[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
CENSUS 2010: HARD-TO-COUNT POPULATIONS WITH SPECIAL LIVING CONDITIONS
=======================================================================
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
__________
MARCH 8, 2010
__________
Serial No. 111-85
__________
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
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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 ``JOSPEH'' 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
CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York PATRICK T. McHENRY, North Carolina
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, District of LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia
Columbia JOHN L. MICA, Florida
DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah
STEVE DRIEHAUS, Ohio
DIANE E. WATSON, California
HENRY CUELLAR, Texas
JUDY CHU, California
Darryl Piggee, Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on March 8, 2010.................................... 1
Statement of:
Driehaus, Hon. Steve, a Representative in Congress for the
State of Ohio.............................................. 5
Duncan, Todd, director of housing and food services at the
University of Cincinnati................................... 61
Hopkins, Suzanne, director of programs, the Center for
Independent Living Options, Inc............................ 50
Mallory, Mark, mayor of Cincinnati, OH....................... 6
Mesenbourg, Thomas L., Deputy Director, U.S. Census Bureau... 17
Riviero, Jason, Ohio State Director, League of United Latin
American Citizens.......................................... 43
Scharfenberger, David, lead organizer, Training & Outreach
Programs, Working in Neighborhoods [WIN]................... 35
Spring, Josh, Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.. 55
Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by:
Clay, Hon. Wm. Lacy, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Missouri, prepared statement of................... 3
Duncan, Todd, director of housing and food services at the
University of Cincinnati, prepared statement of............ 63
Hopkins, Suzanne, director of programs, the Center for
Independent Living Options, Inc., prepared statement of.... 52
Mallory, Mark, mayor of Cincinnati, OH, prepared statement of 10
Mesenbourg, Thomas L., Deputy Director, U.S. Census Bureau,
prepared statement of...................................... 19
Riviero, Jason, Ohio State Director, League of United Latin
American Citizens, prepared statement of................... 46
Scharfenberger, David, lead organizer, Training & Outreach
Programs, Working in Neighborhoods [WIN], prepared
statement of............................................... 38
Spring, Josh, Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless,
prepared statement of...................................... 58
CENSUS 2010: HARD-TO-COUNT POPULATIONS WITH SPECIAL LIVING CONDITIONS
----------
MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2010
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and
National Archives,
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
Cincinnati, OH.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., at the
Main Street Cinema, 256 Tangeman University Center, University
of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, Hon. Wm. Lacy Clay (chairman of
the subcommittee) presiding.
Present: Representatives Clay and Driehaus.
Staff present: Darryl Piggee, staff director/counsel.
Mr. Clay. Good afternoon and welcome to today's hearing
entitled, ``Census 2010: Hard-To-Count Populations With Special
Living Conditions.''
Today's hearing, as the title indicates will examine the
2010 census efforts to enumerate those hard-to-count
populations with special living conditions.
The hearing will examine the Census Bureau's activities in
preventing an under-count of these populations. We will further
examine avenues to aid the Census Bureau in its efforts to
reach those who are most likely to be under-counted and
minorities. Today's dialog will ultimately lead to a better
understanding as to what can be done to ensure the success of
the 2010 census.
We have with us today, my distinguished colleague in this
hearing, Mr. Steve Driehaus, and I want to thank you for this
invitation to Cincinnati. We could not have picked a better
city or a better time to conduct this hearing seeing as census
forms will be going out as of next Monday. We would urge all
Americans to mail--to fill out the questionnaires, 10
questions, and send them back in the mail.
And without--and so thank you, again, Representative
Driehaus for the invitation. Without objection, the chair and
ranking member will have 5 minutes to make an opening
statement, followed by an opening statement from Representative
Driehaus. I will begin with the opening statement. The purpose,
again, of today's hearing is to examine and discuss efforts to
enumerate hard-to-count populations with special living
conditions. And I also want to thank you, Representative
Driehaus and his staff for hosting today's hearing, and for the
courtesies afforded to this subcommittee. As Congressman
Driehaus knows and many of you know as well, Cincinnati has a
particularly important history with the census. And much can be
gained from the testimony we will hear today.
The city of Cincinnati contains a perfect microcosm of
these hard-to-count groups. We hope to learn by Cincinnati's
example as the local communities are key to the count. Further,
I solute Dr. Groves and the Census Bureau for their efforts.
Census day is less than 4 weeks away, so let's work together
and exchange ideas to ensure an accurate count.
On our first panel, we will hear from the Honorable mayor
of Cincinnati, Mark Mallory. And Mayor Mallory will enlighten
us on Cincinnati's plan to achieve full participation, and
share with us the recommendations of the U.S. Conference of
Mayors' Taskforce on the Census.
We will hear from Dr. Thomas Mesenbourg. Mr. Mesenbourg
will testify about the Bureau's strategy and ability to count
those in special living conditions.
Our second panel includes civic leaders dedicated to
community participation, education, and quality. This panel is
acutely aware of the challenges of enumerating the hard-to-
count population. We look forward to their insight into these
efforts. I thank all of the witnesses for appearing today, and
look forward to their testimony, and now I recognize
Representative Driehaus for 5 minutes.
[The prepared statement of Hon. Wm. Lacy Clay follows:]
STATEMENT OF HON. STEVE DRIEHAUS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FOR THE STATE OF OHIO
Mr. Driehaus. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank
you for holding this hearing in Cincinnati. As you know, as
soon as we began the process of talking about the census, I
approached you and asked officially--it was over a year ago--to
hold a hearing in Cincinnati, knowing the efforts of the mayor
and knowing the efforts of other individuals here in
Cincinnati, to make sure that we do have an accurate count. And
my experience in the foreclosure taskforce in the State of Ohio
helped me better understand how challenging this is going to be
this time when it comes to identifying, especially those
households that are in transition due to foreclosures.
As you know, the Constitution mandates that we hold the
Census every 10 years. It helps determine the distribution of
more than $400 billion of financial aid to citizens, to States,
and to municipalities. And it's used to support education,
health care, and transportation initiatives and impacts us in
our day-to-day lives. States also use the information from the
Census to provide funding to municipalities, which is a very
significant issue here in the Greater Cincinnati area because
we have several very small municipalities and that threshold at
5,000 is important. So this count is specifically very
important to cities like St. Bernard and other small cities in
addition to the importance it has to the city of Cincinnati.
As was mentioned in 2005, the city of Cincinnati challenged
the population estimate of the 2005 American Community Survey.
And while the American Community Survey isn't the Census, that
snapshot of the population was critically important to
determine some of the funding levels coming from the Federal
Government. We do have with us today the distinguished mayor of
Cincinnati, Mark Mallory, and the mayor has been leading the
charge to challenge those numbers on behalf of the residents of
the city of Cincinnati, and has helped other mayors throughout
the country learn how they might better reach out to hard to
reach populations to help the Census and the community survey
better understand how to count those populations. We have
several hard-to-count populations here in Cincinnati. And as
you mentioned, we are a microcosm because when you talk about
the dislocation that has occurred because of--because of
homelessness, because of the foreclosure crisis or in terms of
reaching out to low and minority communities, low income and
minority communities that we have here in Cincinnati. We also
have a growing Hispanic community, who we will hear from today.
We also have people with disabilities, who are traditionally
more difficult to count as we move forward with the Census. So
I look forward to this hearing to help really draw attention to
the importance of the Census, and helping the residents of
Greater Cincinnati understand the importance of participating.
But also to have a dialog between the representatives of the
hard-to-count populations and the Census Bureau to talk about
what methodology we are using to specifically reach out to
those hard-to-count populations. And what avenues we are
exploring, especially given the technology we now have before
us, to reach out to those populations and get as accurate a
count as possible.
