[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
THE 2010 CENSUS: HOW COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEES, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS,
PHILANTHROPIC ORGANIZATIONS, NOT-FOR-PROFITS AND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
CAN CONTRIBUTE TO AN ACCURATE CENSUS
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INFORMATION POLICY,
CENSUS, AND NATIONAL ARCHIVES
of the
COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT
AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
DECEMBER 2, 2009
__________
Serial No. 111-71
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/
index.html
http://www.oversight.house.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
58-133 WASHINGTON : 2010
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COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM
EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York, Chairman
PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania DARRELL E. ISSA, California
CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana
ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland JOHN L. MICA, Florida
DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana
JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts JOHN J. DUNCAN, Jr., Tennessee
WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio
DIANE E. WATSON, California LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia
STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts PATRICK T. McHENRY, North Carolina
JIM COOPER, Tennessee BRIAN P. BILBRAY, California
GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia JIM JORDAN, Ohio
MIKE QUIGLEY, Illinois JEFF FLAKE, Arizona
MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah
Columbia AARON SCHOCK, Illinois
PATRICK J. KENNEDY, Rhode Island BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri
DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois ANH ``JOSEPH'' CAO, Louisiana
CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland
HENRY CUELLAR, Texas
PAUL W. HODES, New Hampshire
CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut
PETER WELCH, Vermont
BILL FOSTER, Illinois
JACKIE SPEIER, California
STEVE DRIEHAUS, Ohio
JUDY CHU, California
Ron Stroman, Staff Director
Michael McCarthy, Deputy Staff Director
Carla Hultberg, Chief Clerk
Larry Brady, Minority Staff Director
Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri, Chairman
PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania PATRICK T. McHENRY, North Carolina
CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of JOHN L. MICA, Florida
Columbia JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah
DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois
STEVE DRIEHAUS, Ohio
DIANE E. WATSON, California
Darryl Piggee, Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on December 2, 2009................................. 1
Statement of:
O'Hare, William, senior fellow, Annie E. Casey Foundation;
Melanie Campbell, executive director, National Coalition on
Black Civic Participation; David Williams, Chair and
planning director, Gaston County Complete Count Committee,
Gastonia, NC; Yvette Cumberbatch, coordinator, NYC 2010
census, New York City government; and Mercedes Lemp Jacobs,
director, Office of Latino Affairs, Washington, DC,
government................................................. 7
Campbell, Melanie........................................ 26
Cumberbatch, Yvette...................................... 41
Jacobs, Mercedes Lemp.................................... 47
O'Hare, William.......................................... 7
Williams, David.......................................... 35
Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:
Campbell, Melanie, executive director, National Coalition on
Black Civic Participation, prepared statement of........... 28
Clay, Hon. Wm. Lacy, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Missouri, prepared statement of................... 3
Cumberbatch, Yvette, coordinator, NYC 2010 census, New York
City government, prepared statement of..................... 43
Jacobs, Mercedes Lemp, director, Office of Latino Affairs,
Washington, DC, government, prepared statement of.......... 50
O'Hare, William, senior fellow, Annie E. Casey Foundation,
prepared statement of...................................... 9
Williams, David, Chair and planning director, Gaston County
Complete Count Committee, Gastonia, NC, prepared statement
of......................................................... 37
THE 2010 CENSUS: HOW COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEES, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS,
PHILANTHROPIC ORGANIZATIONS, NOT-FOR-PROFITS AND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY
CAN CONTRIBUTE TO AN ACCURATE CENSUS
----------
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2009
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and
National Archives,
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:45 p.m., in
room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Wm. Lacy Clay
(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Clay, McHenry, Westmoreland, and
Chu.
Staff present: Darryl Piggee, staff director/counsel; Jean
Gosa, clerk; Yvette Cravins, counsel; Frank Davis, professional
staff member; Charisma Williams, staff assistant; Adam Hodge,
full committee deputy press secretary; Leneal Scott, full
committee IT specialist; Adam Fromm, minority chief clerk and
Member liaison; and Chapin Fay, minority counsel.
Mr. Clay. The Information Policy, Census, and National
Archives Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform
Committee will now come to order.
Good afternoon and welcome to today's hearing entitled,
``The 2010 Census: How Complete Count Committees, Local
Governments, Philanthropic Organizations, Not-for-Profits and
the Business Community Can Contribute to an Accurate Census.''
Without objection, the Chair and ranking minority member
will have 5 minutes to make opening statements, followed by
opening statements not to exceed 3 minutes by any other Member
who seeks recognition. And, without objection, Members and
witness may have 5 legislative days to submit a written
statement or extraneous materials for the record.
The purpose of today's hearing is to examine exactly what
the title says: we want to explore how the contributions of all
of you can contribute to an accurate census. That has to be our
singular focus. We need the efforts and cooperation not only of
you in this hearing room, but those of everyone. We need
everyone to get this done. I am very passionate about this, as
I am sure you are also.
This hearing will focus on Complete Count Committees. The
subcommittee will explore all aspects of the CCC, including,
but not limited, to diversity of membership, activities,
funding alternatives, and special initiatives in rural and
urban settings. The Census Bureau's interaction and cooperation
with local and county governments and stakeholders will be
explored.
Additionally, this hearing will track the efforts underway
by local governments to actively encourage census
participation. The subcommittee will also hear testimony on
activities specific to ``Hard to Count Communities.'' The
subcommittee is also interested in the lessons learned from
past census activities in developing a ``best practices'' guide
for future census outreach.
We want to make sure that we work with the Bureau through
the Regional Partnership Program. The program is credited with
attributing to the success of the 2000 census. It is the
Regional Offices of the Census Bureau that is key to your work
on the ground. They are empowered to assist you in an
incredible number of ways. Work closely with them.
I thank all of our witnesses for appearing today and look
forward to their testimonies. I now yield to the distinguished
ranking member, Mr. McHenry, of North Carolina.
[The prepared statement of Hon. Wm. Lacy Clay follows:]
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Mr. McHenry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for
your leadership on the census and all the other issues that you
have been working on this Congress, including on Financial
Services, which we both serve together on as well. I want to
thank the panel for testifying today. In particular, my fellow
resident of Gaston County, NC, Mr. Williams, for being here
today and traveling to Washington.
The Census Bureau is conducting an unprecedented outreach
and awareness campaign for the 2010 decennial census. While its
own advertising initiatives and partnership programs with
various national organizations and institutions are certainly
crucial to improving the overall response rate, the success of
the count is largely dependent on the work being done in the
trenches, in small communities and neighborhoods across
America.
By forming partnerships with local governments, civic
groups, and religious institutions and cultural organizations,
the Census Bureau is better able to navigate the social and
physical landscapes of individual neighborhoods throughout the
United States. These partnerships, known as Complete Count
Committees, are comprised of local individuals with strong
community standing who are best equipped to reach out to
everyone in their area and make sure they get counted by the
Bureau.
Each county, town, or community is different from one
another. The same cookie cutter approach to conducting outreach
in promoting participation simply cannot work for every one of
these communities. It is up to these Complete Count Committees
to develop best practices for their own regions and communicate
effectively with the Census Bureau in their successes and
failures.
Some States, such as my home State of North Carolina, are
well ahead of the curve in the formation of Complete Count
Committees for the 2010 census. Others have yet to take the
initiative and begin preparations for local outreach efforts
for the decennial census.
It is my hope that today's hearing will provide this
subcommittee with valuable insight into the progress being made
to prepare the census and our communities to challenges yet to
be faced and how Members of Congress and the Census Bureau can
best assist local governments and civic organizations in
preparing for the 2010 count.
I want to thank the witnesses for testifying today and for
coming to Washington, DC.
And at this time, Mr. Chairman, if I can introduce my
fellow resident of Gaston County, who is here before us today.
He is in the middle of the panel before two nice ladies, and
they will be nice to you, I hope.
But David Williams is the Director of Planning and
Development Services for Gaston County, NC. He has served in
the department for 13 years and as its director for about the
last 4 years. Mr. Williams is Chair of the county's Complete
Count Committee for the 2010 census and also worked on the
Complete Count Committee in 2010. The father of two daughters
in Gaston County, he and his wife live in Gaston County. He is
an Appalachian State graduate.
