[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6613-6615]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-2329]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


2006 Census Test Group Quarters Validation Operation

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 6614]]

SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before April 11, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Diana Hynek, Departmental 
Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th 
and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet 
at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Annetta C. Smith, U.S. Census Bureau, Building 2, 
Room 2102, Washington, DC 20233-9200, Telephone number (301) 763-1348.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Census Bureau must provide everyone in the United States--
including persons who do not live in conventional housing units--the 
opportunity to be counted in a census. In Census 2000, we implemented a 
set of procedures to enumerate persons who live or stay in group 
quarters (GQs--see Definition of Terms) such as nursing homes, college 
dormitories, jails, and shelters. In order to count these persons, we 
developed a list of GQs--living quarters other than conventional 
housing units.
    Prior to the Census 2000 enumeration of persons living in group 
quarters, the Census Bureau conducted the Special Place (see Definition 
of Terms) Facility Questionnaire operation to develop an inventory of 
special place/group quarters facilities. This operation was designed to 
identify, verify, classify, and obtain pertinent enumeration 
information about every group quarters.
    As a result of lessons learned from Census 2000, the Census Bureau 
implemented the Group Quarters Validation (GQV) operation in 2004 in 
order to develop methodologies that would improve the enumeration of 
the GQ population in the 2010 Census. This operation replaced the 
Special Place Facility Questionnaire. The 2004 GQV operation was 
planned to develop new procedures to verify and update the existing 
Census 2000 GQ inventory as corrected by the Count Question Resolution 
(see Definition of Terms) program. In addition to verifying and 
updating the Census 2000 inventory, the 2004 GQV operation was intended 
to properly classify places with housing units that were potentially 
difficult to classify or that required special procedures (e.g., 
hotels/motels and assisted living facilities).
    As part of ongoing planning for the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau 
now plans to conduct the 2006 Census Test GQV operation in order to 
incorporate lessons learned from the 2004 GQV operation and focus group 
research with those learned from Census 2000. Among the improvements to 
the program that we plan to implement in the 2006 Census Test GQV 
operation are:
     Testing revised definitions that are intended to improve 
the classification of group quarters,
     Simplifying the questionnaire skip patterns, and
     Enumerating pre-identified group homes as GQs rather than 
as HU as was done in the 2004 GQV operation.
    The 2006 GQV operation, which supports the Census Bureau's 
strategic goal of developing methodologies for compiling a complete and 
accurate Master Address File for the 2010 Census, is designed to test 
improved procedures to verify and classify addresses identified as 
other living quarters (see Definition of Terms) during the 2006 Address 
Canvassing (see Definition of Terms) operation. Addresses will be 
classified as a GQ, a HU, or not a living quarter during Address 
Canvassing. If the address is a GQ, the 2006 Other Living Quarters 
Validation questionnaire is designed to enable the lister to label it 
with the correct type code, (e.g, as a college residence hall or 
skilled nursing unit).
    In order to achieve its goal of developing procedures for improving 
the enumeration of the GQ population, the 2006 GQV operation plans to 
evaluate the effect of the following on address list development and GQ 
classification:
     Using administrative records to obtain addresses for 
selected types of GQs (e.g., group homes) in order to update the Master 
Address File prior to Address Canvassing.
     Using Address Canvassing in conjunction with GQV to 
distinguish between HUs and GQs in order to update the GQ address list. 
This is part of our ongoing effort in the development and 
implementation of an integrated approach for updating the list of 
living quarters during Address Canvassing and other living quarters 
operations.
     Incorporating the following revisions in the Other Living 
Quarters Validation questionnaire: (1) Improving the content and flow, 
(2) adding a ``length of stay question,'' and (3) incorporating GQ 
definitions that are being tested as part of the 2006 Census Test.
    There are two test sites for the 2006 Census Test GQV operation--
selected census tracts in Travis County, Texas, and the Cheyenne River 
Reservation, South Dakota. The test will be conducted out of the Austin 
Local Census Office in Texas, and the Cheyenne River Census Field 
Office on the Cheyenne River Reservation. The planned dates for the 
2006 GQV operation are October 31, 2005 through November 30, 2005. The 
2006 GQV operation must be conducted late in 2005 because GQV data will 
be used in the Advance Visit operation that will be conducted early in 
2006 (prior to the 2006 Census Test).

II. Method of Collection

    The 2006 GQV universe for the Travis County, Texas, and the 
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota, which will be validated and 
type-coded using the 2006 Other Living Quarters Validation 
questionnaire, will consist primarily of other living quarters from the 
2006 Address Canvassing operation. In addition to these other living 
quarters, the universe also will include GQs from Census 2000, 
administrative records, and the Demographic Areas Address Listing (see 
Definition of Terms) that were not identified as other living quarters 
during the 2006 Address Canvassing operation.
    During Address Canvassing, the field staff will update and verify 
the addresses for the Texas and South Dakota sites (both HUs and other 
living quarters). The canvassers will code addresses as other living 
quarters if they have living quarters, or if they have the potential of 
having living quarters and do not meet the definition of a HU. The 
addresses for these other living quarters will then be merged with adds 
from administrative records and the Demographic Areas Address Listing 
GQ adds that were not identified during Address Canvassing to create 
the universe of other living quarters for the test areas.
    A lister for the 2006 GQV operation will visit each of these 
addresses and conduct an interview using the paper 2006 Other Living 
Quarters Validation questionnaire. The lister will ask a series of 
questions that are intended to validate and classify the type of living 
quarters at the other living quarters address. If the address is 
determined to be a GQ, the lister will interview the respondent to 
verify, classify, and

