreach, Public Opinion, question wording, Questionnaire, Terri Ann Lowenthal, undercount
by Phil Sparks
When the 1990 decennial census rolled around, the Advertising Council of America, representing most of the big New York ad agencies and most of the TV and radio networks, produced so-called Public Service Advertising (PSAs) for hundreds of stations across the country urging the American public to participate in that year’s census. The Ad Council had been doing PSAs for the Census Bureau’s decennial census for 40 years up to that time. The problem was that the PSAs, playing on donated airtime by radio and TV stations, most often aired in the middle of the night or early in the morning when “dead” time was available for stations to insert the PSAs into their schedule. As a result, the ads reached a very small part of the total population and almost none of the traditionally hard-to-count populations across the country.
For the first time in 2000, the Census Bureau spent several hundred million dollars on a paid advertising campaign. The result was a “campaign” that targeted both mainstream white populations as well as hard-to-count African-American, Asian, Hispanic and other audiences. The message was that hundreds of millions of federal dollars each year were disbursed for such vital community services as health care, education, transportation and job training, and that these dollars were also based on decennial census information. The paid advertising campaign was credited with helping spur the decennial mail response rate in 2000, saving many millions of dollars.
Over the past decade, lots has changed in the nation’s media. It has become more diverse, reaching dozens of racial and ethnic groups in-language with sophisticated messages. New media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc., have become specialized social platforms attracting millions of voices each day. Cable television has actually overtaken network TV, with larger combined audiences in prime-time programming each night. The Census Bureau has noticed!
Starting on January 17 the Bureau will roll out one of the largest paid advertising campaigns in the nation’s history in support of Census 2010. Compared to the initial paid advertising effort in 2000, this year’s decennial census advertising campaign is light-years ahead. The ads have been produced in 28 different languages, compared to a handful in 2000. Almost half of the overall advertising budget will be devoted to local media outlets, as opposed to a heavy emphasis a decade ago on national advertising. New media will be a central part of the campaign, with the www.census2010.gov Web site expected to draw tens of millions of visits. The site will be promoted in the advertising. The Web site itself will answer questions about how to complete a census form and what the census data are used for. The Web site will have information in 58 languages. Finally, and most importantly, a majority of the advertising dollars spent by the Bureau will be targeted to the hard-to-count communities of color — in their languages.
For example, there will be eight different versions of advertising targeted to Asians, with various Asian groups appearing in each ad. Even culturally sensitive “scenes” will be changed in each spot. In one ad targeted to Filipinos, the rice maker will be recognized by that audience. But, in the same ad targeted to Koreans a different rice maker is used, in addition to a Korean spokesperson.
Some ads for different racial and ethnic groups will focus on particular issues picked up in the Bureau’s extensive survey research done in late 2008 (see my blog of Sept. 22, 2009). The Hispanic-targeted ads will stress the confidentiality of the census forms and data, while some of the Asian-targeted ads will trumpet that proud community members are participating in Census 2010.
Census advertising will also move and change with the various phases of the decennial this year. Supporting first the mail-back effort and then the door-to-door program. Hard-to-count areas from the previous census will be especially targeted in the initial phases of the ad effort. Then, because of extensive real-time data collection information, the Bureau will be able to increase advertising in areas where the response rate is low as the decennial proceeds.
Lastly, the Bureau is not forgetting a tried and true PSA effort. Spots featuring 100 key public figures, celebrities and sports figures will be part of the PSA campaign to garner free advertising on behalf of the census.
Overall, the Census 2010 advertising campaign represents a quantum leap over the effort a decade ago.
Categories: Census Outreach Efforts
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, Advertising, CBAMS, census, Census & Media, Census Bureau, Census Day, Census Operations, Complete Count, mail response, Outreach, Phil Sparks, polling
by Terri Ann Lowenthal
I am an invisible man. I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe … I am a man of substance … and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
-Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man (prologue), 1947.
It’s a census year again. This month, the push begins in earnest to invade America’s consciousness (and conscience): It’s easy, it’s important, it’s safe.
