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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2010 : 09:23:26 AM
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Community panels promoting accurate census count
By John Laidler
Globe Correspondent / January 17, 2010
With the 2010 US Census fast approaching, local cities and towns are trying to ensure that no one is overlooked.
Many area communities are forming “complete count committees,’’ groups of public officials and leaders of community organizations that work to maximize local response to the census, particularly among immigrants and other hard-to-reach populations.
“The key is to have an accurate count,’’ said Gloucester City Councilor Paul McGeary, who is helping to organize a Complete Count Committee in that city. “Communities like Salem, Peabody, Gloucester, and Lynn, where significant immigrant populations sometimes get undercounted’’ due to language barriers and other factors.
The decennial census, the nation’s major population count, will get underway in March, when the Census Bureau mails or delivers forms to households across the country with the request that they be returned by about April 1. Census workers will follow up with visits to the homes of those who do not respond.
With the help of the complete count committees, local officials hope to get the word out to their residents about the importance of getting everyone counted.
Census data is used as part of the al location formula in many federal and state programs. It is also used to apportion seats in the US House of Representatives, a key issue now for Massachusetts in light of its potential loss of one of its congressional seats.
Bruce Kaminski, deputy regional director for the Census Bureau’s Boston regional office, said complete count committees “are very important because they are the trusted voices in the community coming together to publicly support the census.’’
He said the committees also “show the value of the census to the community, for its schools, its transportation network, its public safety services.’’
Lynn launched a complete count committee Wednesday, a well-publicized event at City Hall that was taped for later airing on the city’s cable channel. The kick-off included band and choir performances by Lynn students and remarks about the census by a variety of community leaders speaking in their native languages.
The committee’s other efforts will include distributing literature about the census in different languages in local grocery stores, banks, and other public places, according to Diana Kerry, director of the Public Policy Institute at North Shore Community College and a member of the committee.
Kerry, who is the sister of US Senator John F. Kerry, said the mission is to spread the word - notably among immigrant and other hard-to-count populations, that the census “is safe, it’s easy, and it’s important.’’
Revere has an active complete count committee formed about a year ago.
“We are trying to do whatever we can to get the word out and get an accurate count,’’ said Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino.
City Election Commissioner Diane Colella, who chairs the Revere committee, said the group’s work has included organizing a major kick-off event last June that was later aired on the city’s cable station; distributing fliers; and including census information on the website of the city and other organizations represented on the committee.
Colella, meanwhile, has distributed T-shirts and winter hats with the census logo to the Garfield Magnet School and at a local social agency that serves immigrants.
She said as the census approaches, the committee plans to step up its efforts, including through additional distribution of fliers and having notices about the census read from the pulpit at houses of worship.
“It’s truly a grass-roots campaign,’’ said Colella, who is optimistic “that the residents will understand the importance of answering the 2010 census. A lot of programs they rely upon depend upon their answering the census.’’
After enjoying success with a complete count committee during the 2000 census, Lowell is using one again this year.
The current group’s work included holding a kick-off event in August and bringing representatives from the Census Bureau to speak before neighborhood groups. Participating organizations are also distributing literature, and have given out census T-shirts and backpacks, according to Mike Demaras, the city’s coordinator of neighborhood services.
“We definitely think it’s a very helpful tool,’’ Adam Baacke, Lowell’s assistant city manager and director of planning and development, said of complete count committees, noting that with the help of the 2000 committee, the city saw its census population figure grow after predictions it would fall.
Chelsea formed a complete count committee 16 months ago and “we are about to institute some of the things we’ve been planning,’’ said City Manager Jay Ash.
That will include outreach efforts by the various organizations participating in the committee, and the downtown display of banners about the census.
The approach of the census is evident in other ways in the region.
The Census Bureau recently opened three local offices in the region, to serve the Beverly, Lowell, and Medford areas. It is also working with a myriad of local partners - the Beverly office alone is working with at least 150 - which are governments, nonprofits, or businesses that help raise awareness of the census and assist with other tasks.
And here, as in other parts of the country, the bureau is hiring temporary, part-time census takers, as many as 1,000 for each office.
“Our philosophy is to hire people from the neighborhood,’’ Kaminski said. That helps ensure that when a home visit is required, “a person from the neighborhood is knocking on the door.’’