Appalachian State, Mr. Chairman, they have actually had a
couple championships, football championships. Three? Three in a
row. Pretty amazing. We actually beat Michigan State, so
thankfully neither one of us have any Michigan ties, so we are
all right with that, right, Mr. Williams?
So thank you, Mr. Williams, for testifying today and for
making the trip.
Mr. Clay. Thank you, Mr. McHenry, and thanks for that
notable sports history, as well as introducing us to Mr.
Williams and introducing him to the subcommittee.
Let me also recognize the rest of the panel. We will first
hear from Dr. William O'Hare, senior fellow of the Annie E.
Casey Foundation since October 1993. Dr. O'Hare has directed
the Kids Count Program at the Annie Casey Foundation. Dr.
O'Hare has a Ph.D. in sociology demography and 30-plus years
working in non-profits with a focus on disadvantaged Americans.
Thank you for being here.
Our next witness will be Ms. Melanie Campbell, executive
director of the National Coalition of Black Civic
Participation. In 2000, she was recognized as one of
Washington, DC's, Top 40 Under 40 Emerging Leaders, which we
note she is still under 40. [Laughter.]
She currently serves on the Board of the Black Leadership
Forum.
Our fourth witness is Ms. Yvette Stacey Cumberbatch,
coordinator of New York City 2010 census, New York City
government. Ms. Cumberbatch previously served as chief of staff
of the New York City Housing Authority, assistant New York
State attorney general, and chief of staff special counsel to
the city of New York deputy mayor for legal affairs. Thank you
also for being here.
Our final witness will be Ms. Mercedes Lemp, director,
Office of Latino Affairs, Washington, DC, government. Ms. Lemp
Jacobs served for 4 years as the executive director of
Language, Etc., a non-profit organization providing English as
a second language and the other services to mostly Latino
immigrants. She serves as the director of the Office of Latino
Affairs. Thank you also for being here.
Welcome all of you to the hearing.
It is the policy of the subcommittee to swear in all
witnesses before they testify, and I ask all of you please
stand and raise your right hands.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Clay. Thank you. You may be seated.
Let the record reflect that all the witnesses answered in
the affirmative.
Each of you will have 5 minutes to make an opening
statement. Your complete written testimony will be included in
the hearing record. The yellow light will indicate that it is
time to sum up; the red light will indicate that your time has
expired.
Dr. O'Hare, you may begin.
STATEMENTS OF WILLIAM O'HARE, SENIOR FELLOW, ANNIE E. CASEY
FOUNDATION; MELANIE CAMPBELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL
COALITION ON BLACK CIVIC PARTICIPATION; DAVID WILLIAMS, CHAIR
AND PLANNING DIRECTOR, GASTON COUNTY COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE,
GASTONIA, NC; YVETTE CUMBERBATCH, COORDINATOR, NYC 2010 CENSUS,
NEW YORK CITY GOVERNMENT; AND MERCEDES LEMP JACOBS, DIRECTOR,
OFFICE OF LATINO AFFAIRS, WASHINGTON, DC, GOVERNMENT
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM O'HARE
Mr. O'Hare. Thank you, Chairman Clay and Ranking Member
McHenry. I am pleased to be here today to represent the Funders
Census Initiative and the many foundations that are part of
that collaborative effort. I am a demographer and a senior
fellow at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and also a consultant
with the Funders Census Initiative. My involvement in the
decennial census goes back several decades and includes
experience as a data user, as well as a Foundation program
officer who supported efforts to educate stakeholders on the
importance of the census.
I believe foundations have several important attributes
that put them in a unique position to help the Census Bureau
get an accurate and fair census. For example, foundation
program offices are embedded in organizational networks which
allow them to easily reach hard-to-count communities with a
message about the importance of the census; they can provide a
critical link between the Census Bureau staff and the trusted
voices in local communities; they are in a good position to
foster public-private partnerships like those involving the
Census Bureau and local grassroots organizations; and, of
course, foundations can often provide funding for activities to
promote census awareness and participation in hard-to-count
communities.
I will focus my comments today on three topics: the
development and mission of the Funders Census Initiative, FCI's
activities related to the 2010 census, and, finally, some
recommendations. I have submitted a longer written version of
this testimony that provides more details regarding the points
I raise here.
The Funders Census Initiative is an ad hoc coalition of
foundations and philanthropic community groups focused on
getting an accurate and fair and complete 2010 census.
Foundations have supported census projects in the past, but
this is the first time they have formally shared strategies and
information, pooled resources in an organized campaign. It
represents a major step forward in terms of involvement of
foundations in promoting the decennial census.
FCI's mission is straightforward: to stimulate interest in
the 2010 census among foundations and their grantees; to
mobilize philanthropic resources for census outreach; and to
facilitate census engagement through resource development,
information sharing, strategic advice, and direct consultation.
A wide range of foundations and affinity groups from national
to community-focused are participating in the initiative, and
we invite you to visit our Web site to learn more about FCI.
In terms of the activities, over the past year, the Funders
Census Initiative has launched a wide range of activities. They
have established a Web site for Funders to share information
and ideas and best practices; organized conference calls,
Webinars for Funders and their grantees; coordinated Funders
and grantee activity with the Census Bureau; analyzed the
distribution of hard-to-count populations; and briefed
journalists on several occasions.
Foundations are supporting a Brookings Institution analysis
of Federal programs that allocate funds based in whole or in
part on census data, and this information has proved very
useful in helping local communities understand why the census
is important. The Initiative is also funding development of a
free online interactive mapping tool to help pinpoint hard-to-
count areas in every part of the country.
Foundations have invested millions of dollars in grants to
organizations that are reaching deep into hard-to-count
communities to underscore the message that the census is easy,
it is important, and it is safe. Detailed examples of
coordinated philanthropic efforts in Illinois, California,
Massachusetts, and Long Island are provided in my written
testimony.
Let me highlight here one early and unprecedented effort
that has served as a model for philanthropic investment and
census over the past year. In many ways, it constitutes a best
practices model.
Led by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, Funders formed
the Illinois 2010 Census Initiative and raised over $1.2
million. They launched a Count Me In campaign. In late summer,
following an RFP process, the collaborative announced 26 grants
focused on boosting census response rates in the State's hard-
to-count communities.
The Census Bureau is working hard, but they cannot
accomplish their goal of a fair and accurate census in
isolation. Census messages often resonate best when they are
conveyed by trusted voices and through known organizations, and
these are often grassroots, non-profit organizations. But these
non-profit organizations need resources to fulfill this role.
This is funding that the Census Bureau does not provide, and
State and local governments cannot provide in sufficient
amounts, particularly in these recessionary times. Philanthropy
has helped fill this resource gap.
Let me close with three recommendations as we look to our
2020 census and beyond. First, that the Census Bureau should
look beyond Complete Count Committees in ways to engage local
communities in the census; second, that Congress should examine
ways for the Census Bureau and the Federal Government broadly
to provide financial resources for non-profit organizations
engaged in census outreach, perhaps through a public-private
partnership with philanthropy; and, third, recommend that the
Census Bureau continue its partnership program throughout the
decade to keep lines of communication open.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts about
philanthropy's role in supporting the 2010 census, our Nation's
largest and most inclusive civic event. We at FCI look forward
to working with the subcommittee in the future. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. O'Hare follows:]
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Mr. Clay. Thank you so much, Dr. O'Hare.
Now we will hear from Ms. Campbell. You may proceed.
STATEMENT OF MELANIE CAMPBELL
Ms. Campbell. Thank you Chairman Clay, for your leadership
and for this opportunity to submit written and verbal testimony
on behalf of the National Coalition on Black Civic
Participation, as well as our Unity Diaspora Coalition [UDC].
The Unity Diaspora Coalition is an unprecedented network of
organizations working together in Black communities made up of
African-Americans, African, Caribbean, and Afro-Latino
leadership to forge a comprehensive agenda that includes:
promoting, motivating, and mobilizing the Black population to
fully participate in the 2010 decennial census; two, to
advocate for a complete and accurate decennial 2010 census
count; targeted efforts to protect the political power of the
increasing numbers of those displaced by disaster and economic
dislocation which are disproportionately Black and low income;
ensuring equitable redistricting plans in key States with
significant Black populations; and advocating for critical
changes in the 2010 census, including adding country of origin
for the Black population and changing methods of counting
prisoners.