So, I want to again thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for
you agreeing to come here to Cincinnati and hold this hearing
on this critically important issue especially as we approach
census day on April 1st. And so with that, I'll turn it back
over to you.
Mr. Clay. You're very welcome, Representative, and you may
have the pleasure of introducing our first panel. This is your
hometown, and I'll allow you to do that.
Mr. Driehaus. Do you want me to read what you've written
here or do you want me to----
Mr. Clay. You may as well.
Mr. Driehaus. OK. I won't tell you the background between
the mayor and myself. I want to start by introducing first our
mayor, the Honorable Mark Mallory. Mayor Mallory is a national
leader on Census counts in urban areas. As mayor, he
successfully challenged the 2005 census estimate for Cincinnati
adding 22,000 people to the population. Since then he has made
numerous presentations on the subject and was honored in 2008
with an appointment as chair of the newly formed 2010 Census
Taskforce for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Mayor Mallory is a life-long Cincinnatian; born and raised
in the West End. He is a graduate of the Cincinnati Academy of
Math and Science and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in
administrative management from the University of Cincinnati,
our host. And let me, again, thank the University of Cincinnati
for their hospitality and their willingness to host this
hearing here on campus.
Next, we have Mr. Thomas L. Mesenbourg, Acting Deputy
Director of the U.S. Census Bureau. Mr. Mesenbourg has worked
at the Census Bureau since 1972. In 2004 he was the recipient
of a Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Senior
Executives, the Government's highest award for career
executives.
Mr. Mesenbourg earned his Bachelors degree in economics
from Boston University in 1968 and his Master's from Penn State
in 1971. So with that, I would like to open it up, and I know
you want to swear in our----
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much, Representative. If I could ask
both witnesses to stand, please. It's the policy of the
committee to swear in all our witnesses testifying. So, raise
your right hands and repeat after me.
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Clay. Thank you. You may be seated. Let the record
reflect that both witnesses answered in the affirmative. Each
of you will have 5 minutes in which to make opening statements
and your complete written testimony will be included in the
hearing record. And Mr. Mayor, we will proceed with you.
STATEMENT OF MARK MALLORY, MAYOR OF CINCINNATI, OH
Mr. Mallory. Thank you very much, Congressman Clay. Members
of the distinguished Information Policy, Census, and National
Archives Subcommittee, thank you very much for affording me the
opportunity to offer testimony today. Congressman Clay, this is
the second time I've had the distinguished opportunity of
presenting to your subcommittee. The first was in St. Louis;
you were very gracious and a wonderful host and I thank you for
that.
Congressman Driehaus, thank you very much for not only
being the host for today's subcommittee meeting, but for having
the full understanding of the importance of this issue as it
relates not just to the city of Cincinnati but to the Nation
itself.
The focus of this hearing is on hard-to-count populations.
Approximately 95 percent of the Census tracts in Cincinnati are
designated as hard-to-counts by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Therefore, all of our Census activities--are on hard-to-count--
activities are really focused in this area, and I can think of
no better city to hold this hearing than the city of Cincinnati
based on the history that we have had with the Census.
So in my testimony today, I'm going to share with you the
challenges that Cincinnati faces; in particular in counting our
hard-to-count population. For the purposes of background, I'm
going to give you an overview of the Census activities under my
administration, and I'll include an update on the efforts by
the U.S. Conference of Mayors' Census Taskforce.
To take you back, in 2006 the Census Bureau estimated
Cincinnati's population at 308,728 people, a decrease of 6.8
percent since the 2000 census. Now, the estimate became the
source of headlines for many articles stating that Cincinnati
was dying and that people no longer wanted to live or invest in
our city. I knew those numbers could not be correct. They do
not reconcile with the new development that was taking place in
the city of Cincinnati. Since the year 2000 there have been
numerous housing and other development projects that did not
seem to be accounted for in the new estimates.
When I learned that cities could indeed challenge their
estimate, I directed our Planning Department to conduct an
analysis of Cincinnati records including building permits,
demolition permits, and conversions of buildings into
apartments and condominiums. The analysis was submitted to the
Census Bureau as a challenge to the estimate and in a few short
months we were notified by the Census Bureau that our data was
indeed accepted. Our population estimate as a result of that
challenge was increased to 331,310 people, and that recognized
an additional 22,000 residents from the initial estimate.
Now, that number helped disprove the reports that our city
was in a state of decline, and it was the beginning of the
turnaround for the image of our city; not only for residents,
but for investors as well. Subsequent to that, in 2007, we
commissioned Social Compact to conduct a comprehensive analysis
of Cincinnati's population. Using their analysis, we now know
that the city of Cincinnati's true population is 378,259
people. That's a 13 percent increase over the 2000 census, and
that number helped us refocus our approach for the 2010 census.
And what I mean by that is, our approach in Cincinnati is that
we are not going to count the population this year, we are
going to account for at least 378,259 people. That's is a major
shift, I think, in the way cities approach the Census.
If, for example, a neighborhood is counted and we find
fewer people than we expected to find in that particular
neighborhood, we are going to invest more time and more
resources going back into that neighborhood until we are
satisfied that we have accounted for everybody there.
One challenge that we recognized early on was that City
Government can't do this alone. We established our Complete
Count Committee nearly 2 years ago, and I appointed the
president of the Greater Cincinnati Urban League and the
director of our planning department at the city of Cincinnati
as co-chairs of the effort to ensure that we have an accurate
count.
That committee was charged with developing a comprehensive
plan to build awareness for the Census and to ensure that all
of our citizens were accounted for. And one of the things that
I have stressed locally and nationally is that we have to
partner with the U.S. Census. We can't expect the Census to
come in town and conduct a count that is expected to be
accurate if we are not active and involved with the U.S.
Census.
Another challenge that we face, of course, is getting
people to understand the importance of the Census, getting them
to understand what it is that we are trying to achieve beyond
the Federal dollars that come to a city. This really has
effects on the perception of the city itself. So in Cincinnati,
once we created our Complete Count Committee we did a branding,
and we called our efforts in Cincinnati ``Cincinnati Counts,''
which is the basis for our educational and awareness campaign.
And we launched ``Cincinnati Counts'' on April 1, 2009, and I
declared this entire year from April 1, 2009 to April 1, 2010
as census year in Cincinnati.
So to build awareness, ``Cincinnati Counts'' has
distributed T-shirts, bumper stickers, flyers and buttons to
the Complete Count Committee members, who have in turn
distributed those materials to their clientele and to their
targeted communities.
One of our strategies was to make sure that we had
representation on the Complete Count Committee from every
targeted community we could identify. We have provided street
banners and posters for windows of businesses in business
districts and we have participated in more than 150 community
events, and we have made presentations to countless community
groups.
We have engaged our partners to assist us in this effort.
Here's an example, the Avondale Youth Council knocked on more
than 1,000 doors recently to build awareness around the Census.
We have provided materials to the Greater Cincinnati United Way
to distribute though their member organizations and recently
the Cincinnati Enquirer highlighted the difficulty of getting
an accurate count in the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood. And one
of our partners in that area, Emmanuel Community Center, has
been helping to build awareness with regular events and the
distribution of materials. Again, our strategy has been to
engage those agencies and individuals that represent the hard-
to-count populations.
Cincinnati has partnered with the Census Bureau to talk
about the Census in houses of faith. And last October and again
this month, nearly 100 different faith organizations across our
city participated in including Census information in their
bulletins. They posted a copy of the Census questionnaire. They
included Census facts in an email blast to their congregations.
Again, these are all strategies aimed at getting to as many
people as we can.
