MS Census obstacles

Gary Pettus of the Clarion Ledger writes about Census obstacles...

Census obstacles - Isolated areas in state pose challenge for listers

When Stephen Guido pilots his chopper above the remote terrain along the Mississippi River, he's often searching for a flood victim, looter or something more sinister.

"Most of the time, it's looking for dead bodies," said Guido, a reserve officer in the Adams County Sheriff's Department.

But earlier this week, Guido and his copter were on a mission to find the living.

As he mounted the skies over Glasscock and Jackson islands, he carried two passengers: Adams County residents Latonya Terrell and Karen Rounds, who both work as "listers" for the Jackson office of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Along the river at Natchez, Guido was helping them search for houses or habitable buildings -a preliminary step in the 2010 census.

The search was part of the bureau's effort to reach populations that are hard to count.

Among the 50 states, Mississippi is the 19th-hardest to count - often because of crowded housing or poverty.

But, for the area along the Mississippi-Louisiana border, including nearby Cowpen (a.k.a. Giles) Island, other factors are in play: high water and geography.

The marshlands and wooded areas of the county are hard to reach, said Donald Watson, office manager of the Census Bureau's Jackson office, which covers the states' western half.

"We have had to come up with creative ways to get the job done," he said.

In June, low-lying parts of Cowpen/Giles Island were still under water from spring floods, said Stan Owens Jr., director of Emergency Management in Adams County.

Facing a deadline, Watson's workers had to find a way in and complete the address canvassing process: verifying the addresses of single-family dwellings.

Across the country, listers start with address lists taken from previous censuses and the U.S. Postal Service.

Once addresses are confirmed or corrected, and new ones discovered, the bureau uses the new lists to mail out questionnaires to residents.

Seeking help on this mission, Watson called Adams County Sheriff Angie Brown. In June, she offered him a search-and-rescue boat.

"The census is important to our state and to our community," Brown said. "Without accurate counts, a lot of federal money could be lost."

The count affects federal funding for schools, hospitals, roads and more. It determines a community's share of an estimated $300 billion.

It also determines a state's representation in Congress: After the 2000 census, Mississippi lost a U.S. House seat because its pace of growth was slower than in other states.

So, about a month ago, Everard Baker and two other volunteers with the county's search-and-rescue team climbed into the unit's 17-foot, fiberglass outboard.

With three census listers aboard, the team navigated the swift-running waters of the Mississippi, toward Cowpen/Giles Island.

On a map, this isolated area falls on the Louisiana side of the river, but it belongs to Adams County. Cowpen was detached decades ago when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created a cutoff to shorten a river bend.

This region is dotted with hunting and fishing camps, and a smattering of homes. While a road does connect Cowpen to the mainland, parts of it are still flooded or mud-swamped.

"The (census workers) couldn't get to some of these places," Baker said, "so we carried them there to let them do whatever they do. Count buildings, count heads.

"We're here to provide a public service. If that helps them get their job done, we've accomplished our mission."

Still, because of high water and their remoteness, two other sites, Jackson and Glasscock islands, are difficult to survey, even by boat.

That's why Brown offered Watson the services of the Sheriff Department's chopper, mostly for free.

"It can cost $1,000 to hire a helicopter," Watson said, "but Sheriff Brown said, 'Y'all just buy the gas.' "

Brown did not have an estimate for the boat-fuel cost, but gauged the charge for the copter's fuel at around $200.

She described the arrangement as "win-win."

"It helped in the training of our all-volunteer search-and-rescue team," Brown said.

"Our helicopter pilot is a volunteer, also, and this gave him some air time. Pilots are always looking for air time."

Often, air time is spent buzzing suspicious-looking characters, Guido said.

"People break into these hunting and fishing camps.

"If we see someone in a boat, we'll stop and shake them down to make sure they haven't stolen anything."

There were no shakedowns Thursday, but once the listers landed on Jackson Island, or Point, they found five livable structures, Guido said. "This is the first time I've flown census people."

Without that kind of help, "We couldn't have canvassed these areas within our time frame," Watson said.

Officials in Bolivar and Wilkinson counties and other areas "stepped up to the plate" as well, he said.

"I've been pleasantly overwhelmed.

"There seems to be a renewed sense of patriotism, or something, from people of all walks of life."

The work isn't finished, of course. Next is the survey of group quarters - college campuses, military bases, nursing homes and more.

Three more census offices are scheduled to open by summer's end - in Southaven, Tupelo and Harrison County.

For now, there are offices in Jackson and Meridian only.

Their work leads up to the official 2010 census mail-out, which starts next year.

For the 2000 census, 63 percent of Mississippians responded to the mail-out, compared to 67 percent for the nation, Watson said.

"I'd like to see our rate reach 70 or 75 percent this time," he said. "That could mean millions of more dollars for the state of Mississippi."

Governor Haley Barbour forms Complete Count Committee

This just in:

MISSISSIPPI COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE TO MEET IN PREPARATION FOR 2010 CENSUS



In preparation for the upcoming 2010 Census, Governor Haley Barbour has organized the Mississippi “Complete Count Committee” to ensure Mississippi has a complete and accurate count in the decennial census. By collaborating with the U.S. Census Bureau and other state partners, the CCC will serve as the lead entity in publicizing the upcoming Census.