Historically, the Census Bureau has under-counted America's
most vulnerable population groups, including racial minorities,
immigrants, children, and the poor, leading to inequality for
political power, access to publicity, publically supported
services and private sector investment in communities where
these population groups live and work.
The Census Bureau openly acknowledges it has to develop
partnerships with the community-based groups to reach out to
these and other hard-to-count populations. Effective
partnerships can help address these looming factors in 2010
outreach efforts: the significant growth of hard-to-count
populations, escalating fear of government in immigrant
communities, and displacement of families due to the housing
economic crisis and natural disasters, such as Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita.
Further, the current economic crisis has added a new
challenge, as my colleague just mentioned, and one of the
things that we know that we have a concern about is the fact
that, Congressman, I spent a lot of years in Atlanta, GA with
the late Maynard Jackson's administration. For the 1990 census
I was living in Atlanta and in 2000 was here, and many times
the city governments would augment what happens, and that is
not happening in many cases because of what is going on with
the economy. So for the Black population, which is the hardest
to count population of all demographic groups, yet the Blacks
have accepted collectively that many of my colleagues are
really not getting the kind of resources that we know we need
to try to help augment that. So we are really, really glad that
you have the philanthropic community here and really working
with them to try to help bridge some of the gaps in resources
for our community.
The Unity Diaspora Coalition is made up of several key
Black organizations. The national coalition is the convener; it
is made up of the NAACP, the National Urban League, we have the
Practice Project, Fair Count, Fair Share, and many, many other
organizations that are listed within my written testimony. The
Coalition, with our partners, are currently serving as
effective national community partners for the Census Bureau--
many of us are national partners already--and have preexisting
relationships and networks in the Black communities.
I want to thank you, Congressman. I think it was March 2009
that you came and hosted us for our census summit, as well as
the Praxis Project hosted an organizing meeting in September
2009. And from both of those discussions and many of the
meetings we have been having to try to organize a cohesive
coalition, we have three main recommendations. One falls under
2010 census partnership program. Many of the Census Bureau's
national local partners are not-for-profits. We have small
budgets and have been adversely affected by the economic
downturn, and we believe the Census Bureau should encourage
reasonable allocation of resources to national partners.
Recommendations that we also have for foundations and
corporate funders include: linking historically under-counted
groups to other funders; funding viral media campaigns; funding
Black organizations and community organizing efforts for long-
term impact; identify non-cash assistance such as offering
groups techs and technology support.
A couple other things. I know I am almost at my time, but I
think it is really important. You asked us to talk about
forming effective partnerships and Complete Count Committees.
One of the things that we know, the Black population, the
diversity of the Caribbean African community is that we are
really encouraging community Complete Count Committees to make
sure, for the Black population, that it includes African-
American, Caribbean, Afro-Latino, and African populations so
that really has a full effect.
And I will wait for the rest of this for questions and
answers. Thank you, sir.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Campbell follows:]
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Mr. Clay. Thank you so much for your presentation.
Mr. Williams, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF DAVID WILLIAMS
Mr. Williams. Thank you, Chairman Clay and Ranking Member
McHenry and members of the Subcommittee on the Census for
inviting me to testify before you today.
Again, my name is David Williams. I am the director of
planning for Gaston County, NC and also the Chair of the
County's Complete Count Committee. On behalf of the Gaston
County Board of County Commissioners and the Gaston County
manager, I will discuss the activities of the Gaston County
Complete Count Committee in my testimony. I have kept my
written testimony in bullet form and will instead speak in more
detail on those issues.
Gaston County's philosophy and goal, No. 1, is to achieve
an accurate count; count everyone, that includes urban and also
rural areas. We are interested in also increasing response
rates. In Gaston County, we have kind of an urban versus rural
landscape and we have a certain amount of population in the
urban area and also in the rural which makes us interested in
counting the entire county and make sure we have strategies for
both. Our municipal population estimate, according to the
latest census, is 126,000; our rural population estimate now
within the city limits is approximately 78,000.
In census 2000, we developed a strategy using the Complete
County Committee, and that committee was primarily made up of
governmental staff. Some of the best management practices that
we used for Gaston in 2000 created a slogan called I Count. We
wanted to personalize this process to make sure that people
understand that it wasn't so much about government wanting
count; we needed accurate count. We wanted to make sure we
wanted to involve them and they take ownership of the process.
The Gaston County Commission funded approximately $16,000
for marketing to show its commitment to this process. We also
used the LUCA Program, which is the Local Update of Census
Address Program. We examined that process and we discovered
that there were missing addresses, so we had a technical side
to it and we were able to reconcile those addresses and
increase our count in Gaston County.
We have also used our Long Range and Current Planning
Program. With comprehensive planning and accounting, we often
do long-range plans. It gives us an opportunity to get out and
meet people and understand the community, and understand those
gatekeepers and understand who those folks are. So when we are
trying to determine what those hard-to-count areas are, we know
the people to go to because of our Long Range and Current
Planning Program.
We also use our subdivision process. When developments come
in to the county and we know they are large developments, we
can keep an eye in terms of that development, where we are in
the beginning, also where we are in terms of build-out. That
allows us to make sure that we are not missing those new
developments that are coming into the county, both urban and
also suburban.
In census 2000, we also created a video called I Count
video. We were able to run that, Mr. Chairman, on our
government access channel in our county, which covers a vast
majority of our county and is seen by a lot of individuals
through our county.
Now, for census 2010, being involved in census 2000,
obviously, I have had an opportunity to get some more
experience. The census 2010 strategy, again, establishment of a
Complete Count Committee. This committee is more diverse than
in 2000 because it was made up primarily of governmental staff.
This is made up of the community.
So we feel like with a diverse committee we are going to be
able to reach out and reach other people. Part of the
committee, we have a technical outreach and diverse special
populations managers at the county level so we can understand
the system a whole lot better.
The slogan for this 2010 census is It Counts to be Counted.
We are also going to have a Census Awareness Week. That has
been recommended to begin on February 2010, right before they
begin to send out the census forms.
We are also going to be assessing our response rates in
urban and rural areas, and part of that, in our urban census
track, our lowest response rate was 37 percent; the highest was
76 percent. In our rural census track, the lowest was 43.5
percent and the highest was 74 percent. We want to understand
what that number means.
One thing that I always employ to our committee, when we go
out and talk to community groups and we say we missed 36
percent, most folks can't identify what 36 percent is. We want
to say that means a certain amount of people. And what we do is
one person, I think, is estimated about $1,000, that is what
our community could lose over a 10-year period. So that is
something that we want to do when we are trying to get the word
out; we want not personalize it and make sure that people
understand.
Mr. Chairman, if I can yield just a little bit more time,
I'm running over.
We are also working with our city and county planning
directors. We have a luxury, I guess, of having 14 towns in our
county, which allows us to go out to some of those rural areas
to meet with those planning directors. We also are going to use
all governmental buildings for census questions so people can
go out to those centers.
And, again, in closing, we are going to develop another
census 2010 video to be shown on local government access
channel. We are going to work with local newspapers and also go
out to some of the corner grocery stores and those types
things, get out where the people are. And we are going to have
an art contest with some of the local schools.
So some of the general concerns that we have is just at the
urban and also rural areas are mistrust, and we think the way
to do that and try to remedy some of that is through education
and outreach.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Williams follows:]
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Mr. Clay. Thank you for your presentation. One note. Be
sure you use Mr. McHenry in your video.
Mr. Williams. OK. Yes, sir.
Mr. Clay. Ms. Cumberbatch, you are recognized for 5
minutes.
STATEMENT OF YVETTE CUMBERBATCH
Ms. Cumberbatch. Good afternoon, Chairman Clay and Ranking
Member McHenry of the subcommittee. My name is Stacey
Cumberbatch, again, and I was appointed on April 7th as New
York City's 2010 census coordinator. I have over 20 years of
experience in public service, philanthropy, and the law. Thank
you again for this opportunity to talk about efforts underway
by Mayor Bloomberg to complement and supplement the efforts of
the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure a full and accurate count of
all New Yorkers.
First, I want to provide an overview of New York City's
population. The challenges of conducting a complete count----
Mr. Clay. Ma'am, would you pull the mic closer to you? That
will work.
Ms. Cumberbatch. OK, now it is on.