Say what you will about the power of media-seeking policy blackmail, census numbers drive – directly or indirectly – so much influence and access to public and private resources that we might add to the snappy 2010 mantra, “You only count if you’re counted.” (Rev. Miguel Rivera, are you listening?)
George Washington’s lament about a census undercount in the newly formed Union aside, scientific measurements of census accuracy date back to 1940, when an independent benchmark of the U.S. population called Demographic Analysis (DA) showed that many Black Americans were indeed invisible when it came to census numbers and the significant benefits, including political representation, which flowed from them. According to DA, the 1940 census missed 8.4 percent of Blacks compared to 5.0 percent of all other residents. (Demographic Analysis produces estimates for the Black and non-Black populations; Hispanic is considered an ethnicity, not a race, under federal standards for collecting data on race and ethnicity.)
More-detailed evaluations of census coverage starting in 1980 confirmed that the so-called differential undercount extended to other people of color. Disproportionate numbers of Latinos, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians and Alaska Natives also were invisible.
Efforts to chip away at the differential undercount were frustratingly ineffective. When 1990 census evaluations showed the largest recorded undercount gap, the Census Bureau made some fundamental changes in its approach to the decennial enumeration, pulling back the blinds that had shrouded much of the counting process in a “trust us, we know best” mentality. A partnership program, paid media campaign and new advisory committees helped lessen the gap in accuracy between the counts of non-Hispanic Whites and all other race and Hispanic origin groups.
Hoping to build on that success, the 2010 census promotional campaign is 2000 on steroids. The Census Bureau and national and grassroots stakeholders are pounding the airwaves and pavement in the quest for an accurate and fair census. But accuracy is an elusive (and illusive) concept: Were there really 281,421,906 million people in the country on April 1, 2000 – not, say, …905 or …907? A more realistic – and, I think, more important — goal is fairness: Does the census reflect the true composition of the population with reasonable accuracy? So far, the answer has been “no;” despite improvement in 2000, the differential undercount persisted.
Simplified, Ralph Ellison – Black and one of America’s premier 20th century writers – was saying, “I’m here but not here.” Let’s try harder to make sure that, when the Census Bureau unveils its portrait of America next year, everyone who’s here is there.
# # #
Categories: Census Outreach Efforts · Complete Count
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, Advertising, census, Census Bureau, Census Day, challenges, Complete Count, Latinos & the Census, Outreach, Partnerships, Terri Ann Lowenthal, undercount
by Terri Ann Lowenthal
Census Day is 100 days away. Do we rejoice or hit the panic button?
The Census Bureau hopes that by April 1, 2010, millions of American households will have checked off the answers to ten questions (ten minutes!) and mailed off “the shortest form in our lifetimes” (Census Director Robert Groves, 12/14/09) in its postage-paid envelope, each one percent of them saving taxpayers $90 million in door-knocking costs.
As the bureau moves from preparation to implementation in the next month, the specter of things going wrong always looms. From the operational (will the new system to manage workload and workforce perform as intended during peak operations?) to the psychological (will the populace be in the mood to cooperate?) to the diabolical (any more proposals out there to change the questionnaires before they go in the mail?), unwelcome or unforeseen events could derail the best-laid plans. Dr. Groves confessed at his press briefing last week that he is a worrier by nature. That’s probably a helpful trait for someone in charge of the nation’s largest peacetime activity.
And then there’s the legal: I am on high alert for a stealth lawsuit, accusing census partners of aiding and abetting fraud in the count. The allegations don’t have to stick or even have any basis in fact; high profile controversy is enough to throw the enumeration’s rhythm off balance. (One of my favorite comics from the legally-challenged 1990 decennial shows a census-taker carefully enumerating a sea of people … and a bespectacled Supreme Court justice off to the side scolding, “No sampling, no counting by two’s … oh gee, I didn’t make you lose count, did I?”)