[[Page 6615]]

obtain other pertinent information about the GQ. The lister will 
attempt to verify and/or collect information including the basic street 
address, contact name, telephone number, maximum capacity, GQ type 
code, and the full name of the facility. If the address is determined 
to be a housing unit or not a living quarter, the lister will record 
the applicable action code and end the interview.
    Completed GQV questionnaires will be sent to the Census Bureau 
National Processing Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana for data capture. 
The data will be unduplicated based on address information collected 
using the 2006 Other Living Quarters Validation questionnaires, and 
information for all valid GQs identified during the 2006 GQV operation 
will be processed for use in the 2006 Advance Visit operation, the 2006 
Service-Based Enumeration operation, and the 2006 Group Quarters 
Enumeration operation.
    Approximately 10 percent of the addresses from the 2006 GQV 
universe will be randomly selected for re-interview in order to verify 
the outcomes of the original interviews. This quality control procedure 
will be conducted on a flow basis throughout the operation.

Definition of Terms

    Address Canvassing--A data collection operation designed to support 
the Census Bureau's efforts to compile the most accurate and 
comprehensive residential (housing units and group quarters) address 
list possible. For 2006, listers will verify, update, add, and delete 
address records in each census block within the Assignment Area, while 
also updating map features on the electronic map where Global 
Positioning System (GPS) is available. They also will capture 
coordinates for each living quarters via GPS or a manual method when 
GPS is not available, link duplicate addresses when they identify them 
and determining if a living quarters should be coded as another living 
quarters for further review in the GQV operation.
    Count Question Resolution--A process by which state, local, and 
tribal government officials could ask the Census Bureau to verify the 
accuracy of the legal boundaries used for Census 2000, the allocation 
of living quarters and their residents in relation to those boundaries, 
and the count of people recorded by the Census Bureau for specific 
living quarters.
    Demographic Areas Address Listing--DAAL is a post-Census 2000 
program designed to update the sample universe of housing units and 
group quarters for various demographic surveys. DAAL also is intended 
to update the inventory of housing units and features for selected 
areas of the country in order to improve the coverage and completeness 
of the MAF in preparation for the ACS sample selection.
    Group Quarters (GQs)--Group quarters are places where people can 
live or stay that are normally 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. People living in them are usually not related to each 
other.
    Group quarters include such places as residential treatment 
centers, college residence halls, military barracks, skilled nursing 
facilities, correctional facilities, group homes, juvenile facilities 
dormitories, workers' dormitories, and facilities for people 
experiencing homelessness.
    Housing Unit--A housing unit is a living quarters in which the 
occupants live separately from any other individuals in the building 
and have direct access to their living quarters from outside the 
building or through a common hall. Housing units are usually houses, 
apartments, mobile homes, groups of rooms or single rooms that are 
occupied as separate living quarters. They are residences for single 
individuals, groups of individuals, or families who live together. 
Although housing units may be vacant or occupied, non-traditional 
living quarters such as boats, RVs, and tents are considered to be 
housing units ONLY if someone is living in them and they are either the 
occupant's usual residence or the occupant has no usual residence. 
These non-traditional living arrangements are not considered to be 
housing units if they are vacant.
    Other Living Quarters--Any address that does not meet the 
definition of a HU and has living quarters or has the potential of 
having living quarters. Other living quarters include correctional 
facilities, college and university housing, religious living quarters, 
dormitories for migrant workers, assisted living facilities, juvenile 
facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and emergency shelters for 
people experiencing homelessness.
    Special Places--A facility containing one or more group quarters 
where people live or stay, such as a college or university, nursing 
home, hospital, prison, hotel, migrant or seasonal farm worker camp, or 
military installation or ship. While a special place usually consists 
of one or more group quarters, and may contain embedded or free-
standing housing units, it may consist entirely of housing units (e.g., 
a campground that has only trailer, RV, and/or tent sites). 
Establishments that are administratively responsible for one or more 
Group Quarters. In some cases, the Special Place and the Group Quarters 
are one and the same.

III. Data

    OMB Number: None.
    Form Number: DD-351(GQV).
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Affected Public: Individuals, businesses or other for-profit 
institutions and small businesses or organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 700 GQs (Travis County, Texas) and 
20 GQs (Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota) for the 2006 GQV 
operation. 72 GQs for the Reinterview operation.
    Estimated Time Per Response: 15 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 180 hours for GQV. 18 hours 
for Reinterview.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: There is no cost to the respondents 
except for their time to respond.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C. 141 & 193.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: February 2, 2005.
Madeleine Clayton,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-2329 Filed 2-7-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P