Letter to the Editor: Making Sense of the Census

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June 1, 2020

By Alannah Smith

Everyone’s been waiting for things to get back to normal… and it looks like we’re still a long way from that. But I’ve been eager for the Census to open their Area Census Office located in Rohnert Park, because it covers our communities in the Tri-County area. On May 22 it was announced that the office would officially open on Memorial Day to begin what the Census calls the “Update Leave” operation.

Update Leave sends census workers out to homes that don’t have regular mailing addresses or are in remote places. In other words, LOTS of places in our community! During the COVID crisis those homes were not able to get their paper questionnaires, but that’s all going to change in the next few weeks. If you’re wondering, the name of the operation comes from the census taker “updating” the information about where a structure is, then “leaving” a complete questionnaire packet in a visible place.

Here are the total households by county that will be receiving (or may have already received) a questionnaire left by a census worker.

Humboldt: 10,185

Trinity: 8,572
Del Norte: 891
Homes that do have regular mailing addresses should have already received five different mailings, including the paper questionnaire. Anyone can still respond online at my2020Census.gov. But we’re asking those people who are about to receive their paper questionnaires in the Update Leave operation to wait for them so they can obtain a unique Census ID. When you respond with that ID, the Census form will automatically have your physical location and you won’t have to bother answering questions on the phone or from a Census taker. Filling out the online form without that ID is fine, but the Census may need to follow up to get complete information on where you are, so why deal with the follow-up visit?

Some reminders from my last column that still hold today:

The final day to get counted is October 31, a three-month extension from the original date of July 31. You can still respond with any one of the three current methods – online (my2020census.gov), by phone, or by mail.

The census takers are currently being trained and will go out in mid-August. Those who respond before then won’t have to worry about any door knocks in late-summer and fall.

Phone assistance is supported in 12 different languages with dedicated numbers, found here: https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond/responding-by-phone.html

Remember that no matter what day you’re responding, the census asks where you would have been living and sleeping most of the time on April 1 if the shelter-in-place had not happened. This is slightly different from Census Day, April 1, being the “snapshot” day, because as you remember many people scattered to different locations when the shelter-in-place order went into effect (which includes April 1). The Census wants to record where you usually live, not where you lived during the shelter-in-place.

I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: the way we get our community counted is by neighbors spreading the word to other neighbors. Next time you’re able to recognize someone behind their mask, ask whether they’ve been counted, and if not, make sure they know how.

Useful links:

What the questionnaire looks like:

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/technical-documentation/questionnaires/2020.html

What the Census asks and why:
https://www.census.gov/library/fact-sheets/2018/dec/why-we-ask.html

Remember that by law no individual’s information is shared outside the Census Bureau (and that includes every other government agency). The Census reports only statistical information publicly.

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Alannah Smith works for the HSU California Center for Rural Policy, and is dedicated to ensuring a complete Census count for our Tri-County Region. If you have any questions or are interested in participating in local 2020 Census outreach efforts, please contact [email protected].