“The Complete Count Committee will serve an important role in helping to publicize the 2010 Census,” Governor Barbour said. “After all, the information collected during the Census will be used for a variety of purposes over the next decade, including determining the amount of some federal funding available to Mississippi as well as a basis for redrawing legislative districts.”



The promotional committee will consist of volunteer members appointed by the Governor under the goal of providing the public with up-to-date Census information, as well as discussing ways to better reach hard-to-count populations within the state. The group will have its initial meeting at 10:30 a.m. on May 13, 2009, in Conference Center East on the first floor of the Woolfolk State Office Building, 501 N. West St.



Below is a listing of the organizations represented on the Committee. Going forward, the committee will continue to partner with additional groups and organizations to help achieve its purpose of promoting the 2010 Census.



Mississippi Department of Human Services - Division of Aging and Adult Services
Mississippi State Conference NAACP
100 Black Men of Jackson
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Mississippi Manufacturers Association
National Federal of Independent Business
Mississippi Economic Council
State Board for Community and Junior Colleges
Mississippi Municipal League
Catholic Diocese of Jackson
Office of Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann
Office of the Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant
Mississippi Delta Council
Mississippi Association of Planning and Development Districts
Mississippi Center for Nonprofits
Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning
Mississippi Department of Education
Mississippi Department of Employment Security
Mississippi Department of Corrections
State Data Center of Mississippi, Center for Population Studies
Mission Mississippi
Mississippi National Guard
Mississippi Commission on Volunteer Services
El Pueblo/The Village
Mississippi Division of Medicaid



For more information, visit www.governorbarbour.com/census2010.htm.

Vicksburg Post: Census staff due in county through July

From the Vickburg Post:

Canvassers employed by the U.S. Census Bureau will be seen working in Vicksburg and Warren County neighborhoods through July, according to agency timelines.

Teams of individuals with laptop computers or small, handheld devices much like PDAs are updating databases showing total housing units and living quarters as part of the initial phase of the national census, to be followed up with the mass mailing of forms to residences by mid-March 2010.

Population estimates completed by the agency for 2008 show Warren County with 48,087 residents. It stood at 49,644 following the 2000 Census, which was up nearly 2,000 from 1990. Slight drops have been recorded in estimates since then, done through statistical sampling. Locally, this year’s county total is down by nearly 800 from 2007.

Inside Vicksburg, the count was 26,407 in 2000, up nearly 5,500 from 1990. The 2007 estimate had the municipal population at 25,454. Municipal estimates for 2008 in Mississippi are incomplete.

Training for a Complete Count Committee of about 20 local individuals should wrap up this week. Along with some faith-based organizations, the committee will act as liaisons to the community so people can identify the canvassers and return their forms when they receive them.

“Some have actually called the police on them,” said Census Bureau Partnership Specialist Kelvin Rankin. “They are verifying if a residence actually exists where they are working.” Census workers carry identification.

Both local governing bodies have pledged to work through the Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce

Non-statistical information gathered in the Census is protected from disclosure. It is against federal law for Census Bureau employees to disclose or publish any private information, nor can any authority obtain personal identifiable data from the agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Violation of disclosure laws by Census employees can result in five-year federal prison sentences, fines up to $250,000, or both.

Census Bureau representatives working in Mississippi declined to specify how many canvassers are deployed in individual counties. More than 15,000 will be employed in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to a bureau release.

Census workers in Southwest MS

Census workers prepare for 2010 Census, reports the Brookhaven Daily Leader.

The decennial census won't be taken for another year, but census workers are now knocking on doors in the area conducting a preparatory survey.

Workers are updating the census bureau's residential address list to provide an accurate database to ensure each home receives an official census questionnaire in April 2010.

"We want to make sure we count everyone once and in the correct place," said Jeff Behler, U.S. Census Bureau deputy regional director for the Dallas Region, which includes Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

More than 1,300 listers will be canvassing the state during a 10-week operation that began last week, Behler said. The goal is to confirm existing addresses, enter new addresses and delete the addresses of homes than no longer exist.

"We don't target specific counties at a time," he said. "We hit all areas at once."

Behler said the workers would be visiting homes during daylight hours and homeowners may know the person.

"We try to hire locally because they know their area better than anyone else," he said.

Canvassers will provide a "courtesy knock" when they arrive at a residence and may ask a few questions if someone is home, Behler said. However, they will only verify the address and ask about any additional living quarters, such as an apartment over the garage, on the property that may not be visible to the eye.

"We need to make this as accurate as possible," he said. "We only get this opportunity to update the address list every 10 years."

To help with accuracy, census workers will be using hand-held computers equipped with global positioning system mapping software for the first time. The 2000 census was conducted completely on paper.

Census accuracy is important, Behler said, because the information gathered is used to redraw districts in the U.S. Congress and in the distribution of federal funding to state and local governments. The 2010 census is expected to shift several congressional seats across the nation.

Census workers can be identified by an official bureau badge and will display identification cards in the windshields of their vehicles.

Any questions regarding the census or to report inappropriate behavior by workers can be made by calling the bureau at 1-800-563-6499.