We have sent emails to the presidents of the 52 community
councils. We have sent out additional targeted emails to those
communities that we know are targeted and difficult to count,
and we continue to not only inform people about the importance
on the Census itself but we are talking to them about the fact
that there are jobs available. Particularly in this job market,
it is a great thing to know that someone is hiring. And we, of
course, are hoping to utilize as many local people in the very
communities that we are counting. The count in those
communities--we figure that familiarity will help us get a more
accurate count.
Now, as mayor, I understand how critical an accurate count
can be to the city. It impacts the Federal dollars that we
receive. It also impacts the image of our city. If a population
is declining it is a signal to investors, to businesses, and to
residents that there's no future in their city.
Now, I've discussed the importance of an accurate count
with mayors across the country through the U.S. Conference of
Mayors. It was in 2008 that I was appointed as the Chair of the
2010 Taskforce, which was formed to focus on fostering
partnerships between the cities and the Census Bureau. In that
role I convened a series of taskforce meetings on a number of
topics and we have been able to get information out to more
than 1,000 mayors across though country. Over the last 2 years,
we have been able to share best practices, offer presentations
from Census Bureau representatives, and hear from experts on
Census issues. In 2008--excuse me--our workshop focused on how
to challenge Census estimates; and in 2009 we reviewed actions,
steps, and strategies for creating Completing Count Committees.
So, now, we are at the final push as we look toward the
next 23 days leading up to census day 2010. The city of
Cincinnati, ``Cincinnati Counts'' campaign is working to turn
awareness into action. Our focus at this point is to motivate
residents to complete the form and mail it back: ``Ten
questions. Ten minutes.'' We want everyone to hear that message
and to take that action.
We want to make sure there's a deeper connection that
people have knowing about the Census, and knowing how an
accurate Census impacts their lives. So, we are now working
with the Census on specific fact sheets, partnering with media
outlets for promotion of census day activities and creating
other activities with our partner organizations that are
tailored to their memberships. Again, all to get them to
understand why this is so important.
We understand that the work does not end on April 1st. We
are committed to working with the U.S. Census as long as it
takes in order for this count to be complete. Again, we want to
ensure that in the city of Cincinnati we have a Census count
that indicates our population is at least 378,259 residents. I
thank you for your time, and I would be happy to answer any
questions.
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor, for that testimony.
Now, we will turn to Mr. Mesenbourg. You have 5 minutes.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Mallory follows:]
STATEMENT OF THOMAS L. MESENBOURG, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, U.S. CENSUS
BUREAU
Mr. Mesenbourg. Chairman Clay, Congressman Driehaus, I
appreciate the opportunity to testify before you about the 2010
census. The Census Bureau's primary goal is to count everyone,
count them once, and count them in the right place. This is a
daunting task, and current economic conditions make it even
more difficult this decade. Foreclosures, displaced households
and individuals, homelessness, natural disasters, and unusual
living arrangements do pose challenges to the count, but we
believe we have procedures in place to ensure that we count
everyone.
Let me start with a brief discussion of one of the
fundamental principals we use in conducting the count, that is
of ``Usual Residence.'' The Census Bureau's Usual Residence
Rule is grounded in the Census Act of 1790, which governed the
very first census. The concept of Usual Residence remains
intact today. The Usual Residence Rules intended to count
people in the place where they eat and sleep most of the time.
I'd like to start by describing some of the challenges we
face because of economic dislocation and unusual or
nontraditional living arrangements, and what we are doing to
address these challenges. Most residents live in traditional
living arrangements, i.e. single-family homes, townhouses or
apartments. But there is a segment of the population that
reside in what we would call group-quarters facilities, such as
college dormitories like the ones at the University of
Cincinnati. We have tried and tested procedures and processes
in place to count college students, and other individuals
living in group quarters facilities.
Now, because of economic conditions many families and
individuals have been forced to relocate. Some may have been
forced to abandon their foreclosed homes and move into
apartments, others may have moved in with family or friends and
others may be experiencing homelessness or living in
campgrounds or other transitory locations.
While economic conditions pose new challenges, we believe
we have procedures in place to count households or individuals
that have been dislocated. Foreclosure is at a record level,
but every foreclosed property, if still standing, is included
on our Master Address File whether or not the unit is occupied.
Now, Census forms will show up in 121 million mailboxes next
week between March 15th and March 17, 2010. Now, if the
property is unoccupied the form may be returned to us by the
Postal Service as being undeliverable, but beginning May 1st
all addresses from which we have not received a report form
will be contacted by an enumerator and will be contacted up to
six times until we actually get information on that housing
unit and the individuals that live in it. Addresses that are
designated at the end of this process as being vacant and
unoccupied will be included in the housing count. But, of
course, they will have no population counted in the 2010
census.
Now, individuals and families that have moved will be sent
a 2010 census Form at their new address. If people have moved
in with their relatives or friends they should be counted as
part of that household. And we have added a new question to the
2010 Census Short Form to get at this issue of dislocation. We
have also developed advertising directed at those segments of
the population that may have been impacted by the economic
conditions. Those ads will be running on radio and in print
media. Our vast network of partner organizations, which include
the Complete Count Committee in Cincinnati, which Mayor Mallory
has done such a fine job with, now number over 210,000
organizations across the country. And they play a key role in
getting the message out about how important the Census is.
Procedures are in place to count college students that live
in dorms or other college facilities. These students will be
counted at the university or college dorm or the fraternity or
sorority house where they live. We have just completed the
advanced visit to all group-quarters facilities and will begin
data collection on April 1, 2010. Students living in off-campus
housing will receive a 2010 Census Form at their address on
campus and we would ask them to fill it out and mail it back.
Parents whose child or children who do not live at home but
live in a dormitory away from home will be instructed not to
include them on their Census forms. That's another addition to
the short form. Respondents displaced by natural disasters for
an extended period of time will generally be counted where they
reside on or about April 1, 2010. Populations affected by
Hurricanes Ike, Katrina and Rita will be counted where they
currently live and sleep most of the time as of April 1, 2010.
For areas that were specifically affected by these hurricanes,
we have taken special measures to ensure that we have an
accurate count. We have hired additional staff and hired them
early, provided extra training and added additional local
Census offices in the affected areas, and we have also launched
an aggressive outreach and partnership effort in these areas.
The workers that we have hired in these hurricane-impacted
areas will also be used to update our address list in these
areas and we'll actually deliver a form to the housing units.
In addition to the traditional enumeration of housing units
and group quarters, the Census Bureau has developed a Service-
Based Enumeration operation to reach people experiencing
homelessness. These people will be enumerated at the locations
where they receive services. This operation was specifically
designed to enumerate people who use service facilities because
they may be missed during the traditional enumeration of
housing units and group quarters. These service locations and
pre-identified outdoor locations include: Shelters, soup
kitchens, and non-sheltered outdoor locations. These are pre-
identified sheltered outdoor locations where people live for
free and we depend upon our partners to help us identify where
these areas are located. We will be conducting the Service-
Based Enumeration Operation March 29th through March 31, 2010.
In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, Congressman Driehaus, I want
to close by reaffirming the Census Bureau's commitment to an
accurate count in the 2010 census. A decade of planning has
ended and now the count begins. We believe we are prepared to
face the challenges I've discussed, and the Census Bureau looks
forward to working with this subcommittee and all of our
200,000 partners, in making this the most successful Census
ever. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Mesenbourg follows:]
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much, Mr. Mesenbourg. Representative
Driehaus, you're recognized for questions.
Mr. Driehaus. Mayor, if you could, just guide us through,
you know, what was the thinking? When you initially challenged
the Census count or the count that was challenged in 2005 and
2006, what did you learn about the consequences of not
accurately counting the population in terms of funding
ramifications or other ramifications that would impact a city
like the city of Cincinnati?
