Counting Young Men Poses Great Challenge for Census

New America Media, News Report, Jacob Simas, Posted: Dec 11, 2009 Review it on NewsTrust

As organizing efforts for the 2010 census shift into high gear, the U.S. Census Bureau is paying particular attention to what they say is one of the hardest-to-count segments of the national populace: 18 to 25 year-old people of color, especially young men.

Bureau research published in 2008 and based on census response rates 10 years ago reveals that the populations least likely to be counted are: 1) Economically Disadvantaged, 2) Unattached/Single and 3) Living in High Density Ethnic Enclaves.

“We are dealing with a national phenomenon in terms of which groups are consistently undercounted,” says Sonny Le, media specialist at the Seattle Regional Census Center. “We’re talking primarily about young adults in the African-American, Latino, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander communities.”

For Le and his colleagues, understanding why youth in the country’s ethnic communities are consistently undercounted is crucial as they plan ways to increase response rates to the 2010 census questionnaire, which will be mailed out to every residence in the United States and Puerto Rico this March.

Since 1790, the federal government has been constitutionally mandated to conduct the census -- a complete enumeration of the U.S. population -- every 10 years.

One reason for the low response rates, says Le, is perhaps the most obvious: 18 to 25 year-olds now were only children when the last census was conducted. This is their first real experience of the census. They may not know what the census is, let alone how it impacts their communities.

Also, he says, most young adults tend to be unattached, mobile and less likely to have an established home address – in essence, placing them somewhere in between dependency and emancipation – decreasing their chance of being counted.

“These are grown men and women now but many still live at home, although unofficially,” explains Le. “So when the census arrives in the mailbox, their family might not count them as part of the household anymore.”

Making matters worse, he says, is a general mistrust of government that is fostered in part by the negative experiences of a growing number of young people who are involved – or have friends or family involved – in the criminal justice system.

If Le is correct, the problem presents a larger challenge to census enumerators than at any previous time in U.S. history. According to a well-publicized 2008 Pew Center report, one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 are behind bars. The number jumps to one in nine for African-Americans in the same age group, and Latino men are now the fastest growing segment of the prison population.

“Unfortunately a big percentage of our young men have been part of the system, and once they’re out they don’t want to be known, for fear of being racially profiled,” says Le. “Or perhaps for fear that Uncle Sam might be keeping tabs on them.”

It’s an issue that Le says is particularly acute among young men living in public housing, where they may live with partners and children but are legally not supposed to be there, resulting in family members being disinclined to report them on a government questionnaire.

These challenges are amplified in California, where more than 30 percent of the population has been deemed Hard to Count (HTC), a designation derived by the Census Bureau from demographic indicators such as poverty, educational attainment, unemployment, language and housing indicators such as rentals, crowded housing and multi-unit buildings.

By comparison, the percentage of HTC areas across the national population is 17.7 percent.

The dual task confronting Sonny Le and his colleagues within the Census Bureau, then, is convincing communities that the census is not only safe but worth their while.

More than $400 billion in federal funding for health, education, housing, employment and other programs is allocated to regions based on information culled directly from the census. These incentives, however, can be less obvious to young adults who tend to not access services.

“The money may not come to you, but the services may go to your family members, your grandmother, your sisters,” says Le. “They have to look beyond themselves, to the greater society.”

According to a Brookings Institute study, every Californian counted in the census represents roughly $1,600 in federal assistance programs for the state.

“If you miss 2 million people, it may not seem like a big deal, but in dollars that’s a huge amount,” says Le. “If you missed 10,000 African-Americans in San Francisco, that’s a lot of money lost.”

To avoid such a scenario, Census Bureau strategists are employing a multi-faceted approach of targeted advertising, outreach to schools and grassroots community organizing to reach the 18 to 25 year-old demographic.

Shannon Lawrence, a former union organizer in Los Angeles and now a partnership specialist at the Los Angeles Regional Census Center, is an example of how the Census Bureau is utilizing existing grassroots leadership.

“For years my job was to organize and create partnerships with our membership and the community-based organizations, the ecumenical community and government officials,” says Lawrence. “Now it’s my job to get them engaged in the census. They trust me. They trust my voice.”

