Citizens Not Counted in Census Miss Out on Goverment Funding

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by Lesley R. Chinn

It's just one year away and the countdown to the 2010 Census is about to take off in full swing. The Census Bureau launched a massive operation on Monday to verify and update more than 145 million addresses as it prepares to conduct the 2010 Census.

Nationwide, more than 140,000 census workers will participate in the address canvassing operation. Census officials say it is a critical important first step to assure that every household receives a census questionnaire in March 2010. All information is kept confidential.

Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the census counts citizens living in the United States every 10 years and participation is required by law. The forms will go in the mail in March of 2010.

The data collected from the Census is used to distribute Congressional seats to states, determines which community gets what services and it lays the groundwork for how $300 billion in federal funds will be distributed to local and state governments annually.

According to Muriel Jackson, spokesman for the Chicago Regional Census Center, getting people counted is an issue in all communities. "The U.S. Census Bureau tries to get 100 percent participation in the Census. For every person that does not get counted in a community, means there's going to be a net loss for every person that is not going to be counted because they are not getting federal dollars."

Usually completing the Census form has tons of detailed questions that could take hours to complete. However, Jackson says that with the short format, the Census form should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete.

Allaying concerns of residents who may be afraid to report information for one reason or another, Jackson said that there is no reason for apprehension. The Census data is highly confidential, she said. "It is against the law for the Census Bureau or any of its workers to disclose the data to anybody. If the President of the United States wanted to get Census data, we couldn't provide it."

The Census data follows growth patterns to determine what the needs are in a community. "Local communities use that data to project how many schools they are going to need, where they need new roads, if the population aging, or if they need new hospitals," Jackson stated. "It all creates a snapshot that federal agencies use to send money to local communities."

Sixth Ward Ald. Freddrenna Lyle said Black people have historically been fearful of the government intruding in on their lives. "So people don't feel comfortable disclosing their personal information to the government."

Lyle said education is the only way to help people get over that fear. There is a dollar value attached in answering the form, she said. "If we have more people responding truthfully, then we may have been able to get an extra program or an extra person for a summer job because they [the Census Bureau] would have had accurate numbers," she said.

Participating in the Census also presents a problem for the Village of Robbins, whose population has more than 6,700 people. Mayor Irene Brodie said it is because of a lack of participation that the Village gets less money to fund big-ticket items such as putting salt down on the streets in the winter when it snows. "We need so much. The Census certainly does hurt us if we don't participate," she said.

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