Anyone interested in applying for a census job can call 866-861-2010.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company. |
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tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2010 : 09:27:41 AM
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Community panels promoting accurate census count
By John Laidler
Globe Correspondent / January 17, 2010
With the 2010 US Census fast approaching, local cities and towns are trying to ensure that no one is overlooked.
Many area communities are forming “complete count committees,’’ groups of public officials and leaders of community organizations that work to maximize local response to the census, particularly among immigrants and other hard-to-reach populations.
“The key is to have an accurate count,’’ said Gloucester City Councilor Paul McGeary, who is helping to organize a Complete Count Committee in that city. “Communities like Salem, Peabody, Gloucester, and Lynn, where significant immigrant populations sometimes get undercounted’’ due to language barriers and other factors.
The decennial census, the nation’s major population count, will get underway in March, when the Census Bureau mails or delivers forms to households across the country with the request that they be returned by about April 1. Census workers will follow up with visits to the homes of those who do not respond.
With the help of the complete count committees, local officials hope to get the word out to their residents about the importance of getting everyone counted.
Census data is used as part of the al location formula in many federal and state programs. It is also used to apportion seats in the US House of Representatives, a key issue now for Massachusetts in light of its potential loss of one of its congressional seats.
Bruce Kaminski, deputy regional director for the Census Bureau’s Boston regional office, said complete count committees “are very important because they are the trusted voices in the community coming together to publicly support the census.’’
He said the committees also “show the value of the census to the community, for its schools, its transportation network, its public safety services.’’
Lynn launched a complete count committee Wednesday, a well-publicized event at City Hall that was taped for later airing on the city’s cable channel. The kick-off included band and choir performances by Lynn students and remarks about the census by a variety of community leaders speaking in their native languages.
The committee’s other efforts will include distributing literature about the census in different languages in local grocery stores, banks, and other public places, according to Diana Kerry, director of the Public Policy Institute at North Shore Community College and a member of the committee.
Kerry, who is the sister of US Senator John F. Kerry, said the mission is to spread the word - notably among immigrant and other hard-to-count populations, that the census “is safe, it’s easy, and it’s important.’’
Revere has an active complete count committee formed about a year ago.
“We are trying to do whatever we can to get the word out and get an accurate count,’’ said Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino.
City Election Commissioner Diane Colella, who chairs the Revere committee, said the group’s work has included organizing a major kick-off event last June that was later aired on the city’s cable station; distributing fliers; and including census information on the website of the city and other organizations represented on the committee.
Colella, meanwhile, has distributed T-shirts and winter hats with the census logo to the Garfield Magnet School and at a local social agency that serves immigrants.
She said as the census approaches, the committee plans to step up its efforts, including through additional distribution of fliers and having notices about the census read from the pulpit at houses of worship.
“It’s truly a grass-roots campaign,’’ said Colella, who is optimistic “that the residents will understand the importance of answering the 2010 census. A lot of programs they rely upon depend upon their answering the census.’’
After enjoying success with a complete count committee during the 2000 census, Lowell is using one again this year.
The current group’s work included holding a kick-off event in August and bringing representatives from the Census Bureau to speak before neighborhood groups. Participating organizations are also distributing literature, and have given out census T-shirts and backpacks, according to Mike Demaras, the city’s coordinator of neighborhood services.
“We definitely think it’s a very helpful tool,’’ Adam Baacke, Lowell’s assistant city manager and director of planning and development, said of complete count committees, noting that with the help of the 2000 committee, the city saw its census population figure grow after predictions it would fall.
Chelsea formed a complete count committee 16 months ago and “we are about to institute some of the things we’ve been planning,’’ said City Manager Jay Ash.
That will include outreach efforts by the various organizations participating in the committee, and the downtown display of banners about the census.
The approach of the census is evident in other ways in the region.
The Census Bureau recently opened three local offices in the region, to serve the Beverly, Lowell, and Medford areas. It is also working with a myriad of local partners - the Beverly office alone is working with at least 150 - which are governments, nonprofits, or businesses that help raise awareness of the census and assist with other tasks.
And here, as in other parts of the country, the bureau is hiring temporary, part-time census takers, as many as 1,000 for each office.
“Our philosophy is to hire people from the neighborhood,’’ Kaminski said. That helps ensure that when a home visit is required, “a person from the neighborhood is knocking on the door.’’
Anyone interested in applying for a census job can call 866-861-2010.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company. |
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