Updates - N.C. Counts Coalition

Census Bureau Confirms Noncitizens To Be Hired For 2020 After Uncertainty

Oct, 25 2019 - NPR

The federal government is widening its recruiting efforts for 2020 census jobs to include certain noncitizens for their non-English language skills, a Census Bureau official announced this week. In general, Congress does not allow government agencies to hire noncitizens using federal tax dollars, and the Commerce Department, which oversees the bureau, prioritizes U.S. citizens when filling positions. But if a citizen with needed language skills cannot be hired, there are some exceptions that allow for the temporary employment of green card holders applying to become U.S. citizens, refugees or people granted asylum who have declared plans to become green card holders and later citizens, and people born in American Samoa. "We will employ that flexibility," Tim Olson, the bureau's associate director for field operations, said Tuesday, "and be able to hire noncitizens that are legally entitled to work in the U.S. for language purposes if in fact we do not have a citizen available in our pool."

Person County preps for 2020 Census

Oct, 24 2019 - The Courier Times

In order to ensure an accurate count in the 2020 census, Person County has formed a Complete Count Committee and the Person County Board of Commissioners made $12,000 available for the committee at its meeting Monday morning “The goal is to count every person once, only once and in the right place,” said CCC co-chair Sallie Vaughn. “And we want to count those people where they are, in place, on April 1, 2020. For the first time ever, the population will be able to respond to the census online in 2020, Vaughn said Vaughn, who is the director of the county’s GIS department, explained that 95 percent of the county will receive their census invitations by mail, around 5 percent will receive their invitation when a census taker drops it off and less than 1 percent will be physically counted by a census taker.

Alamance County Census committee talks money and power

Oct, 22 2019 - The Times News

“The Census is about two things: power and money,” Cara Townsend, partnership specialist with the U.S. Census, said at the first meeting of the county’s Census Executive Committee. There is a kind of a competition among the states to see which can get the highest count on the 2020 Census. To be clear, it’s still supposed to be accurate, but the hard part about counting everybody in the county is, well, counting everybody. The prizes for counting as many as possible are congressional seats and about $675 billion every year for highways, schools, Medicaid and any other programs based on population.

Census official urges more self-reporting in Pasquotank

Oct, 22 2019 - Daily Advance

Why is the upcoming 2020 U.S. Census so important? That was one question a U.S. Census Bureau official addressed in his presentation to the Pasquotank Board of Commissioners earlier this week. Derek D’Orazio, an official with the Census Bureau, was updating commissioners as part of the work by the Pasquotank 2020 Complete Count Committee, a partnership between the county and the bureau. The goal of the CCC is to use local assets and personnel, such as churches and media, to encourage residents to complete the Census by self-reporting, or filling out the questionnaire and returning it by the deadline. Residents who don’t self-report will be visited at their homes by Census Bureau workers to complete the form, which contains just 10 questions.

Census workers to go door-to-door in preparation for 2020 Census

Sep, 24 2019 - WCNC

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Now through October 18, census workers will be going door-to-door across the area as they prepare for the 2020 United States Census. Officials say you can expect those door knocks mainly in the evening or over the weekend. “We want to make sure we have the correct address for everybody, so that’s why we’re going to people’s homes,” said Astrid Chirinos, who sits on the Mecklenburg Complete Count Committee. Chirinos says residents have no reason to be alarmed. She says address canvassing is the first major field operation of the 2020 census, where workers simply confirm addresses and the number of people living in the home. She says responses are confidential and protected by federal law. “The last time we missed people. We, unfortunately, missed children, we missed seniors, you know some populations that are hard to count...immigrants,” she said.

How much money can we associate with each individual person in NC potentially not counted in the Census?

Aug, 6 2019 - Carolina Demography

In late June, I spoke on a panel focused on population trends in the Charlotte metropolitan region, the 2020 Census, and how businesses and local governments are gearing up for an accurate and complete count. Afterwards, an attendee asked a great question: What is the number, in dollars, associated with one individual not being counted in the census?

July 2019 Census Project Update

Aug, 5 2019 - The Census Project

On July 22, congressional leaders and White House officials announced they had reached a two-year budget agreement. The agreement included provisions raising the debt ceiling through July 31, 2021 and revising discretionary spending caps in fiscal years (FY) 2020 and 2021actions leaders in the U.S. Senate said were necessary before they would consider any of the FY 2020 appropriations bills. As part of the agreement, the 2020 Census received a unique cap adjustment making it one of the few programs singled out for such a designation. Specifically, the agreement provided the 2020 Census with $2.5 billion, meaning Appropriators will have this additional funding outside the caps to use towards supporting the decennial census. The budget agreement passed the House on July 23 by a vote of 284-149. At press time, the Senate was expected to pass the agreement before August 2. President Trump has said he will sign the legislation (H.R. 3877) into law.

Bureau Is Making Progress Opening Offices and Recruiting, but Could Improve Its Ability to Evaluate Training

Jul, 19 2019 - US GAO: Government Accountability Office

The Census Bureau is taking a different approach to the 2020 Census to try to hold down costs, while maintaining accuracy. It’s using less office space, hiring fewer field staff, and using new training methods.

Pitt County 2020 Census Committee shares challenges ahead

Jul, 16 2019 - WITN

PITT COUNTY, NC (WITN) - Committees throughout the state and Eastern Carolina are preparing to count every person in their counties. The Pitt County 2020 Census Committee appens in all counties. In Pitt County, volunteers from around the area go to their communities to increase outreach.

Census citizenship question: what we know about the debate so far

Jul, 6 2019 - USA Today

On July 5, new court filings showed the federal government intended to continue litigating the battle over placing a citizenship question on the 2020 census, even though a June 27 Supreme Court decision had blocked the question.