But there’s also reason for hope. I am amazed (and heartened) by the tremendous commitment of national advocacy and grassroots organizations, and a loyal coalition of foundation supporters, who are serving as “trusted voices” — carrying the Census Bureau’s plea to neighborhoods and populations that are historically reluctant to take part. Their campaigns are creative and bold: While a Christmas-themed poster celebrating Mary and Joseph’s journey to be counted in an ancient census drew scorn from anti-census quarters and caution from a few academics, community faith leaders eagerly embraced the striking depiction and message. The mountain is high and the challenge is vast. The diversity of 21st century America makes a long-ago idea to base representation on population more difficult to ensure in theory and practice. Alone, the Census Bureau of 2010 would be hard-pressed to fulfill its constitutional obligation well; with the help of civic and faith leaders, social icons, and activist grassroots networks, it has a fighting chance.
So we gear up for a massive outreach and promotion effort. We slog in the trenches to convince skeptical, fearful or apathetic Americans – one by one, if necessary – that filling out their census forms is in the best interests of their families and communities. We keep our radar tuned for intentional distractions that could undermine the message of inclusive participation. In the end, we keep our eye on the ball and do the best we can. 308,206,709 … 308,206,710 … (as of 12:16PM EST on 12/22/09!).
# # #
Happy holidays and a successful Census Year, from your friends at The Census Project! We’ll be off next week and will return with our regular weekly blog on January 5.
Categories: Census Outreach Efforts · General
Tagged: 10 Question, 2010 Decennial, census, Census & Media, Census & Politics, Census Bureau, Census Day, Census Operations, challenges, Complete Count, Dr. Robert Groves, mail response, NRFU, Outreach, Partnerships, Terri Ann Lowenthal, undercount
by Terri Ann Lowenthal
I’m about to wade into potentially dangerous waters, but I feel compelled to have this conversation in the light of day.
Last week, in a Glenn Beck-worthy Washington Times op-ed, former Times intern Anthony Bowe charged that pro-amnesty “left wing extremist” groups (and 2010 census partners) — like the National Council of La Raza, National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, and SEIU – are poised to help shift the balance of political power by helping ensure an accurate count of all people living in the U.S. Their role as census “footsoldiers” will “undermine trust in the census among mainstream Americans,” Times blogger Bowe warned, ably using a self-fulfilling-prophecy scare tactic characteristic of, say, Rush Limbaugh.
Is the attack an aberration? Were it only so. Lawmakers spooked by the thought of an inclusive census dipped their toes in the water with a swift and cutting campaign against ACORN, suggesting (falsely) that census takers hired by the nonprofit advocacy group would overstate population counts to benefit liberal politicians (e.g. Democrats). The flurry of press coverage tying the enumeration to the specter of fraud was enough for the census chief to pull the plug on ACORN’s 2010 census “partnership,” even though the organization hadn’t so much as posted the 2010 logo on its web site.
In reality, ACORN’s only useful role would have been to encourage census participation among its core constituency: the poor. Emboldened by their success in pushing one hard-to-count community advocate out of the way, some conservatives are ready to take on civil and immigrant rights groups in the public arena and possibly in the courts.
Last summer, the chair of the Republican Census Task Force sent a fundraising appeal, warning that “radical” interest groups – like the NAACP and Hispanic Federation – were teaming up with President Obama to “rig” census results in favor of “liberals.” For whom was the Georgia lawmaker raising money? The Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), which successfully challenged (all the way to the Supreme Court) the use of statistical sampling methods in the 2000 census. SLF – “THE EXPERTS in stopping liberals from manipulating the census,” according to Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) – know how to “advance our conservative agenda … in the ‘Court of Public Opinion’,” the plea for money assured.
The bogeyman of censuses past – statistical sampling – is dead and buried for 2010, removing one sure-fire way of reducing the disproportionate undercount of racial minorities and the poor. But with populations of color – especially Latinos — growing significantly over the past decade, lawmakers (how can I say this tactfully?) who are less likely to represent hard-to-count communities, have to find another way to keep the numbers in Democratic-leaning areas low. As the distinguished gentleman from Georgia helpfully observed, the census is “the alpha and omega of political power” (catchy!), whose constitutional integrity must be defended at all costs (or at least for as much money as they can raise!).