Lawrence is one of about 100 partnership specialists working for the Los Angeles region, which serves 25 million people in 19 counties across southern and central California as well as Hawaii. Their job is to facilitate outreach to the communities they come from and know best.

“That is actually the strength of the census itself,” says Bernard Pendergrass, a media specialist and a colleague of Lawrence at the Bureau. “These are people who have amazing backgrounds, who know their communities and how to reach them.”


Le says the strategy of tapping into the “trusted voice” has also been used successfully in past census advertising campaigns. In 2000, the bureau enlisted help from entertainers like Sean Combs and Russell Simmons, as well as regional personalities like Dr. Joseph Marshall and his Street Soldier program in the San Francisco Bay Area to reach a young, multicultural demographic.

Hip hop, says Le, will again be one of the tools used to reach youth and young adults in 2010, and he believes it could even be more effective considering the growth of the culture.

“The hip hop generation 10 years ago is much different than it is today,” says Le. “For example, in San Francisco we have a lot of Vietnamese and Cambodians in neighborhoods like the Tenderloin, Sunnydale and Bayview Hunters Point, and they’re all about hip hop. The hip hop generation is multicultural.”

Lawrence believes the campaign will be fruitful.

“Those young people who would not traditionally turn in the forms will understand the impact is much bigger than their own personal fear,” says Lawrence. “It’s important they see that the people they trust, trust the census.”

Asian Pacific Islander Groups Promote Census Participation

Asian Pacific Islander Groups Promote Census Participation
Nguoi-viet.com, Jami Farkas, Jami Farkas, Posted: Dec 28, 2009 Review it on NewsTrust


LOS ANGELES — Seven Asian and Pacific Islander organizations across the state have come together to form the API Census Network in an effort to promote the API community’s participation in the 2010 Census.

Over the last decade, California has suffered a $2.1 billion loss in federal funding due to the undercount of API populations during the 2000 Census. An accurate 2010 Census can help correct errors in determining political districts and allocation of federal funds to state and local governments.

''We have to be creative about the strategies we use to outreach to everyone in the Asian and Pacific Islander community,'' said An Lê, the API Census Network statewide network manager. ''We need our communities to understand an accurate census means more federal funding, greater access to governmental services and more resources directed to our communities. Our goal is to have everyone fill out their census questionnaires in April 2010.''

One of the obstacles in conducting an accurate count of API populations is language proficiency. Nearly 36 percent of Asian Americans and 10 percent of Pacific Islanders have limited English proficiency. Further compounding the undercount is the immense cultural and linguistic diversity, making it challenging to educate this population about the importance to participate in the census., according to the Census Network.

As a part of its outreach and media campaign, the API Census Network will redistribute culturally specific materials in all major Asian languages produced by the Census Bureau. Additionally, the API Census Network recognizes specific communities in South East, South Asian and Pacific Islander sub-groups have disproportionately low rates of participation in the census.

In an effort to equalize this under-representation, the API Census Network is producing culturally specific, public service announcements in six languages Thai, Samoan, Khmer, Hindi, Lao and Tongan languages not targeted in the official Census 2010 media campaign. Independent filmmakers and community organizations are partnering to produce the public service announcements, which will begin airing in February 2010 on a variety of in-language subscription cable channels, radio programs, and Internet portals.

In January, the API Census Network plans to launch a census materials Web site for community-based organizations. Additionally each regional partner is responsible for regional census outreach trainings. These trainings will produce an educated base of local community organizations positioned to custom tailor Census 2010 messages for their communities, which will encourage higher numbers of individual participation among hard-to-count communities.

The API Census Network, coordinated by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, covers California from Sacramento to San Diego and includes the Asian Law Caucus in the Bay Area, the Asian Law Alliance in the South Bay, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council in Los Angeles, Fresno Center for New Americans in the Central Valley, Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance in Orange County, and Union of Pan Asian Communities in San Diego. In the upcoming months, the API Census Network will focus on outreach and education to the API community about the impact of participation in the 2010 Census, emphasizing on political representation, social services, and government funding.

Find Local Census Resources

California has launched their Complete Count Committee website to provide information about how to participate in the 2010 Census. The site is run by State data centers and provide local jobs, contact info, volunteer opportunities and meeting times.