I first want to provide an overview of New York City's
population, the challenges of conducting a complete count in a
city as dynamic and complex as New York, and what the city is
doing to help address some of these challenges.
First, as many of you know, New York City is the most
ethnically diverse city in the United States, with a population
of 8.36 million people as of July 2008. Over 3 million New
Yorkers are foreign-born. About one-fifth of those folks, about
600,000, have arrived in New York City since 2000. The top 10
foreign-born populations hail from the Dominican Republic,
China, Mexico, Jamaica, Guyana, Ecuador, Haiti, Trinidad and
Tobago, India, and Colombia.
While New York City is divided into five boroughs, almost
58 percent of its population, two-thirds of all its immigrants
actually reside in two boroughs, that of Brooklyn and Queens.
That is about 4.9 million people.
New York City has the largest Chinese population of any
city outside of Asia. More people of Caribbean ancestry live in
New York City than any city outside of the Caribbean. Over 2.27
million Hispanics live in New York City, more than any other
city in the United States. New Yorkers of African descent
number 1.95 million, more than double the count in any other
U.S. city.
More than 200 languages are spoken in New York City, with
almost half of New Yorkers speaking a language other than
English. The top five languages are Spanish, Chinese, Russian,
Italian, and French Creole.
So the city's diversity has always been its strength, but
it also poses a challenge to making sure that everyone is
counted in next year's census. Recognizing the importance of
this, the mayor of the city of New York created the NYC 2010
Census Initiative.
While the city's population exceeded 8 million for the
first time in 2000, only 55 percent of New York City households
mailed back a completed census form, much lower than the
average national mail-in response rate of 67 percent.
As stated earlier, Queens and Brooklyn are home to 58
percent of the city's population, and those two boroughs had
actually the lowest mail-in response rate of all of New York
City. In fact, several neighborhoods in those boroughs had
response rates lower than 40 percent.
So we know there are many different reasons why people do
not participate in the census. For example, families living
double to tripled up in one family home may fear that
information provided on the census form will be shared with the
city agencies, such as buildings and fire departments. Some
people simply don't know what the census is. Others don't know
that this information is important for enforcing civil rights
laws, including the Voting Rights Act. Many immigrants in the
city are fearful that their undocumented status might be
disclosed to Federal authorities if they complete a census
form.
So the city is trying to undertake a variety of initiatives
to try to supplement, as I said, what the Census Bureau is
doing. We are leveraging our city resources to get the word
out, to build the relationships with our community leaders from
various sectors.
Some of these initiatives include working with our city
agencies, such as City Planning. We have a mayor's Office of
Immigrant Affairs, a mayor's Community Assistance Unit, the New
York City Housing Authority, and other offices of elected
officials to first identify hard-to-count groups and
neighborhoods in the city and try to work to overcome some of
the barriers to participation I mentioned earlier.
We are working with five of the borough president's offices
to create borough-based Complete Count Committees comprised of
diverse stakeholders from every community. Three of our five
borough presidents have already created those committees. We
work with them; they are comprised of faith-based leaders,
community-based organizations, business leaders, a variety of
sectors.
We are using our 311 system to receive inquiries regarding
the census and provide timely updated information to the
public. We have a Web site online, NYC.gov. It is basic
information about the census. It is translated into 18
languages. It also includes maps of every borough and how those
particular neighborhoods did in the 2000 census, as well as
pertinent links to other information.
We are working with the Department of Education in New York
City that is 1.1 million children are a part of our educational
system, so we are introducing census in the schools.
And I will sum up very quickly.
Our work is ongoing. There are a lot of challenges to
conducting a complete count in New York City given our
diversity and our density, so it really requires really mapping
out the city basically neighborhood by neighborhood to identify
community leaders from all sectors and engage them. We are
working closely with the regional Census Bureau, but, as you
can imagine, New York City is very complex and it requires a
real on-the-ground effort to get that word out.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Cumberbatch follows:]
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Mr. Clay. Thank you so much for your presentation.
Ms. Lemp, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF MERCEDES LEMP JACOBS
Ms. Lemp. Good afternoon, Chairman Clay, Ranking Member
McHenry, members of the subcommittee. It is an honor to be here
today, and I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak to
you on such a vital issue to Washington, DC's, Latino
community.
My name is Mercedes Lemp. I serve as the director for the
mayor's Office on Latino Affairs here in Washington, DC. The
mission of the office is to improve the equality of life of the
District's Latino population by providing community-based
grants, advocacy, community relations, and outreach services to
residents so they can have access to a full range of human
services, education, health, housing, economic development, and
employment opportunities. The population that is served by the
office includes over 50,000 Latinos living and working in D.C.,
and they account for approximately 1 of every 10 D.C.
residents.
As part of our mission is to ensure appropriate resources
are available to the Latino community, the 2010 census is of
vital importance to our office.
While Mayor Fenty and the District as a whole have launched
the D.C. Counts Initiative, an aggressive campaign to ensure a
full count of the city's residents, OLA has expanded on this
effort knowing that the population we serve is especially hard
to count and, at the same time, especially in need of the
services and resources that will result from an accurate count.
Many Latino families share homes or apartments and may not
all be identified as residing in these shared dwellings. In
addition, they are also more likely to move from place to place
and have short-term living arrangements. Most are lower income,
have little formal education; many have children and speak
little English. Twelve percent of D.C.'s population is foreign-
born and 50 percent of the District residents speak a language
other than English at the home.
Washington, DC, has been identified as one of the hardest
to count municipalities. Fifty-five percent of the D.C. census
tracks are designated hard-to-count. With the Latino community,
we face the challenges described above, in addition to a fear
of government, immigration authorities, and a general distrust
of government based on experiences from their home countries.
Starting with our fiscal year 2009 performance plan, the
office included partnering with the U.S. Census Bureau as a key
initiative. My staff and I began communicating and working with
the Washington, DC, census representatives in the fall of 2008,
and since then have collaborated in several ways. We have
worked with the Census to help reach out to potential D.C.
Latino Census workers; we hosted an employment training and
employment tests in our office, a location the community knows
well and is comfortable with; we have hosted additional
meetings and workshops at the office and now in the community
as well.
OLA and the census, as partners, have presented at several
majority Latino resident apartment buildings to tenant groups
about Complete Count Committees. We have planned a workshop for
case managers and front-line staff of agencies and non-profits
that served Latinos. A majority of Latino serving organizations
in the city have served the community for many years and are
seen as trusted resources.
We have connected with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
Institute and will partner with them to reach out to Latino
student associations across the city, and are working with
Latino churches through the organization, the Downtown Cluster
of Congregations. Our staff member in charge of educational
outreach will focus a majority of her time for the next few
months leading up to April 1st on educating Latino parents,
English as a Second Language teachers and counselors, and
setting up Complete Count Committees in Latino majority
schools.
Key to our success in communicating is culturally and
linguistically appropriate materials. Outreach must be done
using culturally and linguistically appropriate messages.
Simple translations of materials will not suffice. Information
must be developed specifically for the community, specifically
targeting the education levels and particular situations for
the community. With the financial assistance of the census, we
created our own materials in this manner and they are now the
centerpiece of our presentations and census talks we have been
holding at community centers, clinics, schools, homeless
service providers, street corners where men wait for work, etc.
Both the materials and the presentations focus on a few key
items beyond the dates, forms, and other essential information
which is key to our community: the fact that this information
will not be shared with any other agency under penalty of fine
and potential incarceration to the census worker, the
importance of the community services they currently utilize
being adequately funded should an accurate count be done, and
the importance of taking action through the simple 10-minute
questionnaire. We have also stressed that this is an
opportunity to stand up and be recognized in their new country
and they are just as deserving to be counted and served by
their new government as any other U.S. resident.
As partners, OLA and the census have been able to better
reach the community and more effectively deliver the message of
the importance of the census. As a trusted member of the
community working with community leaders and front-line
workers, we have been able to give census access based on a
trusted relationship that has been developed over 30 years of
working with the D.C. Latino community.
As director of the office, I also serve on the city's D.C.
Complete Count Committee, in addition to chairing the Latino
Complete Count Subcommittee. The subcommittee includes members
of the Latino Community Development Commission, a commission
made up of Latino leaders from the city, with the mission of
advising the mayor and the office on Latino issues. My presence
on the city's Complete Count Committee ensures that not only is
my office focused on reaching the city's Latino community, but
that the city's overall campaign also considers our Latino
residents and the best way to reach them.