Mr. Mallory. Congressman Driehaus, we felt it was very
important upon receiving the Census update number in 2006 to
really make sure that we had an accurate representation of what
was going on in Cincinnati. Obviously, through the Census
challenge, we were credited back with more than 22,000
individuals. But through that process we learned that the U.S.
Conference of Mayors did an estimate sometime ago--I believe
after the previous Census--that for each individual missed, a
city is out of about $2,067 per person per year. So, for the
city of Cincinnati, if we look at the count that we believe to
be correct that was conducted by Social Compact we are out of
about $104 million in various sources of State and Federal
funding for the last 10 years. So, $104 million that could have
gone to do a lot of great things in the city was missed,
because we did not get the most accurate count possible.
Mr. Driehaus. You reference Social Compact and the count
that was conducted by Social Compact. What methodology was used
by Social Compact and are there things that they are doing that
we can learn on the Census side as we go through this
enumeration? And I'm specifically concerned, obviously, about
the hard-to-count populations, you know, what did Social
Compact do that might be different than what the Census is
doing?
Mr. Mallory. Social Compact is an organization that really
focuses on information, information mining. They specialize in
it is what they do. They are a non-profit organization. They
have no interest other than providing accurate information to
whoever it is that seeks the information. They use 27 different
data points to establish that a person may be living at a
particular address. So--excuse me--in addition to using
certificates of occupancy, they use things like Duke Energy
bills and telephone bills and credit card information and cable
bills, to determine that a person may be living at an address.
Those are things that can sometimes--things that are missed in
the current processes that we have.
Mr. Driehaus. Mr. Mesenbourg, following up on that, this is
a concern of mine, and I think it's the concern of many on the
subcommittee. That because, you know, we do go out there and we
depend upon the Census forms being returned and then if they
are not returned and we go back and knock on the door, and you
mentioned you do that up to six times, to what extent are we
using secondary resources like the 27 examples--though 27 were
not provided--the various examples of secondary resources that
are available to us to identify that, in fact, someone is
living at the residence? If they didn't answer the door on the
second or third time, what's the chance that they are going to
answer it on the third or sixth? Doesn't mean they don't live
there, just means we are not counting them. How are we, as the
Census, using this secondary information to make sure the count
is accurate?
Mr. Mesenbourg. Perhaps a few words about the challenge
process of the pop estimates. The pop estimates--we put out
estimates for the Nation, for States, for counties and for
local jurisdictions. The State--the national, State, and county
levels are based on administrative records. And what is key is
what the 2000 base was. So, that is basically the starting
point. We then add births. We subtract deaths, and then we
collect a measure of migration, both international and
national--domestic. Those figures are put out, the national and
State in December. The sub-county levels typically in the May/
June period.
Mr. Driehaus. If I could stop you for a second. You
mentioned your base is the 2000 count. Now, we have an example
when that was challenged and effectively challenged. So, do we
still use the 2000 count for the base or do we use an alternate
base depending upon a challenge?
Mr. Mesenbourg. We use the 2000 base as the base for the
population-estimates program. Those are events come from
administrative records: Births, death records, and the
international migration and the net migration. The Census, what
we are going to do is, we are going to use the Master Address
file that we have created over the decade. So starting in 2007,
local jurisdictions have the opportunity to review our address
file and update that and provide us with additional lists. In
fact, Cincinnati provided us with 13,000--12,000 to 13,000
additional addresses. Those addresses then went into what we
call the Address Canvassing Operation where we send 150,000
enumerators across the country between late March 2009 and July
2009. The purpose of that operation was to get at as complete
an address list as we could before the Census. We provided
feedback back to the local jurisdictions, and they had the
opportunity to appeal those addresses, and the addresses that
they appealed are going to be included in the Census mail.
So, the key to a complete Census is the completeness to
our--of our Master Address file. So, beginning next week we
will mail out 121 million questionnaires to all of those city-
style addresses listed on the Master Address file. If people
take 10 minutes to complete the form and send it back, an
enumerator will never show up at their doorstep. If they don't,
beginning May 1st we will send enumerators out and we will
contact individuals up to six times. You're perfectly right,
Congressman, it's not always obvious if somebody is living at
that address, but we will take every effort we can to verify
that. We do not rely on administrative records to make that
determination. We depend on personal observations by the
enumerator to do it. If the enumerator cannot--tells us that
address is vacant or should be removed from the mail list, we
go out and do one more check between mid July and mid August to
verify that is actually a vacant and deleted effort. So we
think we go to great lengths to make sure that we do not
incorrectly delete any address off the address list.
But to answer your question, we do not use administrative
sources to make that determination. There may still be a
utility connection and no one lives in the home. What we do
depend on are partners like Complete County Committee in
Cincinnati, local organizations in that area to help us get the
message out to folks about how important it is to participate
in the Census.
Mr. Driehaus. Is the use of those secondary documents
prohibited?
Mr. Mesenbourg. It's not prohibited, but it's given that we
will probably be sending enumerators out between 48 and 49
million housing units. It's just not statistically feasible to
use those and to have any hard evidence that the housing unit
is actually occupied or it's vacant.
Mr. Driehaus. But it does seem to me that if you are aware
that there's a utility bill being paid, you know, at an
address, if there's a cable bill being paid at an address, or
you are aware that the property has been sold, at sheriff's
sale, that would give you a pretty good indication as to
whether or not an individual lives there. Now, you could go up
to those homes and knock on the doors repeatedly and not have a
good idea if someone lives there or not, but it seems to me
that there are secondary resources that would allow you to make
a pretty good guess as to which households and which apartments
remain occupied, you could go back to those individual
residents.
Mr. Mesenbourg. Well, it could potentially provide housing
information whether the housing unit was occupied or vacant.
The administrative sources would not provide any information
about how many individuals reside in that household, what their
age was, what their characteristics are. So, that would be of a
major--that would be a major problem from the perspective of
the count.
Mr. Driehaus. Sure.
Mr. Mesenbourg. It could be useful in proving the count of
occupied housing units. It would not help us much in terms of
getting the count of the individuals that reside in that
housing unit.
Mr. Clay. Mr. Mayor, there's a wide variance in the Census
estimates of 2005, 2006, from 308,000 to--you found 378,000? I
mean, Social Compact. That's quite a wide variance. Could you
talk a little bit about your work with the U.S. Conference of
Mayors, if they found an additional 70,000 in a city like
Cincinnati, then what impact does that have nationally in
cities such as Atlanta or other major American cities? Are we
missing the count? Are we that far off the count?
Mr. Mallory. Well, Mr. Chairman, in some urban areas
throughout the United States, certainly, I think we are. The
U.S. Conference of Mayors has been focused on the issue for
quite some time. As you can imagine, this is what the
conference does is it concerns itself with the issues that
mayors face specifically. And we have seen in community after
community under-counts in predominantly urban areas that have
resulted in funding that does not come through, not--you know,
inappropriate representation in Congress and so on. The group
that I've mentioned, Social Compact, has not just done the
drill-down study in Cincinnati, they have done it in a number
of cities across this country. They did it in Miami, in
Detroit. They have done it in quite a few cities. I believe
they did it in St. Louis as well.
This is really an issue for the Nation itself, and working
through the Conference of Mayors we have been trying to bring
about awareness of the problem, trying to get mayors engaged so
they understand they have to partner with the U.S. Census. It's
cities that have and collect the information that is used in
the Census challenge. The Census is simply asking you to fill
out a form and to say, you know, how many numbers go in the
various columns. We have all that information. So it's
incumbent upon us as city mayors and city administrators of
doing a good job of tracing the information so we can be as
accurate as possible when the Census comes around.