Those same “corrupt” champions of liberal doctrine are now gearing up to encourage and facilitate census participation in historically undercounted communities across the country, employing traditional grassroots strategies to educate skeptical and fearful population groups about the importance of being counted. And I can picture the guardians of “conservative values” standing in the wings, waiting to gin up anti-Obama fury by insinuating manipulation of the numbers in low-income, minority, and immigrant neighborhoods. They don’t have to prove a thing – success can simply mean casting a shadow over the integrity of the count and tying up the Census Bureau and redistricting process in court for years.
Am I overreacting? I frankly hope so, but I’m uneasy. Does anyone else see clouds on the horizon?
# # #
Clarification: Census Bureau officials have asked us to clarify a statement in the December 1, 2009, Census Project Blog, “Are Northern States Being Cheated? Counting Snowbirds in the Census,” regarding the policy for enumerating residents of northern states who do not return a questionnaire from their southern home and are later visited by a census taker at their northern address during Nonresponse Follow-Up (e.g. door-to-door visits to unresponsive homes). The Census Bureau will count people who have two residences “where they spend the majority of their time,” according to a Kansas City Regional Census Office official. People should decide where they spend the majority of their time and fill out the census form sent to that address. If a respondent tells a census taker that they consider their northern address to be their home, even if they happened to still be staying at their southern home on Census Day, the census taker will record the residents at their northern address.
Categories: Politics & Census 2010
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, census, Census & Media, Census & Politics, challenges, Complete Count, Congress, Immigration, Latinos & the Census, Outreach, Partnerships, Press Questions, Terri Ann Lowenthal, undercount
by Terri Ann Lowenthal
At a hearing last week, the House census subcommittee highlighted outreach and promotion activities for the 2010 count. The focus wasn’t on the Census Bureau’s extensive communications program but on grassroots organizations, state and local governments, and businesses – sectors that are operating in what I call a “parallel universe” to help ensure an inclusive count in all communities.
Groups representing hard-to-count populations are coordinating activities with the Census Bureau, while also working on their own to tear down significant barriers that keep millions of people from responding to the census. Their efforts are no small matter. At a recent 2010 Census Advisory Committee meeting, Census Director Robert Groves frankly acknowledged that many Americans would dodge the decennial count were it not for the extensive work of community groups and other trusted voices.
The director’s observation might seem obvious to advocates representing the interests of hard-to-count populations or to nonprofits serving the needs of distressed neighborhoods, where many residents view government with a skeptical eye. But the Census Bureau’s robust effort to harness support from stakeholders in every sector and at every level of society — the Partnership Program — doesn’t translate into dollars for those whose voices resonate loudest in hard-to-enumerate communities.
Instead, foundations – mostly private, some corporate — have made much of the parallel universe activity possible. In an unprecedented collaborative approach, funders are supporting census outreach and promotion activities from the national to neighborhood levels. Projects with a broad reach include Nonprofits Count! (Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network), It’s Time! Make Yourself Count! (Leadership Conference on Civil Rights), ya es hora! Hagase Contar! (coalition of Hispanic advocacy and faith groups and media companies), and Indian Country Counts (National Congress of American Indians), and similar campaigns targeting the Black, Asian, and Arab American communities, among others. (My favorite poster from this other-census-world is a minimalist but striking depiction of Mary and Joseph following the star to Bethlehem, to be counted in the first census, courtesy of NALEO.)
Philanthropy also has teamed with states and municipalities, and pooled resources, to fund grassroots education and fill-out-the-form events. Examples include Count Me In! campaigns in Illinois, Long Island, New York City and Massachusetts, and collaborative initiatives in California, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and Ohio.
The Census Bureau will spend $400+ million on its own worthwhile communications campaign, blanketing the airwaves and cyberspace with ads and messages starting next month. Should some of this money go to community groups desperate – and well positioned – to help carry those messages to the street?