Starting a relationship with the census early, working
closely with community-based organizations and front-line
staff, using culturally and linguistically appropriate
materials, meeting the community where they are, and ensuring a
Latino voice in the city's overall campaign we hope will lead
to a full count of the D.C. Latino community.
Again, I thank you for this opportunity and want to
especially thank Rita Castillo and Ron Claiborne, both
partnership specialists with the U.S. Census Bureau, for
reaching out to us early in the process and continuing to do
great work with us throughout the process. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Lemp follows:]
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Mr. Clay. Thank you so much, Ms. Lemp, for your testimony,
as well as the entire panel.
We will now move to the question and answer period. I will
operate under the 5-minute rule. I will begin with a panel-wide
question.
I have heard from my colleagues that represent rural areas,
some that represent urban and suburban areas, that a lot of
Americans are leery about giving information to the Census
Bureau for conspiracy reasons, fearing that they will share
this information with other Federal agencies. What is the best
way, in your opinion, to communicate to people that the
information that they provide to the Census Bureau is
confidential? What is the best way to communicate? Anybody on
this panel can take a shot at it. We can start here and just
move. Mr. O'Hare, do you want to offer?
Mr. O'Hare. I think one is showing people what the Census
Bureau asks for. A lot of people have misunderstandings about
what is really asked on the Census Bureau questions, so making
clear that the kind of information asked is pretty simple and
demographically focused is one thing.
The other, I think, is talking about the Census Bureau's
record that, for decades, they have collected this data with
very few problems, and I think resting on that record is
another way to kind of enforce this. But I would underscore
this as maybe the biggest problem the Census Bureau faces in
2010, different than 10 or 20 years ago.
Mr. Clay. Ms. Campbell, do you have any thoughts?
Ms. Campbell. The only thing I would add to that is it also
has to do with who the messenger is in taking that into the
community. I am also a small town girl from Mims, FL. In April
I was home when the person knocked on my mother's door. He was
an older gentleman of a different persuasion, doesn't live in
the neighborhood. I happened to be home, just happened to be
home for her to say, ``well, I thought you said''--you know, I
talk to my mother a lot and, you know, ``I thought you said
people were going to be hired from the community. He's not from
our community.''
So that is going to be very, very important. You keep say
trusted voices, trusted voices. Who are those trusted voices?
That is what is going to be able to break that. The churches
are going to be able to break that. The conversations even our
barber shops and beauty shops, the conversations about what
this is, because since 9/11, quite frankly, there is a lot that
has to do with what has happened with people's privacy,
people's concern about the government. There are a lot of
things out there.
And I think also government being able to say it, but
community leaders being able to reiterate that this is
something you need to do, and that is why people--just like we
do with the vote. ``Why do I need to vote?'' ``It doesn't have
anything to do with me.'' Yes, it does. It has to do with the
kind of message, making sure it is culturally specific and
making sure the messengers are people that our people trust.
Mr. Clay. Thank you.
Mr. Williams, any comment?
Mr. Williams. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I echo Ms. Campbell's
comments and I would add to it I think that you asked a great
question, and that is the kind of question I think that we, as
individuals who work with the census, have to understand. So
part of the reason why, part of our committee, we wanted a
technical outreach manager and an outreach manager, and also a
special and diverse populations manager, because we have urban;
and what is done in urban may be a little different in the
rural.
So we have to understand the questions that each area
faces, and sometimes I don't know some areas as hard to count
in urban and/or rural, but we have to find those people who do.
And that is the reason I was saying earlier, through our
planning program, we can get to know who those gatekeepers are,
because, like Ms. Campbell said, if you find out who those
individuals are, they may trust that particular individual, and
you have to go through that individual.
Another point is I talk to a lot of my friends, for
example, about the census. It is not that they mistrust;
sometimes they just don't know. So what I do is--and they say,
``David, you know, you are kind of passionate about this
stuff,'' you know. I say, ``well, it is important because, No.
1, if you don't return your census form and if you are not
counted, we don't get enough money to fund schools, hospitals,
and roads, for example. We don't get all the money that we get.
So it takes away from our community.'' So I think when you
personalize it and you connect with that individual, it is kind
of like voting, like Ms. Campbell was talking about. If you
don't vote, it is hard for you to be counted; and if you don't
fill out your form, then do you count?
Mr. Clay. Exactly. Thank you for that response.
Ms. Cumberbatch.
Ms. Cumberbatch. I would echo everything that has been said
so far. It does come down to education, people understanding
what it is, actually seeing the form; that it is not intrusive,
that it is confidential, it does not ask citizenship, it does
not ask income, two concerns of most people. Connecting it with
the importance of driving Federal funding to our localities for
a variety of programs, that is a way of personalizing it, about
schools, roads, etc., having that conversation. Again, all of
this has to be in the context of trust.
Mr. Clay. Right.
Ms. Cumberbatch. And it comes down to the trusted voices
and is it--you know, in New York City, as I said, there are
some instances where folks are living double, tripled-up in a
one-family home. That home is only going to get one census
form, but there are three families living there. So those other
two families either have to take it upon themselves to go to a
be counted site to get a form or the one family that is there
has to include them on that form. But that is a risk to them
because they are saying, ``well, who is going to get this
information.'' ``Is local government going to find out that
there are two other families that live here and it is really a
one-family home?'' If I am in a family and I have a sibling who
is undocumented, do I put them on the form? So all of those
factors a person is in a decisionmaking process about what are
the benefits to providing some basic demographic information,
and am I really going to see those benefits, versus is there a
risk about something in my household being disclosed that I
don't want someone to know.
So, again, it is about trusted voices, enrolling a lot of
diverse stakeholders and leaders in our local communities. You
can imagine New York City is very complicated. We are very
diverse. We have to reach out broadly and deeply to get that
message out, and at the end of the day we get the message out,
but come mid-March, when the forms are out in households, that
is the call to action, that is when the real work starts to get
people to actually fill it out and mail it back.
Mr. Clay. Thank you for that response.
Ms. Lemp, how do we get them to overcome their fear of
filling out the form?
Ms. Lemp. Well, in addition to everything that was said,
definitely the trusted voices in the Latino community, that is
even more important; the churches, the non-profits that the
community works with. And I think the message about the value,
because you get this form and what is in it for you; and I know
in D.C. the value per capita for the 2007 allocation of funds
was $3,500. So are you willing to walk away from $3,500 that
goes to a concrete example of an organization or a way that it
is benefiting that community? So this church or this
organization or your school, by filling out this simple form,
it means $3,500.
Mr. Clay. And with the Hispanic community in some parts of
the country, they are very fearful about even talking to
anybody, anyone from Government.
Ms. Lemp. Right.
Mr. Clay. So what is the best practices there, to send
people from that community?
Ms. Lemp. Absolutely. Absolutely. Right. So a mass campaign
on TV is not going to work, it has to be one-on-one
conversations with those leaders in the community that are
trusted, basically what everybody has been saying over and
over; and it is really a conversation, me talking to you, it is
not even necessarily a poster or a flyer or whatever that might
be; it is really just the one-on-one conversation, I am doing
it, you should do it, and this is why.
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much.
I thank the whole panel for their responses.
Mr. McHenry, you are recognized.
Mr. McHenry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you all for your testimony. Let's continue with this
discussion here about mistrust of government or distrust,
because I have a constituency where, in the mountains of
western North Carolina, if you are not from that holler, as
they would say it, you are not from here. And that may mean
that you grew up 10 minutes down the road, literally 10 minutes
down the road, and you are not from here. So, you know, you
could take that same--what Ms. Campbell said, the person who
knocked on your door and you say you are not from here. And we
have a panel who obviously all five of you all are going to
answer your census form, and if you are having that reaction,
just imagine those people that have never responded.
So if we could just start from Ms. Lemp, if you want to go
from there and we will just go across the panel. If you can
delve in a little bit more about what are the best practices
for Complete Count Committees so that we can break through
that.
Ms. Lemp. And it is those conversations require Complete
Count Committees because that is the only way, and it has to be
Complete Count Committees, again, with the folks that have been
dealing with these communities from the beginning. So a perfect
example would be, in Washington, DC, there are a lot of non-
profits, a lot of clinics.