Mr. Clay. We will be--this subcommittee will be very
interested in engaging with you and the U.S. Conference of
Mayors in preparation for 2020 on how we can look at best
practices, and figure out how we can get a more exact science
here. I mean, in your unqualified estimate, when all of the
numbers are in in the 2010 census, what do you think the
population of Cincinnati will be?
Mr. Mallory. Well, I'm hopeful that we will be able to
illustrate that we have at least 378,259 people. We are going
to work very hard to ensure that we get the most accurate count
possible. I will say that there are still a number of concerns
that U.S. Conference of Mayors has about how Census data is
collected, about certain processes, certain issues that have
been followed. I think that's been in the hall of Congress for
a long time, but I think mayors will add their voices to the
chorus saying that there do need to be some changes.
So, I'm hopeful that we will come out of this with 378,259,
but we will have to see.
Mr. Clay. And apparently, you understand the importance of
the Complete Count Committee as far as increasing awareness in
the communities of the Census among hard-to-count populations.
Can you give us some examples of Complete Count Committee and
encouraging participation? I heard you say you started a
Complete Count Committee in 2008?
Mr. Mallory. We started 2 years ago, which is probably not
typical for cities to do. The whole goal of Complete Count
Committee is to make sure that the information about the
importance of the Census is getting out. I think one of the
advantages we have in Cincinnati is that I have been talking
about the Census since 2006, because of the Census challenge.
I'm hoping that people will be so tired of hearing me talk
about it that they will fill out the form just to shut me up.
We certainly have encouraged other cities to do the same thing,
to set up their Complete Count Committees.
I will tell you that there are cities that have not done it
at this point in time and that's unfortunate, because it really
takes someone from each of the targeted populations that can
talk to those populations to get them to understand the
importance of filling out that form and sending it back. There
is still mistrust. There's still people that have concerns
about the information being released to some other governmental
agency, and I think we talked about this at length. Census data
cannot be released in detail. It will not be shared with any
other governmental agency.
Sometimes that's a tough message to get across to people.
We have tried very hard to get people that represent basically
every community of the city filling out the form and sending it
back.
Mr. Clay. And the Census communication plan will convey
that message also that the information that you provide will be
confidential, will not be shared with any other governmental
entity. As you say, it will be kept for 72 years.
Mr. Mesenbourg, best practices. You know, looking at a
group like Social Compact, how does work with the bureau on
what will be best practices to--to motivate hard-to-count
communities and to get the most accurate count possible for a
future Census? And I look forward to working with you all to
see if we can change some of the processes. I mean, you just
mentioned in your opening statement that some of these
practices have been going on since 1790, the first Census.
Mr. Mesenbourg. With technology--technology has changed and
I think there are great opportunities to leverage the local
update of the Census address program, that now we did one time
before the--census. So, I think it's critical as we start
thinking about the 2020 census that we think of a process that
is an ongoing process with local jurisdictions so they can feed
us that information. So, we are not in 2018 starting with an
address file that we need to update at that point but rather
that we are in a position where the address file has been
updated all through the decade with input from our local
jurisdictions and our local partners, and we are more than
willing to work with groups like Social Compact about how best
to do that.
And I think one of the big advantages of the challenge
process is what it has done. It has convinced mayors in some
cities about the importance of providing up-to-date information
about construction permits, starts, and houses, housing units,
and such; those all are input that can help us improve the
address files. So, we look forward to coming up with new ways
of doing that and certainly a lot of this information is
available electronically, and we should be able to leverage
that.
Mr. Clay. Very good point on the challenge. Representative
Driehaus?
Mr. Driehaus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There was an article
in the paper--I don't know if it was yesterday or a few days
ago--about hiring especially in some of the hard-to-count
neighborhoods and the difficulty we have seen in hiring given
our dependence on enumerators and knocking on those doors. It
concerns me that we are having difficulty hiring people from
those very neighborhoods that we care so much about.
Can you help me better understand how we are approaching
that and whether or not we are making progress here in
Cincinnati and throughout the country when it comes to local
hirers who might be more familiar with the populations in those
given neighborhoods?
Mr. Mesenbourg. Sure, Congressman. A key tenet of our
hiring is recruit and hire locally. This is especially critical
as we look forward to the non-response followup operation that
begins in May. We think it's critically important that the
folks at these places that end up knocking on doors are people
from those neighborhoods, people that are recognized within
that neighborhood. So, our whole strategy will be to hire
locally.
Now--and I think you were referring to the USA Today
article, that pointed out Cincinnati was one area where we are
having some issues finding people with certain language skills.
We continue to work that hard. Overall, for the nation, we are
actually running at about 120 percent above our applicant
target. Not surprising, given economic conditions. Where we
have special language skills, we advertise those and those
folks will go through a different process.
So, we are focused on the 5-percent of the local Census
offices, and we have 494 of those scattered across the United
States. For 95 percent we are ahead of target in terms of
applicant, 5 percent we are experiencing problems, and those 5
percent we are focusing hard on getting the right kind of
people in to apply. One of the ways we do that is also to use
our partnership network to get the message out, get people of
those language skills to actually come and take the test and
score.
So, to get hired, it's a completely competitive process.
So, we start with the highest score and work our way down, but
if we need people that speak Polish, Russian, something like
that, that will become a different list of applicants and we
will interview off that process.
Mr. Driehaus. Are you convinced that those hires are going
to be made before April 1st or shortly thereafter?
Mr. Mesenbourg. Those hires will be made by April. We will
start training for the non-response followup about the third
week in April, and those folks will start knocking on doors May
1st. So we--our goal is to actually have more applicants than
we need to hire. Actually, about a factor of about four times
as many people as we are going to hire, and we are making some
progress across the country, but we have a few pockets that we
have to do even more work on.
Mr. Driehaus. And how long is the non-response followup
going to take?
Mr. Mesenbourg. Non-response followup is scheduled to go
from May 1st to July 10, 2010, but that will depend on the
cooperation of the American public. So, our greatest wish is
that we have a tremendous response rate and will be able to
finish that non-response followup even faster. If we have a
worse-than-anticipated response rate, it will take a little bit
longer. But if we do end early, the enumerators that we used on
non-response followup will move into what we call ``Vacant
Delete Check.''
This is what I was mentioning earlier. If cannot--if we
identify an address or housing unit as being vacant or
unoccupied during non-response followup, we will send another
enumerator out to verify that, and that will start about mid-
July through mid-August, that operation.
Mr. Driehaus. Thank you.
Mr. Clay. Thank you, Mr. Mesenbourg. In the 2000 census
with group-quarters, was the under-count, what is the Census
Bureau doing differently this year from how it handled group-
quarters in 2006?
Mr. Mesenbourg. We have done a couple things different,
Chairman, this time. The first we basically integrated the
group quarter addresses into the Master Address file.
Mr. Clay. OK.
Mr. Mesenbourg. In 2000 we had a separate address file for
group-quarters versus housing units. This time as part of the
address canvassing operation that we did in 2009, we went out
and checked out the addresses. If the address appeared to be a
group-quarters or we were not quite clear whether it was a
housing unit, we marked it as an other living-quarters.
And then between September 23rd and October 23rd, we did a
separate address validation of about 2 million of these other
living quarter addresses. Turned out about 12 percent of them
ended up to be group-quarters. Those could be dormitories,
nursing homes, prisons, etc. So, that was one big change to get
the address correct.
Starting March 1st, we did what we call a Group-Quarters
Advanced Visit where we sent an enumerator out to all of the
group-quarters across the United States that was to establish
contact. So, for example, the University of Cincinnati, we sent
one of our staff out to meet with staff from Cincinnati and
find out what is the best way to get data on all the students
that live in dormitories, fraternity houses, sorority houses
and so on; and we'd also asked questions: Where is the local
housing in the Cincinnati area?
