Still haven't filled out your census form? Don't worry ... there's still time!
Knowing the importance of a full and accurate count in their communities, many nonprofit advocates are working doubly hard now to get people to mail back completed Census forms. The most important message we can all send right now is:
"It's not too late to mail back your form."
We Can Do Better!
As of today, Texas' census participation rate is 62 percent: better, but still behind the national average of 67 percent. Some counties along the border have very low mail back rates- Zapata County's return rate was only 21 percent today! Use the Take 10 Map and a zip code to see what your community's mail back rate is. The site is updated every 24 hours.
What You Can Do
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Encourage all your clients and constituents to mail back the forms they've received as soon as possible- it's still not too late.
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Advertise the Census help line where you can give your answers right over the phone!
- Spanish: 1-866-928-2010
- English: 1-866-872-6868
- Click here (pdf) for instructions in Spanish and English on how to navigate the phone tree system.
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Help educate the community about door-to-door efforts. For people who don't mail back forms, the hard work of counting begins. As advocates, it's important that we let our constituents know what to expect especially, as census workers will be in communities going from door-to-door or visiting transient locations such as worker encampments to count people living there.
The Census Bureau is using the following methods to count those who haven't mailed forms back or who are harder-to-count:
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Census Bureau door-to-door worker protocol is the same for all door-to-door counting methods. The Census employee will:
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Come to your home but will not ask to enter;
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Show you official Census Bureau identification;
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Ask you the census questions; and
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Take your responses and keep your information strictly confidential.
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The Census does NOT require documents of any kind. Legitimate Census workers will not ask for money, Social Security cares, Birth Certificates or Permanent Resident cards, driver's licenses, or any other kind of documents.
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Non-Response Follow-Up is a door-to-door count from May through July for those homes that received mailed forms, but have not returned them. They are authorize to return up to seven times to the home to collect the census data on the spot.
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Update/Enumerate is a door-to-door count in areas with inconsistent addresses (e.g., colonias and other remote areas). Census takers will walk every road and street, updating the address list, and collecting responses from residents on the spot from March 22 - May 29. For more information download a fact sheet on Update/Enumerate here (pdf).
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Enumeration at transitory locations is a count of people living in transient locations, also prevalent in many Southwest Border areas, including migrant worker encampments, RV parks and motels. Census takers will be visiting these locations from March 22 - April 16. Note: The Census Director reported on Tuesday that this Enumeration at Transitory Locations is essentially complete, ahead of schedule. If you or any colleague in your network thinks that the Census Bureau may have missed a migrant worker camp please e-mail us.
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Group quarter's enumeration is a count of group facilities such as prisons, military barracks, long-term nursing homes and juvenile detention centers. Conducted with assistance from facility administrators, Mar 30 - May 14. Residents can fill out individual census forms, if able; otherwise, administrative records are used.
Thank you to Terri Ann Lowenthal of the Funders Census Initiative (check out her "The Census Project Blog") and the Frontera Asset Building Network for content and assistance.
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Additional Resources/Full URLs
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