California Complete Count Committee : Here you will find recent news and postings of Census jobs, a Census Event Calendar of happenings in your area, helpful information about how to fill out your form and even a "finder" to locate your Local Census Office.

Economists See a Lift in 2010 Census

According to a December 18, 2009 New York Times article by Michael Luo,"Next year’s census will not only count people, it will also put money in millions of pockets and potentially create a well-timed economic spark."

Read the full story.

PRESS RELEASE: California’s API Organizations Celebrate Day of Inclusion by Launching Campaign to Promote Participation in 2010 Census

To Download a PDF of the release click here

California’s Asian Pacific Islander Organizations Celebrate Day of Inclusion by Launching Campaign to Promote Participation in 2010
Census Network aims to educate one million hard-to-count Californians and ensure vital funds for government programs

LOS ANGELES, CA – As the State of California celebrates the Day of Inclusion marking the 1943 repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, seven Asian and Pacific Islander (API) organizations across the state have come together to form the API Census Network, in an effort to promote the API community’s participation in the 2010 Census.


“The Chinese Exclusion Act was among one of the many discriminatory laws that existed in U.S. history,” said California State Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park), who authored legislation in the California State Legislature to recognize the day when the act was repealed. “However, there are minority groups that are still struggling with fairness and equality today. Luckily, a simple way that underrepresented populations can ensure that their voices are heard is by
participating in the 2010 Census.”

Over the last decade, California has suffered a $2.1 billion loss in federal funding due to the undercount of API populations
during the 2000 Census. This affects all California residents, and in our current economic climate the state cannot afford to be undercounted again. An accurate 2010 Census can help correct errors in determining political districts and allocation of
federal funds to state and local governments.


“We have to be creative about the strategies we use to outreach to everyone in the Asian and Pacific Islander community,” said An Le, the API Census Network statewide network manager. “We need our communities to understand an accurate census means more federal funding, greater access to governmental services and more resources directed to our communities.Our goal is to have everyone fill out their census questionnaires in April 2010.”

One of the obstacles in conducting an accurate count of API populations is language proficiency: Nearly 36% of Asian Americans and 10% of Pacific Islanders have limited English proficiency. Further compounding the undercount is the immense cultural and linguistic diversity, making it challenging to educate this population about the importance to participate in the census.

As a part of their outreach and media campaign, the API Census Network will redistribute culturally specific materials in all major Asian languages produced by the Census Bureau. Additionally, the API Census Network recognizes specific
communities in South East, South Asian, and Pacific Islander sub-groups have disproportionately low rates of participation in the census. In an effort to equalize this under-representation, the API Census Network is producing culturally specific, public service announcements in six languages, - Thai, Samoan, Khmer, Hindi, Lao and Tongan – languages not targeted in the official Census 2010 media campaign. Independent filmmakers and community organizations are partnering to produce the public service announcements, which will begin airing in February 2010 on a variety of in-language subscription cable

Founded in 1983, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for civil rights, providing legal
services and education, and building coalitions to positively influence and impact Asian Pacific Americans and to create a more equitable and harmonious society. APALC is affiliated with the Asian American Justice Center (formerly known as NAPALC) in Washington, D.C. channels, radio programs, and internet portals.

In January, the API Census Network plans to launch a census materials website for community based organizations. The site will provide access to in-language and ethic specific materials on the subject of Census 2010; designed to augment the impact of statewide partner outreach and training efforts. Additionally each regional partner is responsible for regional census outreach trainings. These trainings will produce an educated base of local community organizations positioned to custom tailor Census 2010 messages for their communities, which will encourage
higher numbers of individual participation among hard-to-count communities.