Starting May 1st, then we will--that contact person will go
back to their contacts at the University of Cincinnati and they
will work on delivering forms, and with that contact we will
address a form for every individual that lives here, and then
we will arrange with the contact when we should come back and
pick up those forms, if there are any special circumstances in
terms of students who might be off. It's spring break, we work
on that.
I think those are going to be--the big changes are we think
we have a much better address list, and we have a very focused
operation through this advance visited and enumeration----
Mr. Clay. Thank you for that. According to the Bureau,
Census Tract 16 here in Cincinnati is the hardest to count in
all of the State of Ohio, and the sixth hardest to count in the
country. What additional measures is the Bureau taking to
reduce this significant undercount in this tract?
Mr. Mesenbourg. Our whole focus is on counting the hardest
to count tracts. That has been the focus of our advertising
campaign and our partnership program. So, I think there are a
number of things that we implemented that ought to help. For
the first time, this will be a short-form-only Census. It's
``Ten questions. Ten minutes.'' In 2000 and the previous
Census, 1/6th of the housing units got a long form. So, this
Census you'll only get a short form.
In areas with high Hispanic populations, 20 percent or more
of the population, we will be sending out a bilingual English/
Spanish form to those areas, and our testing has shown that
brings in a higher response rate.
Now, for the hardest to count tracts--and this is based on
their mail-back response rate in 2000 as well as later data in
the American Community Survey. Beginning around the 1st through
April 3rd, we will re-mail questionnaires to every address in
those hardest to count areas. So, tract 16, everyone in that
tract will get a Census form March 15th through March 17th, and
then we will followup with a complete re-mail on April 1st to
April 3rd. Testing has shown that should bump up the response
rate also.
This is a first time we have done a replacement mailing in
the Census. We had not done that previously. And then we have a
new program that we are going to unleash on April 10th. We are
calling it a Neighborhood Blitz. This is being organized in
those areas that we do a replacement mailing and those are all
the hardest to count areas.
We are working with our partners to actually make an event
on that Saturday. It could be fire trucks going through the
neighborhoods with Banner 2010. We are providing some T-shirts
and that sort of thing. But it's really to get the message out
how important it is to send that form out.
The reason we are targeting the tracts where we are doing
the replacement mailing is we will have just delivered another
form to them. So, we want them to take the time to fill it out
and get it back, and we are hopeful that will help. We are also
advertising in 28 languages this time compared to about 18 last
time. Our partnership staff, which I think is going to be key
in doing this--we had about 600 people in 2000. We have 3,000
people in 2010, and they speak 124 different languages in
total.
So between the replacement mailing, the short form, the
partnership program and the communication campaign we think--we
are quite hopeful that this is going to raise the response rate
in the hardest to count tracts.
Mr. Clay. Thank you for that answer. Representative
Driehaus?
Mr. Driehaus. When you mention the Hispanic communities,
and the concentration of Hispanics in the given communities,
how large of an area are you talking about when you are talking
about the bilingual--we have a very small pockets within a
given Census tract, but there might be a high concentration of
Hispanic households, for instance, in that very small pocket.
Mr. Mesenbourg. We look at the Census tract level.
Mr. Driehaus. OK.
Mr. Mesenbourg. That typically has about 4,000 individuals
in it. If 20 percent or more of the housing units were Hispanic
then we target them to get a bilingual form.
Mr. Driehaus. Within the entire Census tract?
Mr. Mesenbourg. Within the entire Census tract. So, the
entire tract gets a bilingual form. After all, we don't know
what language folks speak at any specific address. Now, if for
some reason people did not get a bilingual form and want a form
in Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean or Vietnamese, they can
call our telephone assistance number and we will send them a
form in that language to help hem also.
Mr. Driehaus. Mr. Mesenbourg or the mayor, how are we
partnering with Cincinnati Public Schools? When I think of
hard-to-reach populations, the first-generation immigrant
population, we find those families in Cincinnati Public Schools
through the Academy of Foreign Languages or other schools that
we have here in Cincinnati. Are we partnering in some way with
Cincinnati Public Schools to reach out to families in some way
to help them to better understand the importance of the Census?
Mr. Mesenbourg. We have a Census in Schools Program that
basically targets every school district in the United States,
and we provided--we provided information, basically a
curriculum plan that they can use. We agree wholeheartedly,
Congressman, with your assessment that very often the best way
to reach a family is through their children.
So during March--and each school district can pick what
week they do it--but during March they are going to do a
curriculum that focuses on how to use Census figures and then
also take home the message that the 2010 census Form is coming
out in mid March and go home and tell their parents that it's
important that they participate.
Mr. Clay. Any more questions for this panel?
Now, let me thank both witnesses for your testimony today.
Again, Mr. Mayor, thank you for your hospitality. This is my
first time to Cincinnati. You have a wonderful city, beautiful
attractions, and I will be back. This panel is dismissed.
Mr. Mallory. Thank you very much.
Mr. Mesenbourg. Thank you.
Mr. Clay. Thank you. Bring the second panel forward,
please. We will now hear from our second panel. Representative
Driehaus will introduce the panel.
Mr. Driehaus. Thank you all very much for being here today.
If I could just briefly go through the members of the panel
before us.
Our first witness is Mr. David Scharfenberger, director of
training with the Working in Neighborhoods Organization here in
Cincinnati. Working in Neighborhoods is an advocacy
organization for home ownership. David has trained community
leaders for over 30 years and brought people together to
improve their communities. On the foreclosure issue, David has
developed outreach efforts to inform groups about what they can
do to address this issue and the resources available. A
graduate of Xavier University, David also has a Masters in
Social Work from the University of Louisville.
Next we will hear from Jason Riviero. Jason currently
serves as the Ohio State director of the League of United Latin
American Citizens [LULAC]. LULAC is the oldest and largest
Hispanic civil rights organization in the country. Under his
leadership, LULAC has obtained over $500,000 to fund
educational programs across the country. In addition, Jason led
the campaign to bring the 2011 LULAC National Convention here
to Cincinnati, which will bring over 15,000 attendees and over
$3 million in revenue to the city.
Next on our panel is Ms. Suzanne Hopkins, director of
programs, the Center for Independent Living Options. Suzanne
has 18 years in the disability services field. She manages the
staff of CILO, which is the oldest center for independent
living in Ohio, serving individuals with disabilities in the
Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky region. Founded by
individuals with disabilities and chartered in 1977 as a
501(c)3, is governed, managed, and staffed by a majority of
professionals with disabilities. CILO programs include peer
support, housing referral, and personal assistance services.
Suzanne was the 2001 recipient of the Dixie Harman Memorial
Award recognizing her advocacy for those with disabilities.
Next, we will hear from Josh Spring, executive director
with the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. Josh
graduated from Xavier University with a Bachelors degree in
social work and is a licensed social worker. Josh came to his
position at the Coalition for the Homeless upon completing his
tenure with the Over-The-Rhine's 250 unit community housing.
Our final panelist is Mr. Todd Duncan, director of housing
and food services at the University of Cincinnati with a total
enrollment of over 40,000 students. Mr. Duncan is tasked with
not only student housing but also with coordination and
management of the campus's recreation center, which exemplifies
the trends on college campuses for multi-use/multi-functional
facilities. Mr. Duncan has served in similar positions at
Northern Kentucky University, the University of Central
Oklahoma, and Lindsey Wilson College. Mr. Duncan began his
career at Western Kentucky University earning a Bachelor of
Science in social studies and a Masters in education.
I thank you all for appearing before us today.
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much, Representative Driehaus. It's
the policy of the subcommittee to swear all witnesses in. Would
you answer in the affirmative?
