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MARCH 18, 2010 ISSUE

So You Have Your 2010 Census Form, Now What?

Census Questionnaires Arrive at N.C. Households March 15 to 17

Story by Corinne Saunders

Local Office Still Hiring

The Local Census Office in Boone is still hiring, and will hire 900 more people to work as enumerators in the eight-county area it covers (Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Mitchell, Watauga and Yancey) before the middle of April, said J.P. Greene, local census office manager.

Fulltime and part-time positions are available, and most of the work will take place on nights and weekends, “because that’s when folks are going to be home,” Greene said.

Enumerators go door-to-door in their neighborhoods to households that did not return forms by late April or early May, helping people fill out the forms and encouraging them to mail it back.

Enumerator pay is $11.50 an hour plus 50 cents per mile, and pay is weekly, Greene added.

Employees must be at least 18; U.S. citizens or legal residents; pass a background check; be fingerprinted; and pass a written test of basic skills.

To schedule a test for employment as an enumerator, call the Local Census Office at 828-832-5920.

The 2010 Census questionnaires began arriving at households throughout North Carolina from March 15 through 17, according to a press release.

The forms have been distributed to more than 130 million households nationwide, the press release said.

Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the census has taken place every 10 years since 1790, and this year’s 10-question form is the shortest ever used, the press release stated.

Census Bureau officials ask that you watch for the form, fill it out and mail it back immediately in the provided, postage-paid envelope.

April 1 is Census Day, the reference day for the population count. Every person living in a residence as of April 1 should be listed on the census form, including relatives and nonrelatives. People should be counted where they live and sleep most of the time, and it is not necessary to wait until April 1 to return the form—it should be mailed back immediately upon receipt, a press release said.

“For every one percent increase in the rate of return, it saves the government about $80 million,” said J.P. Greene, local census office manager.

“It costs $60 to $70 for us to send an enumerator to a door,” he said. “We’d sure like to save that taxpayer money.”

“Every North Carolina resident should fill out and return their census questionnaires. It’s easy, it’s important and it’s secure,” said Gov. Bev Perdue in the press release. “An accurate count of our population is critical for the future of North Carolina. As a fast-growing state, we must count everyone to get our fair share of the billions of federal dollars distributed each year based on the census.”

Census figures determine where state congressional and political lines are drawn, as well as how more than $435 billion in federal funds will be distributed back to towns, cities and municipalities in coming years.

This money will go toward improving infrastructure, building schools, hospitals and fire stations and funding everything from senior centers to school lunch programs.

The census is safe; federal law protects personal census information. Title 13 of the U.S. Code prohibits sharing personal data with anyone, including other federal agencies and law enforcement entities. Census employees are sworn to secrecy for life and face a fine of up to $250,000 and/or five years imprisonment for violating the oath, the press release said.

For help in completing the census form, call the toll-free Telephone Questionnaire Help Line at 1-866-872-6868. Spanish speakers can call 1-866-928-2010.

Questionnaire Assistance Centers (QACs) also are opening across the state to assist people. Language Assistance Guides will be available in 59 languages at the QACs, and callers can get a census form in one of six languages. QAC locations will be posted Thursday, March 18 at www.2010census.gov.

For more information, click to www.census.gov or call the Local Census Office at 828-832-5920.