.: HartsvilleToday :.

Census: It’s Not Too Late

Posted by sherryfm on 04/05 at 10:02 AM

Most of us are aware that ‘Census Day’ was April 1st. This was the day that is used as the actual snapshot for the count. As in, who was living in your household on April 1st. For this reason, many people wait to fill in their forms until after April 1st.

Now that Census Day has come and gone, please take the time to fill in your info and drop the census form in the mail. It may save you some time and will certainly save some money.

I just attended a training class for the position of Field Operations Supervisor. This means that I will be supervising the Non-Response Follow-Up operation for our district. The next step in the operation is training crew leaders for our district. Each crew leader will train and oversee a crew of enumerators. These enumerators will go door-to-door to fill out census questionnaires for all households that did not return a census form.

The NRFU operation starts on May 1st. So, there is still time to get your form counted before the door-to-door operation starts. The more people respond, the shorter the operation.

Your comments:

Caroline Privette says:

I’ve got a question, Sherry. I returned my completed census form by mail within two days of receiving it. Last week I received *another* form in the mail with a form letter about how a census worker would come to get the info if my form was not received. The letter made it clear that it was very important that we not give information TWICE. So how do I know if my original form was lost in the mail?

The reason I ask is because I filled out my census form and returned it in 2000 and I had not one, but two workers come to record my info, telling me that my form had never been received. Should I just refuse to give my info to the workers? Should I fill out the second census form I got in the mail and keep it to give to any worker who does come by, even though I returned my original form by mail?

Thanks for your help!

On: 04/05 at 01:02 PM

sherryfm says:

Good question, Caroline. We were told that a sampling of households would receive a second form. This mailing was sent in hopes of getting responses from citizens that may have lost the original form.

If you already sent in your form, you can throw away the second mailing. If for some reason, your original form is not received, you will have a visit from an enumerator during NRFU.

I know this all seems redundant, but it is done in hopes of increasing responses.

If you do keep the second form and give it to a NRFU enumerator, you will still be asked to allow them to record your info on the NRFU questionnaire that is filled out by the enumerator.

For that reason, you may prefer to fill out the second questionnaire and mail it in.
Does that make any sense at all?

On: 04/05 at 01:24 PM

LisaRock says:

Here’s some information from a press release the Census Bureau sent out about the extra mailing:

Beginning April 1 through April 10, most South Carolina households will receive a replacement 2010 Census questionnaire designed to increase census mail participation, get a better count for the state and save taxpayers the higher cost of sending out census takers to collect information.

“From our research, we estimate that mailing out a replacement questionnaire in targeted areas might save more than $500 million by raising the participation rate by 7 to 10 percentage points,” said William W. Hatcher, regional director for the U.S. Census Bureau. “The replacement form gives households a second chance to fill out the form and return it by mail before we begin going door-to-door May 1 to collect census information.”

Hatcher added that people who have completed and returned their questionnaires need not fill out the replacement census form. People who still have the original questionnaire should fill it out and mail it back immediately in the provided, postage-paid envelope.

People who discarded or misplaced the original questionnaire should fill out the replacement. You should only complete and return one census form. Extra census forms should be discarded.

The 10-question census questionnaires were mailed to 2.1 million South Carolina households in mid-March. As of April 1, 54 percent of the received questionnaires had been returned. About 40 million replacement questionnaires are being sent nationwide to households in areas with low mail return rates in Census 2000, even if they have returned the original 2010 questionnaire.

“The replacement questionnaire is a safety net and a wise investment,” Hatcher said. “It reminds people who have not mailed back their questionnaires to send it in now. It doesn’t matter if they return the original form or the replacement form. Both are bar-coded to ensure that people are counted only once and in the right place.”

On: 04/05 at 01:42 PM

sherryfm says:

Thanks, Lisa. That made it a lot more clear.

On: 04/05 at 06:32 PM

Page 1 of 1 pages

Post New Comment

Most Viewed This Month

Sorry, no results!

Most Commented This Month