From the Census Bureau newsroom:
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Creates More
Than 2,200 Census Bureau Jobs
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that it met the July 1, 2009 deadline to create more than 2,200 new jobs across the country. Funding for the positions was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The new employees will support the agency’s 2010 Census partnership program.
Under the Recovery Act, the Census Bureau received $1 billion in
funding, $120 million of which was used to create the new positions. The remaining funds were directed to other critical 2010 Census operations, including expanding the 2010 Census communications and advertising campaign.
“The U.S. Census Bureau has moved quickly to create these much-needed jobs,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “This new staff will perform vital work at the local level with special emphasis on getting hard-to-count communities to participate in the 2010 Census.”
There are now more than 2,900 personnel in 12 regional offices working on the 2010 Census partnership program. The diverse staff speaks 95 languages and will work with thousands of governmental entities, community organizations and the private sector to raise awareness about the 2010 Census.
The new jobs created will last through the summer of 2010, when 2010 Census outreach activities are completed.
ABOUT THE 2010 CENSUS
The 2010 Census is a count of everyone living in the United States and is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Census data guide the distribution of more than $400 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year. They're also used to determine Congressional apportionment and to help guide planning decisions, such as the placement of schools, hospitals, transportation, and business and industrial development. The 2010 Census questionnaire will be one of the shortest in history, consisting of 10 questions. It takes about 10 minutes to complete. Strict laws protect the confidentiality of respondents and the information they provide.
Showing posts with label Federal Stimulus Package. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Federal Stimulus Package. Show all posts
Friday, July 31, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Census releases "recovery plan"
Census Bureau Submits to Congress Proposed Recovery Plan to Help Create Jobs and Conduct a Successful 2010 Census
The U.S. Census Bureau today submitted to Congress its proposed recovery
plan to create jobs, strengthen the economy and conduct a successful 2010
Census. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Census Bureau
was provided $1 billion.
“The Census Bureau’s proposed investments will improve our ability to
conduct an accurate census and will create thousands of good-paying jobs,”
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “A successful census is critical
for ensuring that communities have proper representation and the resources
needed for health care, law enforcement and education.”
Under the proposal, the Census Bureau will invest $250 million in
partnership and outreach efforts to minority communities and hard-to-reach
populations. This effort is intended to promote participation in the
census, which will improve accuracy and facilitate enumeration operations
in 2010.
The remaining $750 million will be committed to support early 2010
Census operations that will reduce operational and programmatic risks at a
critical stage of the census process.
More than $300 billion in federal funds are distributed every year based
on census results. This funding supports vital local services like health
care, schools, law enforcement, transportation and social services.
Some Census Recovery Plan highlights:
-- Coverage Follow-Up Enhancement ($30 million):
The Coverage Follow-Up program provides telephone interviewers to
contact households that may have erred on the census form by indicating the
wrong number of people living in their household. The recovery act
investment will allow for the hiring of additional temporary telephone
interviewers who will work from commercial call centers. The Recovery Act
funding will complement Coverage Follow-Up funding that will be included in
the President’s
2010 Budget.
-- Partnership Program Enhancement ($120 million):
Enhancing the 2010 partnership program will increase partnerships in
hard-to-count communities and expand efforts to reduce historical
undercounts of communities least likely to be counted. The partnership
program relies on trusted local voices to raise awareness of and trust in
the census process. These funds will finance the hiring of additional
partnership staff. The regional staff will be hired by July 2009 and
conclude their work during the summer of 2010.
-- Public Outreach ($100 million):
Public outreach will help to raise awareness of and educate residents
about the 2010 Census and the importance of their response. A major focus
of the increased outreach will be in areas that have historically lower
than average initial response rates. This funding will support local and
national outreach initiatives and also will support various partnerships
and the Census in Schools program.
-- Group Quarters Operations ($138 million):
The Group Quarters (GQ) operation supports efforts to access and count
residents in dormitories, prisons, nursing homes and other group living
situations. These operations include an early validation of the bureau’s
list of group quarters, an advance visit to prepare GQ facilities for
census day and finally enumeration of all group quarters.
