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Officials with the U.S. Census Bureau want to encourage Morehouse Parish residents to cooperate with census takers as the 2010 Census enters its second phase.
Nefertitti Rhodes, Partnership Specialist with the Dallas Regional Census Center, Monroe office said the census mail-back response rate for Morehouse Parish has been 67 percent, about the same as the 2000 response rate.
The 2010 Census began its second phase, the Non Response Follow-Up (NRFU) on May 1 and will continue through the end of July. During this time, census takers will go door to door to households that have not mailed back their census forms and ask the same 10 questions that are on the forms.
Renee Clark, Media Specialist with the Monroe office, said census workers can be identified by a badge. The badge will include the worker’s name, expiration date and the U.S. Department of Commerce watermark. They may also be carrying a black canvas bag with the 2010 Census logo on it.
Clark said the census workers will only ask the 10 basic questions on the mail-in census forms. They will not ask for driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, or bank account numbers.
“The census taker will never solicit for funds,” said Clark. “We want people to know that, because there are scams out there.”
Clark said the census taker will provide a supervisor’s phone number should the resident feel the need to verify his or her identity. Citizens may also call 1.800.563.6499 for verification.
Rhodes said that some citizens may be approached by a census worker even after they have mailed in their census forms. This might happen if their form was lost in the mail or otherwise not received.
“Any number of things might have happened to [the form],” said Rhodes. “We are still asking people to kindly cooperate with the census taker.”
Rhodes said census workers may leave a tag on the doors of residences when no one is home, with a number people may call to arrange a time to meet with them.
Rhodes said the mail-back response rate in Bastrop has been 69 percent, up from 66 percent in 2000.
The mail-back response rate in Mer Rouge has been 68 percent, up from 54 percent in 2000.
The mail-back response rate in Collinston has been 61 percent, up from 59 percent in 2000.
The mail-back response rate in Bonita has been 44 percent, down from 58 percent in 2000.
The mail-back response rate in Oak Ridge has been 55 percent, down from 68 percent in 2000.
Officials with the U.S. Census Bureau want to encourage Morehouse Parish residents to cooperate with census takers as the 2010 Census enters its second phase.
Nefertitti Rhodes, Partnership Specialist with the Dallas Regional Census Center, Monroe office said the census mail-back response rate for Morehouse Parish has been 67 percent, about the same as the 2000 response rate.
The 2010 Census began its second phase, the Non Response Follow-Up (NRFU) on May 1 and will continue through the end of July. During this time, census takers will go door to door to households that have not mailed back their census forms and ask the same 10 questions that are on the forms.
Renee Clark, Media Specialist with the Monroe office, said census workers can be identified by a badge. The badge will include the worker’s name, expiration date and the U.S. Department of Commerce watermark. They may also be carrying a black canvas bag with the 2010 Census logo on it.
Clark said the census workers will only ask the 10 basic questions on the mail-in census forms. They will not ask for driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, or bank account numbers.
“The census taker will never solicit for funds,” said Clark. “We want people to know that, because there are scams out there.”
Clark said the census taker will provide a supervisor’s phone number should the resident feel the need to verify his or her identity. Citizens may also call 1.800.563.6499 for verification.
Rhodes said that some citizens may be approached by a census worker even after they have mailed in their census forms. This might happen if their form was lost in the mail or otherwise not received.
“Any number of things might have happened to [the form],” said Rhodes. “We are still asking people to kindly cooperate with the census taker.”
Rhodes said census workers may leave a tag on the doors of residences when no one is home, with a number people may call to arrange a time to meet with them.
Rhodes said the mail-back response rate in Bastrop has been 69 percent, up from 66 percent in 2000.
The mail-back response rate in Mer Rouge has been 68 percent, up from 54 percent in 2000.
The mail-back response rate in Collinston has been 61 percent, up from 59 percent in 2000.
The mail-back response rate in Bonita has been 44 percent, down from 58 percent in 2000.
The mail-back response rate in Oak Ridge has been 55 percent, down from 68 percent in 2000.
“It doesn’t matter how hard people may be to reach,” said Clark. “It matters that they are accurately counted.”
Clark said approximately 12,000 people throughout Louisiana have been employed as census workers for the 2010 census. The information they collect is protected by federal law and cannot be shared with local police, the FBI or anyone else.
“The information is only used for statistical purposes,” said Clark. “We want to encourage people to cooperate. It takes approximately ten minutes [to answer the questions] and it will affect the next ten years of our lives. We don’t want to miss out on our fair share of political representation or federal funding.”