Even with health care, a lot of the Latino community
doesn't necessarily go to a traditional doctor, they are going
to go to the clinics. That is who they trust; that is where
they have been. So meeting them exactly where they are. And the
Complete Count Committees allow you to have those
conversations, spreading the work of the census throughout
these Complete Count Committees and allowing many feet on the
ground to have these conversations.
Mr. McHenry. It is interesting. Mr. Williams' testimony,
our discussions before, as head of the planning for the county,
you know where the next subdivision is going in or a semi-
complete subdivision that wasn't on the map. What are those
secrets that you could share with people, what you find that
works? Ms. Cumberbatch and we will kind of keep going across.
But I am looking for that something you found that kind of
works that we can communicate to other people.
Ms. Cumberbatch. Right. I mean, this is helpful because it
is experiences from different areas of the country, rural,
smaller cities, etc. You know, New York City is so large, so
diverse, and obviously I have been looking for that magic thing
to work in New York City. Honestly, there is not one magic
thing.
The approach that we have taken is to first try to map the
city and understand how the city did in the last decennial
census in terms of mail-in response rate, which is a good
indicator on where there might be some challenges. But then to
fast forward and look at some of the American Community Survey
data that recently came out so we can see where new immigrant
groups, because New York City is 40 percent foreign-born, where
they have settled within the city in different communities so
that we can anticipate that there might be some need to really
do some serious outreach in those communities as well.
So that was the first level of kind of analysis. And then
trying to map out, OK, who is working within these communities
in terms of community-based organization, faith-based leaders,
elected officials, etc., to go out and speak to them about this
is coming up, this is what went on in the past in the community
in terms of mail-in response rate; here are a lot of new people
that have settled in the area.
What can we do now, early, to come together and bring our
resources to leverage them to not only get the word out, but
get the word out in a meaningful way to people, whether that is
through their ethnic media, through ads, whether that is
convening town hall meetings. But it is very labor intensive
and it really does come down to that kind of organizing,
mapping it out, and that kind of one-on-one conversation.
The ad campaigns, newspapers, etc., are all important
because that is an echoing of the message about this is an
important thing to do. But, at the end of the day, people are
going to trust because you have had a meaningful conversation
with them about what they see in their future for their
community and how this connects to that.
Mr. McHenry. Mr. Williams.
Mr. Williams. I would add everything that has been said and
I would go back to the Complete Count Committee. One thing, as
chair, that I am employing is that the volunteers, they need
training and they have to understand. It is one thing to have a
volunteer that will do anything that you ask them to do, but if
they don't understand in terms of what community they are going
into and how to approach, then they are probably not going to
connect.
So what we are employing is our Complete Count Committee to
understand the landscape of Gaston County, try to understand
different communities. Some are connected, some are sprawled,
kind of spread out. May take a different approach. But they
have to understand that so we will know what strategy to employ
in particular locations.
The one thing I always hit on, again, I hit on earlier, is
someone mentioned a response rate, national response rate was
67 percent. Now, if I am at the Y and I am playing basketball
or working out, I am talking to one of my buddies, I say, ``you
know, we had a 67 percent response rate.'' That is more than
50. He might think that is a pretty good rate, when actually
some people didn't get counted, and that is significant for
Gaston County. So when you begin to say what does 1 percent
mean, 1 percent means this in dollars. I think you alluded to
it earlier. One percent means this in dollars. And when you
begin to connect and explain it down to their level, see, as
planners and people that are working with census, sometimes it
is the jargon that we use and sometimes the language. We have
to try to bring it down, and that is one thing we are going to
approach. And we feel that if we do that it will make a
connection.
You mentioned in terms of language planning. We are going
to use every resource that we have. We will use our GIS system,
Geographical Information System; we will use our Building
Inspections Department, not so much for them to go out and do,
but tell us where some tough areas are. We will use our Gaston
count, we use our police department to work with our community
groups, community watch groups. They meet frequently, they know
their community, and they really watch the community, and they
can tell us, ``hey, this is going to be a tough area.''
So I think it was mentioned earlier it is going to be a
myriad approach, but that Complete Count Committee is critical.
But you have to give them the tools and understanding of what
they are up against, so when they go out they are ready to make
a difference; and I think we will be able to do that.
Mr. McHenry. Thank you.
Ms. Campbell.
Ms. Campbell. Well, three things. I mentioned in my
testimony that we made sure that we built a coalition that
represents the full Black population, with something that is a
little bit more unique, at least in my experience. So we have
the African Federation, for instance, who is focusing on the
African communities, which are very diverse, and making sure
that the Complete Count Committees and what he is doing is,
first of all, training folks on the ground, but also being able
to know when do you go have the conversation. In a lot of
communities, you may have to have the conversation in the
evening. You can't just do it at the church. If people have
gathering places, where are those gathering places? When is the
time to have those really, really personal conversations to
really make a difference? The Institute of Caribbean Studies is
leading our efforts in the Caribbean community, and the
cultural specific, knowing when and where is really critical so
the Complete Count Committees are able to--there is no cookie
cutter answer.
The other is the Black population, when it comes to the
numbers, is Black men and children 10 and under. So women, make
sure that your Complete Count Committee has a very strong
target to mothers, to women who are the caregivers, even to get
to men, because in many cases it is the mother, it is the wife,
it is the significant other in the home who is actually the one
who is going to fill that form out.
So it is just making sure that the Complete Count
Committees--we have something called the Black Women's
Roundtable that is made up of diverse women. We are utilizing
that group to help us create the messages in local community.
But the bottom line is making sure there is a Complete Count
Committee for the Black population, which is my focus. It is
very diverse based on what is really going on and looking at
those numbers in your community to know that. It is all about
relationships, relationships, trusted voices, and making sure
that you target women in a real, real way to help bridge the
gap for the Black population.
Mr. McHenry. Dr. O'Hare.
Mr. O'Hare. Let me respond by talking about a meeting that
I was at in North Carolina, and it kind of ties a couple things
together here, I guess. In August, the Z. Smith Reynolds
Foundation had a meeting just outside of Raleigh, where they
brought together 40 or 50 people from around the State involved
in non-profit organizations and grassroots organizations; and
throughout the day one of the things that came up over and over
again was the willingness, the eagerness of these groups to
work on census issues, but the lack of resources to do it.
And they are already pressed in so many ways that we all
know about that it was a frustrating experience for all of us
because the will was there but the resources were not. And I
think it kind of underscores what all of us in the Census
Bureau knows: what is really critical in getting people
involved in this, getting people to respond is these local
trusted voices and the organizations that they know.
That brings me to the recommendation I left with, I guess,
early on, is that I hope we can work together to find some way
to get these local groups the resources they need to do this
job. I don't know if it will do it in time for the 2010 census,
but I hope we put it on the agenda for 2020.
Mr. McHenry. Thank you.
Mr. Clay. Thank you, Mr. McHenry.
I would like to ask unanimous consent that one of our
newest Members to the House, Representative Judy Chu of the
Golden State of California, be allowed to sit on the panel
today.
Mr. McHenry. I have no objection, but the gentlelady is OK
to come a little closer as well. [Laughter.]
Mr. Clay. Thank you for that observation.
Ms. Chu, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. Chu. Well, since my things are here, maybe I will just
stick it out here. But thank you so much. I appreciate it, Mr.
Chair and Mr. Ranking Member.
I especially wanted to come to this hearing because I did
serve 6 years on the REAC Committee, the Race and Ethnic
Advisory, for the years leading up to the year 2000 census. I
know what challenges there are. They are great in terms of
trying to combat the under-count. So I am so glad that you are
here and working toward an accurate complete count for this
year 2010 census.
So let me ask this question to Dr. O'Hare or Ms.
Cumberbatch. California has cut its census funding for outreach
to $2 million, which is a significant decrease from $24.7
million in 2000. I know that LA City funding has plunged by
half. And these are the areas that are very difficult to count.
In fact, LA is the No. 1 hard-to-count population in the
country.
Now, I know that in New York Mayor Bloomberg challenged the
census counts and secured $77 million in additional funding for
New York City alone. How was he able to get those funds and
what will be the implications of the lack of funds in
California and LA City?