[Witnesses sworn.]
Mr. Clay. Thank you. You may be seated. Let the record
reflect that all witnesses answered in the affirmative. Each of
you will have 5 minutes to make an opening statement and your
complete written testimony will be included in the hearing
record, and Mr. Scharfenberger, you may proceed.
STATEMENT OF DAVID SCHARFENBERGER, LEAD ORGANIZER, TRAINING &
OUTREACH PROGRAMS, WORKING IN NEIGHBORHOODS [WIN]
Mr. Scharfenberger. Chairman Clay, Congressman Driehaus,
and members of the Information Policy, Census, and National
Archives Subcommittee, I want to thank you for the opportunity
to address you today regarding the hard-to-count populations in
greater Cincinnati. I am here specifically to address the
living conditions of those who have experienced or are going
through foreclosure.
My position at Working in Neighborhoods as director of
training and lead organizer for Working in Neighborhoods, which
is a nonprofit organization located in Cincinnati that began in
1978 with the focus of empowering residents to improve their
own communities and improved housing and community development.
WIN is a HUD-certified foreclosure prevention and housing
counseling agency serving Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, and
Warren counties in Southwest Ohio. WIN has a track record of
over 30 years of working with financial institutions and
developing opportunities for qualified families to become
homeowners. Since 1999, we began to see startling increases in
the number of foreclosures.
In order to respond to this need, WIN dedicated staff to
provide individual counseling and advocacy for those families
to help them work out plans to save their homes. Last year over
700 families contacted us requesting assistance in saving their
homes. Of these families, many get discouraged, and just give
up or do not follow through. Because we have longstanding
relationships with banks and the skill and persistence of our
staff, we are able to save about 70 percent of the families
with whom we work.
In an attempt to document the number of families that lose
their homes in Hamilton County we began to track the homes lost
to due to foreclosure, actually sold at sheriff's sale since
19--since 2002 we began this study. We record homes listed for
sheriff's sale and sold, recording the address and the lender.
We then compile a report, which I brought some copies of, of
our last study. That gives the total number of homes foreclosed
on in Hamilton County and breaks this number down by community
and by lender.
I will give some of our findings regarding foreclosure
based on our research and also our work experience in the field
of helping to save people's homes.
Looking at our study, and our last study was done, released
in March 2009, and so going back to the last 5 years from 2004
through 2008, the total number of foreclosure filings was
28,520: Homes lost to sheriff's sale during that 5-year period
were 14,304 homes. If you assume that there are possibly three
people in each home, that means a total of almost 42,912
individuals who were displaced due to foreclosure.
The percentage--if you look at the number of homes lost,
and the number of foreclosure filings, the percentage of
numbers of homes lost is about 50 percent to those who receive
a foreclosure notice.
We have not completed our study for 2009 yet. We do know
that there were 6,714 foreclosure filings in 2009 in Hamilton
County. If the percentage of properties sold at sheriff's sale
to the total number of foreclosure filings is consistent with
previous years, we may have lost 3,357 homes last year due to
foreclosure with a possible 10,071 individuals displaced.
If you look at the surrounding counties around Hamilton
County, Butler, Clermont, Warren what we are seeing in terms of
trends is that the increase number of foreclosures, the percent
of increase, is going up dramatically in those surrounding
counties. That is especially in Warren County last year from
2008 to 2009, and this is taken from statistics compiled by the
Ohio Supreme Court that the numbers went up 14.7 percent. That
is for Butler, Clermont, and Warren Counties. From 2005 to 2009
Butler County went up 54 percent, Clermont went up 65 percent,
and Warren County went up 60 percent.
If you assume that the number of foreclosures is about 50
percent of the filings, that amongst those three counties for
last year we may have seen 2,331 homes lost due to foreclosure.
Besides the impact on the actual number of homes--actual
number of families who lost their homes due to foreclosure, I
think we have all seen research that talks about the impact on
the community, and some of those I will just enumerate briefly.
One is the effect on property values. The effect on
property values will encourage people to move if their
community is going down due to number of foreclosures, and we
have seen this in Cincinnati, and certainly Hamilton County;
that people will move and will change the makeup and the
demographics of those communities. Declining tax revenues for
municipalities which means services are harder to fund.
Increased cost for taxpayers; certainly more vacant and
abandoned buildings creates more expenses for local taxpayers.
And finally, the health and well-being of those
communities, because of the health conditions, the declining
neighborhood conditions of those communities. These factors may
push or encourage existing homeowners in a community to look
elsewhere for housing and could result in a totally different
makeup or demographics of that community.
I have not seen, and I've asked the question many times, if
there's been any tracking of where people go when they lose
their homes. People that normally lose their homes that are in
foreclosure, for one thing, are embarrassed. It's not something
that they brag about, and if they have lost their home due to
foreclosure, you know, there are a number of anecdotal
information as to where they go. Some people, maybe, I'm sure
find other housing through apartments. Although, many times if
you go and try to rent an apartment they look at credit, and
your credit rating.
So, if your credit is poor after a foreclosure, it's going
to affect your ability to find other housing. They may move in
with family. They move to another State or they may become
homeless.
Recently, I've just heard stories of--I met with someone
from a social service agency last week who talked about, shared
a story of another woman in the community that she works in and
walked out of her house. This was a fairly middle class
community, but she walked out of her house and saw a car that
was parked on the street and it ended up being a family of four
that had been displaced because of foreclosure. And this woman
took the initiative to find housing, but how many people are
out there and uncounted?
I certainly--during the first panel--heard a number of
testimonies, number of ideas about how to reach those
populations that are foreclosed on, homeless, displaced for a
number of reasons, and I certainly applaud those efforts. I
don't think there's any simple or easy answer to this problem
of reaching families who are under growing foreclosure. I think
the idea of reaching out, going out into the communities, and
knocking on doors, using existing organizations, nonprofits,
churches to encourage people to fill out the form are all
important.
Certainly, the information that is collected through the
Census is important to all of us in terms of documenting what
is the change to demographics in the communities that we serve,
and we hope that through the Census it will provide us that
kind of information. The importance of reaching people, and
encouraging people to fill out the forms is essential and we
need to do all we can do get this right. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Scharfenberger follows:]
Mr. Clay. Thank you very much, Mr. Scharfenberger. Mr.
Riviero, 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF JASON RIVIERO, OHIO STATE DIRECTOR, LEAGUE OF
UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS
Mr. Riviero. Thank you, good afternoon. Well, Mr. Chairman
Clay and members of the committee, Representative Driehaus,
thank you for having me here today and on behalf of the League
of United Latin American Citizens' National Board, I would like
to express our appreciation for allowing us a few short moments
to summarize our assessment of the challenges in enumerating
the Latino community within our specific region here.
The next few minutes I would like to just point out the
impressive figures of growth among new Americans and summarize
both the positive elements and areas where our community sees
areas of improvement in order to ensure a complete count.
LULAC serves as a deeply committed partner to the 2010
decennial census and its mission of complying with the U.S.
Constitution's mandate of counting every person living within
this country. All LULAC--national, State, and local officers--
have been trained and encouraged to activate LULAC's
partnership with the 2010 decennial census. LULAC serves on the
National Complete Count Committee and here locally with Mayor
Mark Mallory's Complete Count Committee. Despite efforts like
the Vitter Amendment and others to discourage a complete count,
our initiatives to combat undercount include: Ya Es Hora, a
historic non-partisan Latino civic participation campaign
launched as the Latino community's action-oriented followup to
the immigration mobilizations of 2006.
In addition, we have a large youth-focused social media
campaign with Voto Latino; national local training seminars
held across the country. In addition, our national staff works
with Mr. Thomas Mesenbourg and Ms. Irma Harahash of the
National Census office to help increase the employment of
Hispanics in the 2010 census.