-- Update Leave ($116 million):
The Update Leave (U/L) operation delivers census questionnaires to
addresses where the location of the housing unit or the delivery point for
receiving mail does not ensure that the mail gets to the correct unit
(e.g., mailbox banks are broken or mail is left at a central location).
During the operation, enumerators canvass the blocks in their assignment
areas, update the address list and Census maps, determine if the housing
unit is a duplicate or does not exist and needs to be deleted, and delivers
addressed census questionnaires to each unit. All housing units in U/L
areas for which census does not receive a completed questionnaire by mail
must be visited during Non-Response Follow-Up (NRFU).
-- Update/Enumerate ($108 million):
The Update/Enumerate (U/E) operation is a method of data collection
conducted in communities where many housing units may not have house number
and street name mailing addresses. This method will be used on American
Indian reservations, colonias (usually rural Spanish-speaking communities)
and resort areas with high concentrations of seasonally vacant living
quarters. The U/E enumerators canvass assignment areas to update
residential addresses, including adding living quarters that were not
included on the address listing pages, update Census Bureau maps and
complete a questionnaire for each housing unit during the same visit.
-- Local Census Office Staffing Operation ($388 million):
The Local Census Office (LCO) Staffing Operation supports the major 2010
Census field operations. The LCO Staffing Operation recruits, hires and
releases office and field staff; performs supervisory and non-supervisory
functions for office activities and field operations; distributes training
and procedural manuals for office staff; and trains employees and office
staff for the field operations performed at the LCO. The LCO also manages
and troubleshoots field and office automation systems and problems and
incorporates Quality Assurance into all its activities.
For more information about the Census Bureau ARRA Proposed Recovery
Plan, visit:
The U.S. Census Bureau today submitted to Congress its proposed recovery
plan to create jobs, strengthen the economy and conduct a successful 2010
Census. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Census Bureau
was provided $1 billion.
“The Census Bureau’s proposed investments will improve our ability to
conduct an accurate census and will create thousands of good-paying jobs,”
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “A successful census is critical
for ensuring that communities have proper representation and the resources
needed for health care, law enforcement and education.”
Under the proposal, the Census Bureau will invest $250 million in
partnership and outreach efforts to minority communities and hard-to-reach
populations. This effort is intended to promote participation in the
census, which will improve accuracy and facilitate enumeration operations
in 2010.
The remaining $750 million will be committed to support early 2010
Census operations that will reduce operational and programmatic risks at a
critical stage of the census process.
More than $300 billion in federal funds are distributed every year based
on census results. This funding supports vital local services like health
care, schools, law enforcement, transportation and social services.
Some Census Recovery Plan highlights:
-- Coverage Follow-Up Enhancement ($30 million):
The Coverage Follow-Up program provides telephone interviewers to
contact households that may have erred on the census form by indicating the
wrong number of people living in their household. The recovery act
investment will allow for the hiring of additional temporary telephone
interviewers who will work from commercial call centers. The Recovery Act
funding will complement Coverage Follow-Up funding that will be included in
the President’s
2010 Budget.
-- Partnership Program Enhancement ($120 million):
Enhancing the 2010 partnership program will increase partnerships in
hard-to-count communities and expand efforts to reduce historical
undercounts of communities least likely to be counted. The partnership
program relies on trusted local voices to raise awareness of and trust in
the census process. These funds will finance the hiring of additional
partnership staff. The regional staff will be hired by July 2009 and
conclude their work during the summer of 2010.
-- Public Outreach ($100 million):
Public outreach will help to raise awareness of and educate residents
about the 2010 Census and the importance of their response. A major focus
of the increased outreach will be in areas that have historically lower
than average initial response rates. This funding will support local and
national outreach initiatives and also will support various partnerships
and the Census in Schools program.
-- Group Quarters Operations ($138 million):
The Group Quarters (GQ) operation supports efforts to access and count
residents in dormitories, prisons, nursing homes and other group living
situations. These operations include an early validation of the bureau’s
list of group quarters, an advance visit to prepare GQ facilities for
census day and finally enumeration of all group quarters.
-- Update Leave ($116 million):
The Update Leave (U/L) operation delivers census questionnaires to
addresses where the location of the housing unit or the delivery point for
receiving mail does not ensure that the mail gets to the correct unit
(e.g., mailbox banks are broken or mail is left at a central location).