Ms. Cumberbatch. Just for clarification, so the city of New
York, the mayor created the NYC 2010 Census Office as an office
within the mayor's office, and our annual budget for this
census, to help coordinate the city's activities and work with
the regional Census Bureau, is actually $750,000. I wasn't
around in 2000. Different administration. I can't say what it
was then, but our budget for this cycle is $750,000.
We currently have three staff people. I anticipate hiring
two more staff. And then we have a pot of money that we are
looking to figure out the best way to supplement and target
either special events, targeted ad campaigns toward certain
areas within New York City that are hard to count.
Now, I will tell you that, based on our indices, New York
City is probably the hardest to count city in the United
States, with almost 71 percent of the census tracks being hard
to count; and that has to do with, obviously, our large
immigrant population. We are the most diverse city, but we are
also a city of basically renters, a lot of singles; all the
other indices around hard-to-count.
So two things is, so $750,000 the city has committed
directly for coordination of census activities. But that
doesn't speak to the in-kind support that we have leveraged in
other city resources using all of our agencies. So using our
311 system, which is our basic information system, using our
intranet system, using all the agencies' contracting
opportunities.
So many of our agencies contract with CBOs on the ground to
provide social services. So we have used that network to
disseminate information to directly enroll them in getting the
word out to their various constituencies. So we haven't put a
money value on all that activity, but it is significant.
In addition, the State of New York put aside $2 million for
census outreach throughout New York State. They put an RFP on
the street back in September. They are evaluating proposals.
Some share of that money will go to non-profits on the ground
in New York City doing outreach work. I work with them, share
all the maps about response rate, where ethnic groups have
settled so they can, when they do those funding decisions, do
them with some information about where there are going to be
challenges.
In addition to that, a number of private foundations of New
York City have gotten together to coordinate some of their
funding of census outreach work. So we are kind of pulling
together in these difficult economic times a lot of different
ways to leverage resources on the ground in these hard-to-
count, low response rate neighborhoods to increase the response
rate in the first instance, and increase cooperation when folks
do have to go--census takers do have to go door-to-door to
collect that demographic information for those households.
Mr. O'Hare. If I am correct, I think you may be talking
about the challenge New York City made to the population, the
post-census population estimates, so they raised the estimate
and, therefore, New York City got more money----
Ms. Chu. Yes, actually, that is was it was----
Mr. O'Hare. OK. Well, I think that raises an important
point because those estimates, which drive much of the $450
billion that are distributed each year on census data, are tied
to the census numbers from the beginning of the decade. So if
places are under-counted, they get underestimated throughout
the decade, and that is the challenge that New York won and got
millions of dollars more because of it.
Ms. Chu. Right.
Mr. O'Hare. I will just mention, though, in California I
know there has been an enormous decrease in the amount of money
the State has made available. I just mentioned that some of the
foundations like the California Endowment and the Grant Makers
Concerned with Immigrants and Refugee, and the Border
Philanthropy Partnership have pulled together a couple million
dollars to try and fill in that gap, and in my written
testimony there are some details about that, if you are
interested.
Ms. Cumberbatch. So let me just add. Thank you for
clarifying. One thing about New York City is we have a
population division within our City Planning Department. It is
part of an agency, a division. A lot of localities do not have
a staff of demographers and experts to be able to evaluate each
year census data that comes out and to challenge it in terms of
whether it is a low estimate or a high estimate. Similarly, our
Population Division is currently engaged in the LUCA Process,
the Local Update of Census Address list, to look at that
address list to make sure that it is complete, there weren't
deletions or the additions that the city had recommended
earlier in the year are included.
So all of those things go to obviously helping us get an
accurate count, the technical aspects of getting an accurate
count year to year. But, again, that is something that the city
has always budgeted in terms of a population division from our
city tax levy money, it is not--and that is an expertise that
has existed in the city probably for the past 40 to 50 years,
in terms of a department.
Ms. Chu. Well, it is great that New York was able to put
together those sources to be able to improve their count.
Let me ask this other question that has to do with
bilingual questionnaires. When I was on REAC, I was a big
believer and pushed very hard to have bilingual questionnaires
distributed to areas where people speak other languages, and I
was very glad to see, this year, for this census, that the
Spanish language questionnaire is put together and is going to
be mailed to places with high Spanish-speaking populations. But
I saw that for the other languages--Chinese, Korean,
Vietnamese, and Russian--it is being translated, but not being
mailed, and I think that is a huge deficit. What can you do to
overcome this--my goal would be for year 2020 to change this so
that they are mailed, because it is easy to determine where you
have such a high population that they are primarily speaking
that other language, and, thus, you can do better outreach for
those populations.
This is for anybody.
Ms. Cumberbatch. Well, I totally agree with you. We
actually know and have up on our Web site from 2000 the top
five most spoken languages in New York City broken down by
census track. So you can actually look at a map. Now, it has
changed since 2000, but you can look at the map and you can see
where there is a high density of Spanish speakers or Chinese
speakers or Russian speakers, etc. So obviously, yes, it would
make sense to say that, yes, they are mailing the form in
Spanish to those census tracks with a high concentration of
Spanish speakers, but they could easily, looking forward, look
at other census tracks and other languages that are spoken in
different localities, particularly New York City, and mail the
form up-front to those households, in English as well; and that
would cut back on the need for a lot of non-profits and
community-based organizations to also then try to get the word
out to those different communities and say, ``oh, if you need
it in this language, we have it or we can help you get it and
you can come in.'' I mean, that would be a huge improvement in
the process of conducting the census for 2020, and I would look
at an array of languages, because the data is there. The data
is even there in more up-to-date terms in terms of the American
Community Survey. So by the time 2020 comes, we are going to
have a wealth of data from the past 10 years about languages
that are spoken by census track to be able to do a decennial
census that really, up front, deals with some of the language
issues.
Ms. Chu. Well, in fact, just to continue along those lines,
it is my understanding that the American Community Survey is
not translated in those same languages.
Ms. Cumberbatch. Right. So that is an issue.
Ms. Chu. It is a huge issue.
Ms. Cumberbatch. That is a huge issue and that is something
that has to be changed in order to get accurate, and
particularly because it is a statistical sampling of the
population. And in a place like New York City where, as I
indicated, almost half of our population speaks a language
other than English, it is a huge issue. So it does go to the
accuracy of all the data that we obtain.
So, yes, we would push for the American Community Survey
being in language based on the information we know about New
York City and all other jurisdictions, as well as helping,
then, inform for the decennial census, since those forms are
going to be mailed to every household, you know, where they
should be in different languages or mailed in English and
another language based on the density of foreign language
speakers in that particular census track.
Ms. Chu. I just hope that we remember the lessons for this
census and push it for the year 2020, because I remember us
pushing this for year 2000. Here we are 2010, but the lessons
haven't been fully implemented.
Mr. Clay. We certainly appreciate the issue that you raise
and this subcommittee looks forward to your activism and
interaction with it. Thank you, Ms. Chu.
Ms. Chu. Thank you.
Mr. Clay. I now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina
for 5 minutes.
Mr. McHenry. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know votes are
coming up on the floor, so I will try to keep this short.
Mr. Williams, in our discussions you talked about forums
with the Complete Count Committee and then your relationships
with the individual towns and cities within Gaston County. I
know others in the room won't find this significant, but we
have a county with 200,000 people in it--it is in the top 10 in
North Carolina population-wise--and we have 14 different
municipalities, which kind of blows your mind; whereas, one
borough of New York is larger than the population of North
Carolina. So we have a little comparison here. But the
difficulties of that in terms of reaching out to these local
governments, how do you overcome sort of that divide of cities
and then the rural areas as well?
Mr. Williams. Well, Congressman, we have what you call an
Elected Officials Seminar, where all the elected officials in
the county come together quarterly to talk about issues, and I
think Gaston County is doing a good job in terms of trying to
build those relationships from the elected side.
Also, from the staff side, we have started a group called
GCAMP, which the acronym stands for Gaston County and Municipal
Planners Group, which is a diverse group of people, of
planners, but also people from affordable housing, housing,
police, also from emergency management. And that group has laid
a foundation by which we can address issues such as the census.
So that is how we work. So when something like this comes
about, for example, in Cherryville or in Mount Holly, for
example, we already have that connection.