I think it should, but getting dollars into the right hands is easier said than done. The Census Bureau is a statistical, not grant-making, agency. Setting grant eligibility requirements won’t be easy when almost any grassroots organization could reach a segment of the hard-to-count population, and when members of Congress will want to ensure a share of the pie for their own districts. But Congress should consider the options soon. Given philanthropy’s growing involvement in the census, leading civic role, knowledge of hard-to-count communities, and grant-making prowess, foundations might be a natural conduit for government funds in a public-private partnership that both Republicans and Democrats could love.
# # #
Full disclosure: The writer is a consultant to the Funders Census Initiative, an ad hoc coalition of foundations and philanthropic affinity groups interested in a fair and accurate census.
Categories: Census Outreach Efforts · Partnerships
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, Advertising, census, Census & Media, Census Bureau, Complete Count, Congress, Dr. Robert Groves, Latinos & the Census, NALEO, Outreach, Partnerships, Terri Ann Lowenthal
by Terri Ann Lowenthal
Sometimes you just want to shake our esteemed senators and representatives, and ask where they have been, lo, these past few years, while the Census Bureau has been painstakingly putting together the hundreds of operational building blocks that make a decennial census. When it’s time to execute the count, pull out one block and watch the rest scatter.
Lawmakers seem not to care. Add a question to the form months before the mailing begins? Only “bureaucrats” can’t figure out how to do it, according to one thoughtful senator. Now here comes another eleventh-hour idea, one that appears to be well-intentioned but is woefully tardy and improperly aimed.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and three colleagues wrote this week to Commerce Department chief Gary Locke, suggesting that the upcoming decennial count offers a chance to help the millions of Americans without jobs. The Census Bureau, they proposed, should give a “hiring preference” to people whose unemployment benefits are about to expire. To identify these folks, the bureau should start recruiting and even administering the hiring test at unemployment offices.
Intriguing concept. The Census Bureau is about to hire upwards of one million temporary workers to carry out the enumeration next year. A mini-stimulus program at our fingertips!
But, hell-O! Didn’t these senators know, say, nine months ago that the nation was facing an unemployment crisis? Did they have to wait until the bureau launched its meticulous hiring plan to ask Secretary Locke to change the whole strategy? No ideas for how the Census Bureau will get around civil service requirements to rank applicants according to their test scores. (And who cares if they hire the most qualified people anyway?) No thoughts about how applicants with veterans’ preference would fit into the picture. No reflection about how people hoping to supplement their income from low wage jobs with census employment might feel about being passed over, even if they score well on the test. The country’s greatest deliberative body need not sweat the details. Just brainstorm ways to address a national crisis, send a letter, put out a press release, and let the Census Bureau figure it out.
People, let’s get this straight: It is too late to make any major changes to census procedures without putting the entire operation at risk. Senior Census Bureau managers have to keep their eyes on the ball and make sure each component of the nation’s most complex domestic exercise is carried out properly and on time. Mollifying 535+ members of Congress who haven’t been paying attention for the past nine years, only weeks before the great national tally starts, isn’t part of the equation.
The Census Bureau has, in fact, been reaching out to people who are unemployed, encouraging them to apply for temporary positions. But the census is not a jobs program. I’ll say it over and over: There is one goal, and that is to get the most accurate and representative count of the population possible. For all other policy objectives, please look elsewhere for a real solution.
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Quote of the Week: “I learned you should count everyone in your family – except animals.” 7-year old Harshada Seelam, Gateway Math and Science Elementary School, St. Louis, Missouri (as quoted in a 12/2/09 St. Louis Post Dispatch article on Census Director Robert Groves’ visit to the school the previous day). Way to go, Harshada … and apologies to pet lovers everywhere!
Categories: Congressional Oversight
Tagged: 2010 Decennial, census, Census & Politics, Census Bureau, census hiring, Census Operations, challenges, Congress, Congressional Oversight, employment, Terri Ann Lowenthal
