If you'd like to stop getting visits from the US Census Bureau, here are some facts you should know.

Disclaimer

Although I'm a Census Enumerator, I do not write this as their representative - merely as a citizen. I'm just trying to help make sure that each community gets the most from the US Census, which won't be done again until 2030.

The Census was put into the Constitution, Article 1, Section 2 by the Founding Fathers and has been performed every 10 years since 1780. As a part of the Constitution, it is required for all people in America, legal and illegal.

Other Surveys

There are other types of surveys conducted by the Census Bureau, including the Household Pulse Survey, the American Community Survey and economic surveys. Go to the Census Bureau website and click on the top menu item "Surveys/Programs" to see the full list.

What the Census Is Used For

I have heard a few people claim that the Census is an invasion of privacy, a waste of money and/or for taking taxes, and I'd like to correct those misconceptions. The Census results are used to build statistics that determine:

• how many representatives are allowed for each state in the House of Representatives;
• how much money is sent by the Federal government to each state and community for health clinics, fire departments, schools, roads, highways, emergency services, and other things; and
• the decisions of local government.
  Learn more here.

Confidentiality & Legal Protection

Census data is confidential and protected by law. The US Census Bureau isn't allowed to share its raw data with any other part of the government and only uses it to create statistical information.

By law, the Census Bureau cannot release any identifiable information about you, your home, or your business, even to law enforcement agencies. That's protected under Title 13 of the U.S. Code.

Illegal Aliens

Even illegals are supposed to be counted, and we cannot tell the INS about you. President Trump tried to bar the counting of illegal aliens, but a court overturned his executive order.

Other Facts

Older Census surveys were much longer because they asked for a lot more information. Videos on the Census website give the history of the Census.

The current (2020) Census was delayed by the pandemic, and the Census Enumerators, our Census Field Supervisors and Managers are working hard to get it done. In SW Ohio, the Clermont and Brown County teams have become the fastest, replacing a Tennessee (and, yes, we beat Cincinnati's teams, too) team as #1. Yay, us! :)

10% of Census addresses are visited or called for quality assurance purposes. Depending on whether the original respondent is available, the survey MAY be shorter.

When Might You Come to My Home?

Any time between 9 AM to 9 PM, any day of the week.

Who Can You Talk To?

We are allowed to talk to a member of every household that doesn't have a survey response entered. We can only survey people who are at least 15 years of age, unless an adult resident needs help with interpreting, sign language, etc. and agrees to let a younger person help. We are unable to pay translators in the field.

Proxies Resident caretakers and non-resident family members, as well as mail carriers, apartment and property managers, maintenance people, and other people outdoors, and those in your community can be asked to help in collecting Census data. Since they may not know the right data, your answers are best! "Proxies" are asked the same questions, and we also request their name, phone and address. They are also able to refuse any and all questions and all proxies are protected by the same confidentiality laws as you, the person we're asking about.

Also, please don't forget that the US Census Bureau does quality checks on 10% of surveys, so someone may visit you to make sure your data was entered correctly.

Where Don't You Go to Conduct a Survey?

If we can get the information from a neighbor, a person on the street, a postal carrier, someone else, or a nearby business, we are required to try. However, there some places Census Enumerators do NOT visit for a residential survey. Of course, we don't go to businesses to ask about their business because it's not a residence, but we can use them as proxies. If your place seems to be a "group quarters," please refer the Enumerator to the administrator who runs it. If it is one, that building/community will be referred to a special team. If you are an administrator, more information is available.

Group quarters are places where people live or stay in a group living arrangement. These places are owned or managed by an entity or organization providing housing and/or services for the residents. These services may include custodial or medical care as well as other types of assistance, and residency is commonly restricted to those receiving these services.
This is not a typical household-type living arrangement. People living in group quarters are usually not related to each other.

These include:

• Nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities
• Hospitals with patients who have no usual home elsewhere
• In-patient hospice facilities
• Addiction treatment centers
• Halfway homes
• College, university, and seminary student housing, including residence halls, apartments where students enter “by the bed” leases (i.e., single-liability leases), and fraternity and sorority housing recognized by the college or university
• Military quarters (barracks and dormitories)
• Military disciplinary barracks and jails
• Military treatment centers
• Maritime and military vessels
• Federal and state prisons
• Local jails, and other municipal confinement facilities
• Correctional residential facilities
• Convents, monasteries, abbeys, and other religious group living quarters
• Residential treatment centers (non-correctional)
• Psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric units in other hospitals that provide long-term, non-acute care
• Group homes (non-correctional)
• Workers’ group living quarters
• Job Corps centers or vocational training facilities

Need Help? Concerned about Fraud?

Not sure a letter, phone call or person at your door is from the US Census Bureau? Look at this helpful information or call 1-844-330-2020.

Who Are Census Takers?

We are regular people who've applied for and been chosen for intermittent work as Census Enumerators. We may be working part-time doing this, or it may be our only source of income. We have been checked out by the US Census Bureau before being accepted, and we are equipped with a US Census badge on a lanyard, a black bag that says "United States Census Bureau" in blue on white, a black Apple iPhone (which is protected by a case that has the Bureau's symbol on it and says "United States Census 2020"), masks and hand sanitizer, and the papers we need to do our job. We even get "frequent stop" signs to put in our vehicle, a clipboard and pens. We must return it all if we stop being an Enumerator. If you find an Enumerator's phone, please call 1-855-236-2020!

We define the hours and days we work via our iPhones up to a week in advance, and can change it as needed. If we have an emergency, we have to tell our supervisor so our cases can be distributed to other Enumerators. We also submit the hours we worked, miles we drove and other expenses to our supervisor via our phones. We don't get a free lunch and are required to take at least a 30-minute break at 5 hours of continuous work.