So when there are difficult areas in and around those
municipalities, they have an urban feel, but they are not as
large as Gastonia, for example, that is the largest
municipality in Gaston County, for example. However, they have
a connection also to some of those rural areas. So we can work
through them. Again, it goes back to who knows the community
the best. So we go to those planning directors and that city
staff, and they can help us. So that is what works.
I would mention something--I don't mean to digress, but
something you were asking earlier I think was left out a little
bit, and that is, also, we plan to use the school system. I
mentioned an art contest and I had to kind of go through that
quickly. But we see the school system as an opportunity to
involve elementary, middle, and high school. So if we can get
them involved, hopefully they can pass that information on to
their parents, grandparents, relatives and say, ``hey, this is
important for us to do.''
But the number of towns can be tough in terms of planning
and zoning, having different zoning regulations throughout the
county. We worked on that process of trying to have one, but,
at the same time, we have something such as significant and
vital as the upcoming census. Having those guys on the ground,
those different municipalities and those staff on the ground in
those areas makes it a little easier for me, as Chair of the
Complete Count Committee, to make sure that we don't leave
areas out, be it urban and/or suburban, rural, etc.
Mr. McHenry. Is that one way, working through the school
system and working through the kids in getting the message out
about the census, is that a way that you found to break through
the language barrier that some in our community have?
Mr. Williams. I think it will create an opportunity. I
think so, it will create an opportunity to have that
discussion, that conversation with school teachers and to talk
to their students about the importance of census. So I think it
would offer definitely the opportunity to enlighten their
parents about it.
In terms of someone speaking a different language, say the
Latino population, you still may have some differences when the
child goes home to talk to the parent if the language is
primarily Spanish, so we are going to need to work on that. It
is not going to be easy, but I think the school system is still
just another tool that we can use to try to reduce the under-
count and increase the response rate.
Mr. McHenry. Absolutely. I certainly appreciate it and I
appreciate you all on the panel, Mr. Williams and everyone else
on the panel for testifying. I know some of you are back for an
additional time, but we appreciate your testimony and your
assistance, especially with such a vital function of government
as the census is, whether it is a large urban area or rural
areas, and everywhere in between. So thank you for your efforts
and we would certainly appreciate any guidance or feedback that
you could give this subcommittee to make sure that the census
is the best that we have ever had in our Nation's history.
Thanks so much.
Mr. Clay. Thank you, Mr. McHenry.
Ms. Cumberbatch, you indicated in your written testimony
that you have had some interaction with philanthropic
organizations. Have you secured any significant financial
commitments and can you expound in that in detail, what has
been the role of philanthropic organizations in enumerating New
York City?
Ms. Cumberbatch. There are a number of foundations in New
York City that have expressed an interest and put together some
funding to support. They haven't announced those grants yet,
but have put together and coordinated their funding to
organizations that are going to do census outreach work.
What the city of New York did in that regard was to host a
briefing early on in June of funders in collaboration with
those private funders, a briefing about the census, just basic
information. We had the Census Bureau there, we had community-
based organizations that had worked on the 2000 census to talk
about some of the challenges they had in doing outreach as a
first step. So that gathering was a way to try to interest
funders in obviously funding community-based organizations.
Mr. Clay. This being tough economic times, I would assume
it is a tough sale.
Ms. Cumberbatch. This being tough economic times, while
many private funders in New York City said yes, we see this as
important, we see fantastic leverage--because for every person
in New York City that is counted, it amounts to $3,000 a year
in terms of Federal funding--that their funding is basically
flat this year because their philanthropy is connected to the
financial market. So because they have an obligation to current
grantees in their ongoing work, whether that be social
services, etc., it was hard to supplement, this year, some of
those activities of those non-profits to specifically target
census work. So it is a very limited pot.
Mr. Clay. Dr. O'Hare, I assume other cities have also come
to you and come to the Foundation to ask for financial support?
Mr. O'Hare. Well, the Funders Census Initiative is kind of
the model that has developed these kinds of activities. I think
Chicago and the Joyce Foundation was probably the first to
really take on this kind of mission, where they assembled more
than $1 million from eight funders or so, and went through a
process somewhat similar to New York. The same has happened in
Los Angeles and some other cities. Certainly a move in the
right direction. I think we are all feeling frustrated because
the need is so big and our dollars are not nearly enough.
Mr. Clay. Thank you for that response.
Ms. Lemp, can you expound on your knowledge of a census
boycott by some Latino groups and what additional problems does
that create? Please detail your findings and explain what
creative tactics your office is utilizing to combat that.
Ms. Lemp. Right. The boycott was something that came out a
few months back, and I have to say that with our contacts in
the local communities--and connecting, just reiterating the
message of this not being connected to any immigration issues
and connecting the need to be counted to the funds and the
resources that the city would gain from being counted. It
really wasn't a big issue also because that message of
boycotting was not a message from a local organization, so it
wasn't necessarily a trusted voice in our D.C. Latino
community. So it wasn't a big issue in Washington.
Mr. Clay. Ms. Campbell, yesterday Census Director Groves
and I, along with St. Louis city officials, rolled out a Census
in the Schools Program. Do you believe this is an effective way
to reach under-counted children? And please be specific.
Ms. Campbell. Oh, very much so. One of the things that I
mentioned about targeting women, targeting mothers, targeting
caregivers, and not connecting the fact that what I also wanted
to say was what we are focusing in on is developing not just--
for coalition 10 years ago, we actually did a poster contest
that targeted middle school, elementary grade school. Now, the
younger folks that are part of our coalitions are saying we
have the social networking now. There are a lot of creative
ways for young people to be able to express themselves in the
process. So with the Census in Schools, working with community-
based organizations, as well as the school system, the Census
in Schools Program, but there are also opportunities for the
community-based organizations to participate. So we are really
excited that, as a part of what we are doing to be able to have
young people express themselves culturally around what does
this mean, you know, how I count, if you will.
The National Conference of Black Mayors has an I Count.
There are several folks who have this I Count campaign. We have
not talked to each other. We had a conference call yesterday
with our coalition and two people on the call, who had not
talked to each other but were focusing on Black men and the
conference, both had I Count campaigns. So there is something
about I Count and the change message, especially with the young
people being a part of this change era we are in, to be able to
express that. So part of what we are doing this year is adding
a part of our Census in Schools efforts to utilize social
networking, to utilize Facebook, to utilize the YouTube and all
the other social mediums that are out there for folks to be
able to express. So we saw what could happen in the last
election. And that is something that is low cost and people are
able to express themselves creatively. And that same 81-year-
old mother was a school teacher for 50-plus years, so
understanding how that impacts and how teachers have an impact
on young lives and the parents, more specifically, is
definitely one of the No. 1 things we are going to be doing.
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much.
Dr. O'Hare, did you have something to say?
Mr. O'Hare. Yes. Could I add a comment on the Census in
Schools Program, which I wholly endorse, but I think it is
important to recognize, when talking about children, which is
the Casey Foundation's focus, is that the age group that has
the highest under-count rate based on the 2000 census was
preschoolers. Kids under age 5 had an under-count rate of 4
percent higher than people in their twenties and higher than
school-aged kids. So I am worried that somehow we think we have
taken care of all the children under-counting by focusing on
school-aged kids, and it is critical to remember that is not
the group that is missed the most.
Mr. Clay. Thank you for that point.
Mr. Williams, I am going to let you have the final word.
Have you interacted with your regional and local census
director or your regional director? Are you familiar with who
they are? Have they come by to visit your Complete Count
Committees?
Mr. Williams. Mr. Chairman, they have. They have come by.
We have a pretty good relationship with our local bureau
partnership specialists is what they are called. They actually
came to our first Complete Count Committee meeting; they made a
presentation, they made all the material, handed that
information out.
And, again, in Gaston County we try to set a standard in
2000 with the census, and as a result of it, the Census Bureau
felt like we had done a pretty good job in terms of promotion,
so we already had that relationship built up from 2000. So when
this started kicking off a couple years ago, they were ready to
call us and see what are some of the things we can offer to
help them out. So, to answer your question, yes, we do have a
relationship with them.
Mr. Clay. Very good.
Let me thank the entire panel for your testimony today and
thank you for attempting to make ``census 2010'' the most
successful that this country has experienced. I appreciate your
work in this area.
That concludes this hearing. Thank you.
[Whereupon, at 4:22 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]