The API Census Network, coordinated by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, covers California from Sacramento to San Diego and includes the Asian Law Caucus in the Bay Area, the Asian Law Alliance in the South Bay, the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council in Los Angeles, Fresno Center for New Americans in the Central Valley, Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance in Orange County, and Union of Pan Asian Communities in San Diego. In the upcoming months, the API Census Network will focus on outreach and education to the API community about the impact

2010 Census: In Your Language

The US Census Bureau (CB) site now features a drop down menu where users have the option of selecting to view site information in 58 different languages.
Check out the CB site in your language now at: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

Targeting "Hard to Count " Communities in California

An accurate count of the population is crucial to communities, cities, counties, and states. Healthy City wants to ensure a better count of traditionally marginalized, "hard-to-count" communities by providing innovative online tools for research, planning and coordination of outreach activities. The website will give you access to the largest array of census outreach related data and innovative tools to design, analyze, and share your outreach activities. The most impressive feature on the site allows you to interactively map Hard-to-Count (HTC) populations against a wide array of other demographic data. From the map, you can create your own neighborhood boundaries, upload/overlay your datasets so that you can more efficiently plan canvassing, media outreach and training activities.

http://www.hardtocount.healthycity.org/

CENSUS 2010 National Thai Complete Count Committee (NTCCC)

The CENSUS 2010 National Thai Complete Count Committee (NTCCC) is counting down the days until the 2010 Census. NTCCC is a collective of community based organization, business leaders, and volunteers that are bringing awareness about the national census count and the importance of participation for the future of all Thai communities. Find “Be Counted in 2010” information, in-language materials and subtitled informational videos on their site: http://www.thaicensus.org/.


Check out the subtitled informational video that the NTCCC  has put out: Census 2010: A New Portrait of America (Thai Subtitle)

Open Letter to Statewide API Census Network Partners

By: Christen Marquez - APALC Statewide API Media Coordinator Census 2010

As Statewide Media Coordinator I am working with six regional organizations to coordinate our media outreach efforts. Asian Law Caucus in the Bay Area, Fresno Center for New Americans in the Central Valley, Asian Law Alliance in the South Bay, The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning council in Los Angeles, The Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance in Orange County, and The Union of Pan Asian Communities in San Diego.

This document is meant to outline our goals and help define my role in this work with these six partners.

Census Christmas posters in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese

Here are three Christmas themed posters targeted to Census 2010.

You can download these posters in PDF format by clicking:

Download Chinese version click here


Download Korean version click here

Download Vietnamese version click here

THE HISTORY OF CENSUS IN HAWAI`I

THE HISTORY OF CENSUS IN HAWAI`I
By Momi Imaikalani Fernandez; Edited by Shannon K. K. Lincoln

The counting of people or taking a census has been part of this `āina from the earliest of historical accounts. Our ancestors planned survival by way of food provision in canoes and food production on land and pond which made it necessary to count the people and plan the use of resources. For the next several months, we’ll be looking at census in Hawai`i in preparation for Census 2010. Our ancestors demonstrated a variety of ways to conduct census for various reasons. Census or to take a census, according to Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, is helu, helu kanaka or census taker, luna helu. The act of census is the definition.

Resources for Census 2010 API Media Work

Here is a small collection of resources to help community based organizations construct strong media messages to encourage participation of hard-to-count communities in Census 2010. The work that our California statewide network, the Asian Pacific Islander Census Network (APICN) is concentrated on directing census messages to the diverse API population. However many of these resources can also be applied to media outreach efforts in other hard-to-count communities.

INCREASING DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION:
MOTIVATING UNDER COUNTED POPULATIONS to BE COUNTED in the 201O CENSUS
temporary link here: http://drop.io/2010censusmessagemanual#

I cannot say enough good things about this messaging manual. By far the most valuable page of this manual for people working on census messaging for the API community is page #7. It is a great condensed message specifically tailored to historically under counted populations. You plug sentences from this page into any census story or press release that you write. This manual also goes into detail specific roadblocks you may come up against in your messaging efforts and how to dismantle these roadblocks with message approaches tested on community focus groups.

THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL RIGHTS (LCCR)
Make Yourself Count Census 2010 - Train the Trainers Toolkit
download PDF here: http://www.civilrights.org/census/make-yourself-count-toolkit.pdf

This toolkit is a good overall manual for everything you need to know to get started on doing media outreach work. Including basic information on why the census is important, tips for engaging the media, how to prepare for an interview, and how to write an affective press release.

Please feel free to ad comments or links to other Census 2010 resources that you have found helpful.

Mahalo!

Christen Hepuakoamana'a Marquez
Census 2010 Media Coordinator
Asian Pacific Islander Census Network (APICN)