We go to each residence using our own vehicles, but the government pays us for each mile we drive and the time spent each day in the completion of our duties. We cannot count side-trips to a restaurant or a gas station towards our expenses and time.

Please be nice to us - we're just doing our job and don't want to bother you, but we must complete your case. We don't have any way to schedule a visit or when it is best to try, but we can put that information in the case notes. Please don't threaten, hurt or sick your dog on us!

The more people who send in their Census survey by paper, on the phone or the Internet, the less the government has to spend paying Enumerators to visit homes. If you think that what we do is a waste of money, please make sure that everyone completes the Census as soon as possible!

Can I Call the Police?

Absolutely! If it's a scam, that person will be in trouble. If it's someone from the US Census Bureau, the police cannot do anything, however. Even if you've posted a "No Trespassing" sign, we have a legal obligation to be on your property.

Getting Off the List

The easiest ways to get off the Non-Respondent Field Unit's list are:

• complete it with a Census Enumerator (that's the fancy term for us) when they come to visit;
• call in (1-844-330-2020) or go online and complete it;
• at the very least, tell us how many people lived and/or stayed there on 4/1/2020 (make sure to look at who we do and don't count); normally, only giving the occupancy of your residence will not be sufficient, however, when it's coming to the end of the Census time-frame, it is eventually authorized.

Who We Don't Count

• College students who live away from this address most of the year
• Armed Forces personnel who live away
• People in a nursing home, mental hospital, etc. on 4/1/20
• People in jail, prison, detention facility, etc. on 4/1/20
• People who normally stayed at a different address on 4/1/20 (such as in the case of child custody)

Who We Count

• Babies & children living here, including foster children
• Roommates
• Boarders
• People staying at your home on 4/1/20 who have no permanent place to live

Did You Already Complete the 2020 Census Survey?

Sometimes surveys are lost in the mail or because of problems on your side or computer errors elsewhere. 😔 Call the Census Bureau at 1-844-330-2020 and inform them that you already completed it and ask them to check. Hopefully, you saved the LONG confirmation number from the online survey (the mail-in version doesn't have that), which will make it easier to locate your survey, especially if there is an address conflict. If you have received a Notice of Visit (which is blue in English on one side and green in Spanish on the other), there is probably a case number listed that you can also give them to help. The NoV used in US protectorates/territories may look somewhat different. We will leave it somewhere that is not easy to see from the street, but we are NOT allowed to put it in your mailbox - by law, only you and people from the USPS are allowed to use your mailbox.

What Questions Are Asked?

The current Census collects the following data for April 1, 2020.

1. Whether you lived there on that date (if not, you're an "in-mover.")
2. The full name of each resident (you can give all or part of it, a nickname or refuse - if you refuse we'll assign a designation)
3. The best phone number to reach you at for Quality Assurance
4. The number of occupants on 4/1, including children, parents, grandparents, roommates, foster children, people without another residence. If someone lives elsewhere most of the year, they are not counted, including prisoners, military, college students, etc.
5. Whether you:
   • Own with a mortgage, loan or home equity loan;
   • Own it free and clear;
   • Rent
   • Occupy without paying rent
6. The gender/sex of each person (sorry, there's only male and female as options).
7. Dates of birth for each person living there on 4/1/20. If your baby was born after that, don't include him/her.
8. Age (neighbors and other proxies can give an estimated age).
9. If any person is/was from a Hispanic, Latino or Spanish country (it's not considered to be a race for the Census). If you say yes, we'll ask which one.
10. Race(s):

• Caucasian
• Black/African American
• American Indian/Alaska Native
• Asian
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Some other race

1. Origin(s) of each race (e.g. Haitian, French, Korean, Columbian)
2. If someone had a different primary residence on 4/1/20.
   During the survey, we will ask several times to make sure we have the list right and, at the end, we will verify all the information you gave us.

Refusals / I Don't Know

While you can say "I don't know" or refuse to answer any question, refusing certain questions can cause us to have to come visit again. 😔 We'd rather not have to visit you more than once because we know it's inconvenient and, for some, aggravating. Make sure to tell us exactly how many people lived there on 4/1/20, even if you refuse to take the survey. If you genuinely don't know, such as if you are a new resident and know nothing about previous residents, that's okay!

If you slam the door in our face or don't answer the door when you're home, we'll leave a Notice of Visit and try again, usually in 2 days, and several times again after that.

Possible Reasons for You Getting Visited After Having Completed the Census

• There was no record of your address, only GPS coordinates, in which case we will stand near your front door, knock on it to let you know we're there and why, and then leave without asking questions. This is called "Field Verification" and we don't do the Census Survey at this time. Knocking on your door is a courtesy to let you know why we're there.
• If you were living at a different address on 4/1/20 and filled out the Census, but are now living somewhere else, we don't know that. Tell us you're an "in-mover." If you know about the previous residents, tell us what you know so we can go away. ;) Sometimes we'll still get sent to your address after that - the program we use isn't that sophisticated, so tell us again that you're an in-mover and ask us to talk to your neighbors, property or apartment manager if you don't know.
• If you get mail at your home with variations of your address (e.g. State Route 1, SR 1, Highway 1, Old State Route 1, Business 1), your address may have been entered more than once into the Census database.
• This can also happen to houses at intersections where they are assigned to one street but face the other (e.g. 10 Maple Ave. at the intersection with 1st Street might erroneously be entered or duplicated as 10 1st St).
• Aside from the above, there is the possibility that your survey was lost somehow or incorrectly entered.
• Quality assurance to make sure the information we collected about your household is correct.

I hope that this article has helped you. Please leave your questions in the comments.

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