"Heart of the Megalopolis"

Hello 2010 Census Partners,

I hope this email finds all of you in the best of spirits. We at the Census Bureau are still diligently working towards a complete and accurate count of all residents in our area. We've covered much ground and are now preparing to move into other phases of the operation.

This article from North Carolina describes what's up and coming. I wanted to share this with all of you so that you're aware of what's left for the Bureau to do. Please share with your committee members and residents. And as always, please contact me with any concerns related to the 2010 Census.

[ARTICLE]

Census workers still out
06/30/2010
Troy Montgomery Herald - Troy, NC

The current door-to-door phase of the 2010 Census is about 94 percent complete, but there are several reasons why a census worker may visit your home in coming weeks.

Robert Groves, director of the U.S. Census Bureau, announced this week that about 44 million census forms had been completed and checked-in as of Sunday, leaving about 3 million forms to be collected and processed. “We are somewhat ahead of schedule and certainly under budget,” Groves said.

Since May 1, about 550,000 census employees have been going door-to-door nationwide to obtain completed census questionnaires from more than 47 million households that failed to return a form by April 16.

“In some parts of North Carolina, the workload was completed weeks ahead of the July 10 deadline for the Nonresponse Followup phase,” said William W. Hatcher, Charlotte regional director for the Census Bureau.

Nevertheless, he added, over the next several weeks census workers will continue to contact some households in North Carolina as part of one of several quality-control operations. They include:

• Coverage Followup: Until mid-August, households will be called to clarify answers provided on the census questionnaire (for example, the number of people listed at an address doesn't match the number of names provided).

• Vacant Delete Check: In July census workers will double check vacant households and those we deleted as nonexistent on April 1, the reference date for the 2010 census . We also will visit housing units from which we received blank or incomplete forms.

• Field Verification: During August, census workers will visit households for which a form has been received but whose address does not match an address in our master file. This operation also seeks to resolve suspected duplicate addresses within the same block.

“These operations are supplemented by other quality-assurance processes to maximize accuracy,” Hatcher said. “In some cases, that means a home may be visited more than once.”

Some households that mailed in a form have received a visit from a census worker. Reasons include incomplete or conflicting answers or forms received after deadline.

“If you are one of the small percent of North Carolina homes that are visited, please take a few minutes to speak with the census taker,” Hatcher said. “Our mission is to count everyone, once and in the right place. We check and double check to make sure we get it right.”

Nationwide, 72 percent of U.S. households mailed back the form on time. The mail participation rate for North Carolina was 74 percent.

The 2010 census is the official count of everyone living in the U.S. and is required by the Constitution. Census data are used to allocate congressional seats to the states and to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funds to tribal, state and local governments each year. State-by-state results must be reported to the president by Dec. 31.

Census takers will have an official I.D. badge and many will also carry a black bag marked with the words “U.S. Census Bureau.” Census takers will never ask to come into your home, or ask for bank, credit card or Social Security numbers.

Happy 4th of July!


Ivonne Espada-Simeon, MS
Partnership Specialist
Dallas Regional Census Center
U.S. Census Bureau
2777 N. Stemmons Frwy. Suite 200
Dallas, TX 75207
512.864.4189 mobile
512.233.2549 fax