As the deadline passed for local residents to mail in their 2010
Census forms April 16, 69 percent of San Benito County residents
had returned the form, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But that still leaves 31 percent of residents unaccounted for
and staff in the Salinas Census Bureau office are preparing for the
next phase in the local count.
As the deadline passed for local residents to mail in their 2010 Census forms April 16, 69 percent of San Benito County residents had returned the form, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But that still leaves 31 percent of residents unaccounted for and staff in the Salinas Census Bureau office are preparing for the next phase in the local count.
Some residents, specifically those who receive mail at a Post Office box, may not have received a copy of the form in the mail. But Census staff said they will be coming out to count those residents in person between May 1 and July 15.
“A census enumerator will come to their house and attempt to get it on an enumerator questionnaire that is very similar to the mailed forms,” said Joe LeBlanc, a regional technician from the Los Angeles Regional Census office, who is working in Salinas.
LeBlanc said that though forms were mailed out to some Post Office boxes, the post office sent many of them back.
“It is not our intent not to reach them,” LeBlanc said of people who have a Post Office box. “It is a lot less expensive to send them by mail than to send people out, but we have to count everyone.”
Ed Laverone, the mayor of San Juan, expressed some concern when he got a call from residents a few weeks ago that they had not received a census form in the mail. He contacted Congressman Sam Farr’s office to make sure the community is counted.
“It is something that should be brought to attention,” Laverone said.
Lydia Zendejas, the Central Coast Regional coordinator of Ya Es Hora, said that residents who did not receive a form in the mail can get in contact with the census bureau office to request a form.
“They have to be prepared to go through an automated system and be a little patient,” Zendejas said.
The other option is to wait for an enumerator to come to their door during the non-response follow-up phase of the census count.
“We are hiring starting this week and running into next week 700 people to perform in the field,” LeBlanc said, of the census takers who will go door to door. “That’s for both Monterey and San Benito counties. We will have plenty of local folks, hired locally, who know the geography to find the people we missed.”
Zendejas and LeBlanc said the census takers will make six attempts to contact each household, three in person and three by phone.
“The Census enumerator or clerk will identify themselves, describe the reason for their call and will read the respondent a confidentiality notice, which is required by law, to everyone they are looking for,” he said. It is a very specific script, but if the respondent is still concerned that it is a legitimate call they can ask the enumerator for the local census number, disconnect the call and call the office to confirm.”
Zendejas also stressed that a legitimate census counter will not ask residents for their social security numbers, how much money they make, how much is owed on their home or any bank information.
“We want to make sure people are aware that they will have a badge and will not enter people’s homes, even if invited in,” Zendejas said.
LeBlanc said training will start next week for people who will be working out in the field.
“Our enumerators are trained to make certain they are in the right place,” he said. “That can be very confusing and it is important they learn how to get to the right place so they are trained rigorously on that.”
San Benito County’s participation rate for mailing in census forms is on par with the national average of 69 percent. California’s average is 68 percent.
According to the Census Bureau, they have spent $1 per person on promotion and outreach efforts and it costs 42 cents for residents to mail back the form. It costs about $25 per person to send a census taker, or enumerator, door to door.
The information collected in the Census has an impact on local communities in many ways, from its effect on electoral district boundaries to the amount of federal funding received.
The Brookings Institute Metropolitan Policy Program looked at how much federal funding went to different regions in 2008, based on the last Census count in 2000. San Benito received more than $40 million in federal assistance for local programs, according to their findings.
The largest chunk of money went to health programs, more than $33 million. More than $3.5 million came in for income security and education, training employment and social services. About $4,000 went to transportation improvements. The money funded such programs as medical assistance, the state’s children’s insurance program, emergency food and shelter programs and a variety of block grants, among others.
For more information or for questions on the upcoming door-to-door count, call the Salinas Census Office at 998-9670.