During the operation, enumerators canvass the blocks in their assignment
areas, update the address list and Census maps, determine if the housing
unit is a duplicate or does not exist and needs to be deleted, and delivers
addressed census questionnaires to each unit. All housing units in U/L
areas for which census does not receive a completed questionnaire by mail
must be visited during Non-Response Follow-Up (NRFU).
-- Update/Enumerate ($108 million):
The Update/Enumerate (U/E) operation is a method of data collection
conducted in communities where many housing units may not have house number
and street name mailing addresses. This method will be used on American
Indian reservations, colonias (usually rural Spanish-speaking communities)
and resort areas with high concentrations of seasonally vacant living
quarters. The U/E enumerators canvass assignment areas to update
residential addresses, including adding living quarters that were not
included on the address listing pages, update Census Bureau maps and
complete a questionnaire for each housing unit during the same visit.
-- Local Census Office Staffing Operation ($388 million):
The Local Census Office (LCO) Staffing Operation supports the major 2010
Census field operations. The LCO Staffing Operation recruits, hires and
releases office and field staff; performs supervisory and non-supervisory
functions for office activities and field operations; distributes training
and procedural manuals for office staff; and trains employees and office
staff for the field operations performed at the LCO. The LCO also manages
and troubleshoots field and office automation systems and problems and
incorporates Quality Assurance into all its activities.
For more information about the Census Bureau ARRA Proposed Recovery
Plan, visit:
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Stimulus boosted by temp Census jobs; applicants at all-time high
You'll have tough competition if you're looking to find work with the Census, reports Bloomberg News. And, the Census just might help boost the President's stimulus plan, since it will put a significant number of people to work immediately.
From the story:
The 2010 U.S. census may provide an extra kick to the U.S. economy, just as the effects of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan start to take hold.
The census will put more than 1.4 million people on the federal payroll over the next year, making it the largest peacetime government jobs program ever, according to the Census Bureau. The first 140,000 will start work in April. Most of the rest will be hired early in 2010.
The jobs, though temporary, may ease some of the pain in a labor market where almost 3 million have been put out of work in the last five months. The Census Bureau will spend about half its $14 billion budget for the 2010 headcount on personnel, including jobs that pay $10 to $25 an hour and last several weeks to several months.
“From a timing standpoint you couldn’t do better,” said Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York. “You’re adding workers at a time when we need anything we can get to offset the weakness in payrolls.”
The search for census takers before the last headcount, in 2000, strained a tight job market. That’s hardly a problem this time around, with unemployment at a 25-year high of 8.1 percent and economists forecasting the rate will average 9 percent next year. Already the Census Bureau has more than 900,000 applicants for the jobs to be filled in April, or more than six applications for every opening.
“This is probably the most successful recruiting we’ve had in the last four censuses,” said Marilia Matos, the Census Bureau’s associate director for field operations. “Many people are looking for work.”
From the story:
The 2010 U.S. census may provide an extra kick to the U.S. economy, just as the effects of President Barack Obama’s $787 billion stimulus plan start to take hold.
The census will put more than 1.4 million people on the federal payroll over the next year, making it the largest peacetime government jobs program ever, according to the Census Bureau. The first 140,000 will start work in April. Most of the rest will be hired early in 2010.
The jobs, though temporary, may ease some of the pain in a labor market where almost 3 million have been put out of work in the last five months. The Census Bureau will spend about half its $14 billion budget for the 2010 headcount on personnel, including jobs that pay $10 to $25 an hour and last several weeks to several months.
“From a timing standpoint you couldn’t do better,” said Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York. “You’re adding workers at a time when we need anything we can get to offset the weakness in payrolls.”
The search for census takers before the last headcount, in 2000, strained a tight job market. That’s hardly a problem this time around, with unemployment at a 25-year high of 8.1 percent and economists forecasting the rate will average 9 percent next year. Already the Census Bureau has more than 900,000 applicants for the jobs to be filled in April, or more than six applications for every opening.
“This is probably the most successful recruiting we’ve had in the last four censuses,” said Marilia Matos, the Census Bureau’s associate director for field operations. “Many people are looking for work.”
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