2010 Census nears and you will want to take part
By YADIRA SANCHEZ OLSON
This is the first of a four-part series on the 2010 Census. The series will focus on awareness, community recruitment of census workers, what the results of the census mean to you and the “Census in Schools Program.”
If you want a piece of the pie, you’ll have to raise your hand. That is the basic idea behind the census.
On March 15-17, census forms will arrive at your door and filling them out correctly could mean favorable changes for you.
The census form is made up of 10 questions that help determine important actions by Congress in the years to come.
Mandated by the Constitution to be carried out every 10 years, the census is a report of statistical data that is delivered to the President of the United States.
Once there, it is reviewed by Congress and is used in a number of ways that benefit the country, states, counties and cities – all the way down to you.
The census forms will be available in six languages: English, Spanish, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese. And for the first time, bilingual census forms will be sent to areas with a large population of Hispanics.
A toll free number where callers can receive assistance in more than 100 different languages will also be available once the forms are out.
“We are really trying to make it very easy for everyone to take part in the census, said Lydia Ortiz, media specialist of the Census Bureau.
One of the most significant things that the 2010 census will determine is how more than $400 billion in federal funds for education, health care, transportation, public safety and social services will be distributed.
And $14 to $15 billion dollars is expected to go to the 2010 Census to make sure everyone is counted.
“Through a massive campaign, the Census Bureau is creating awareness to educate the people in every community,” Ortiz said.
And through such initiatives as the “2010 Census Road Tour” in which buses stop at celebrations, gatherings and high-profile sports events in communities across the state to provide information, the
Census Bureau is hoping to inform all who live in the Unites States about the importance of the count.
Another way in which the bureau is doing this, is by creating Complete Count Committees in many areas.
“These committees are really essential to our labor because these people know who the people in their communities are and how to talk to them,” Ortiz said.
These committees are made up of business leaders, faith-based leaders, educators, and members of the nonprofit sector in every area.
“We spoke to the highest elected officials in every city and asked for the movers and the shakers in that area to create their Complete Count Committee,” Ortiz said.
In an area with a large population of a certain ethnicity, such as Hispanics, there may be more than one Complete Count Committee.
“We’re making sure that people understand that they are not in any danger of anything by answering the questions in the census forms,” said Patty Carvajal, assistant to the Director of the Gary Graf Center in Waukegan (formerly the Holy Family Immigrant Center).
This fear that the data collected through the census forms will go to other organizations is a fear that Ortiz hopes will not hinder the accuracy of the count and that the awareness campaigns are forcefully fighting.
“It is so important that people know that the Census Bureau does not release any information regarding any individual response to anyone outside the Census Bureau,” Ortiz said. “Not the IRS, FBI, law enforcement, INS, or immigration.”
In fact, sharing information in the census with any other organization other than the President and Congress is a federal crime punishable with fines and a prison sentence of up to five years.
“Everyone in the Census Bureau takes an oath of confidentiality,” Ortiz said. “And we take it seriously.”
Another reason why the census is significant to the communities is that the data is also used to determine the number of congressional seats that your state gets.
Which means that if you don’t take part in the count, your state could be misrepresented in the years to come. And funds for organizations and programs that help the community can disappear or never get started.
Nancy Hiatt, CEO/President of Home of the Sparrow, a transitional center with two shelters in McHenry County, says that the census is the best way to identify the accurate number of homeless people.
“We want our politicians in the county, state, and federal level to understand what the exact need of the funds for homelessness are,” Hiatt said. “Without that number, it’s really hard for the folks to understand the problem.”
For more information on the 2010 census visit their Web site at www.census.gov/2010census/