Representing Ohio, I'd like to point out just a few
important statistics because traditionally when you look at
Ohio you don't consider it one of the traditional destinations
for many Latinos or new immigrants. However, looking at the
figures over the past 10 years it's quite a surprising jump.
So, in 2007, the foreign-born share of Ohio's population
rose from 2.4 percent in 1990 to 4.7 percent, which equals
roughly about 420,000 immigrants: Of that figure, more than
half are Latino. Economically, the 2008 purchasing power of
Ohio's Latinos totaled 6.1 billion, an increase of 291 percent
since 1990. Moreover, the State's 7,109 Latino owned businesses
had sales receipts of 1.3 billion and employed 11,348 people
back in 2002. On a smaller scale the 1.1 percent of the State's
work force of estimated 65,000 workers were undocumented based
on the 2008 figures.
However, if this percentage of unauthorized immigrants were
removed from Ohio, the State would lose 4.1 billion in
expenditures, 1.8 billion in economic output and approximately
25,000 jobs.
These aforementioned figures, although impressive, are most
likely only telling half the story, I believe and most of our
partners do too. It is my professional opinion that Ohio's
Latino population is much higher than the level of businesses
sustained in our community. As a nontraditional destination,
Ohio and Cincinnati has over the past 10 years become a
destination for new immigrants 0-5 years in the country. In
Cincinnati alone the economic growth from 1990 to 2005 was 43
percent, shadowing the 2.3 percent increase of the percentage
point share among immigrant workers. The bottom line is that
emerging areas like Cincinnati deserve just as much of a focus
in effort from your traditional Latino urban areas.
So, let me preface my next two points which is what will
basically summarize where we see the positive, and where we see
some areas of improvement. The first one is, of course, it's
difficult to baseline this just based on the 2000 census
because we have seen a tremendous jump and a tremendous effort,
and I think even within the national offices of the Census are
deeply committed to this. We can see this in the funding of the
media campaigns that are going across the country. During the
group-quarter enumeration process, the U.S. Census team at both
the national and local offices throughout Ohio have
exceptionally branded the Be Counted message.
Nationally, the multi-million dollar campaign launched
among Spanish language media has been effective and
demonstrates a commitment by the national office to make a
strong case for enumeration.
Locally, we have seen U.S. Census ads in Spanish language
media and Partnership Specialist active in numerous community
activities spreading a concise message of the newly revised
form, which is less intimidating, obviously, for many
immigrants. The public relations campaign has engaged local
organizations and leaders who in turn are ensuring that
individuals have nothing to fear when filling out the Census
form.
In Cincinnati, I can personally confirm the local field
offices success in establishing meaningful partnerships with
grass-tops and grassroots leaders.
The other spectrum I would like to point out is the
Hispanic recruiting effort--and this is where we see
significant recruiting efforts and I'm sure people have heard
this in the past. However, this is of particularly important
interest, because it's not just about hiring people within our
own community, but it's also an effective tool to enumerate in
the process. So, unlike the U.S. Census Campaign awareness
efforts, the factor which will truly determine high
enumeration, is the factor in which we see a falling grade.
This is demonstrated in several regions. I would like to
point this out. Based on the Chicago Census Region, we had 2.9
percent of those employed were Hispanics out of Chicago. That
was at 2000, so the fall of last year, OK. The Charlotte
Regional office of 2.9 percent after the 2000 and--2498 DAPPS,
which is the Decennial Applicant Personnel and Payroll System.
The percentage of Hispanics dropped to 1.2 percent. The Detroit
office with 3.48 percent, indicating the regional office was
4.4, after hiring the 2250 DAPPS, it dropped to 0.97 percent.
This is a very dismal record, I believe, in the Census
headquarters at that time. And the fall was 4.43.
Reports of total Hispanics in the U.S. Census Bureau work
force as of September 2009, employment statistics submitted by
the U.S. Census pursuant to LULAC Census Commission's specific
request, indicates as of pay period ending September 12, 2009,
as follows--I have the figures there statistically, but you can
see them. They are all within single digits, especially within
areas that you have a higher double-digit count of Latinos
living in areas up to 20 percent in some cases.
Within Ohio alone, I can only count, I personally know that
there's four to five supervisory positions that are filled by
Latinos. I listed them there that I know; that could have
changed here recently. I don't know if Cincinnati has hired
anyone up to this point for partnership; that could have
changed. And where I see that--we have a strong connection.
Let me point this out so that we are clear. The national
offices are very supportive of this effort, and I believe the
local offices are as well. But we where we are seeing the
backlog and really the problem situation is with our regional
offices, OK. To where we are sending applicants--somehow the
problems are there.
I think our recommendation is that there are some specific
cultural nuances and barriers that are preventing applicants
from coming forward and unless we are able to really increase
those numbers, it's going to be very difficult, and considering
especially in the Hamilton areas that are very hard-to-count.
Because, traditionally--and I've seen this--this is more
than just having a form that is in Spanish. It's also having
people that understand the culture, and that basically, you
know, look like you and me. That is a fair case to make, I
believe.
So, as a State Director for Ohio I would like to thank you
for the opportunity to share our insight as it relates to the
Latino community and I would like to open it up for questions.
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much, Mr. Riviero, and we will now
go to Ms. Hopkins for 5 minutes. You may proceed.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Riviero follows:]
STATEMENT BY SUZANNE HOPKINS, DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS, THE CENTER
FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING OPTIONS, INC.
Ms. Hopkins. Thank you, Chairman Clay, Representative
Driehaus, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee on
Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, for holding
this important hearing. I appreciate the opportunity to submit
testimony on a topic that could have a significant impact on my
own life and the lives of other individuals with disabilities.
Again, my name is Suzanne Hopkins. I'm the director of
programs for the Center for Independent Living Options [CILO],
that's is our acronym, which serves as an advocacy and public
education center for individuals with a broad range of
significant disabilities in the seven counties included in the
Cincinnati Metropolitan area. CILO delivers high quality
comprehensive cross-disability based independent living
services to over 1,500 individuals annually.
In CILO'S efforts to serve our consumers we have recognized
the following reasons why people with disabilities are under or
uncounted. Many people with disabilities do not report or claim
to have the disability due to modesty or embarrassment. Another
attributing factor is the design of the survey questions. Due
to ethnic culture many people do not recognize the name of
their diagnosis and, therefore, don't record it.
For instance, diabetes versus bad blood sugar. If we have a
national healthcare system it would not be under-reported for
each diagnosis or specific type of disability. Also clustering
specific types of disabilities into one specific category. For
instance, those with blindness and deafness are all listed
under sensory conditions in disabilities rather than
separately.
A kitchen sink definition of disability, for example: One
or more activities of daily living or instruments of daily
living such as using a wheelchair, a cane, crutches or a walker
or recipient of Federal disability benefits. This definition
excludes those with primary disabilities of cognitive or
psychiatric disabilities.
Also, not reporting--another reason is not reporting health
conditions or secondary disabilities. Many individuals have a
primary disability but do not list their secondary disability
or other conditions that they may have. Again, depending on
ethnic culture or need for personal care assistance those
residing is subsidized housing may not report all members in
the household due to fear of losing their rental assistance
subsidy.
Furthermore, inconsistent reporting definitions of
disabilities such as the survey of income and program
participation [SIP] Report. They exclude the--excluded on their
report are people with disabilities that are unable to work,
those who are on SSI, SSCI, Medicaid, Medicare beneficiaries
and those who are institutionalized.
In consistent survey questions, to estimate the number of
people with disabilities used by the Census Bureau's American
Community Surveys and the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current
Operation Survey, subsequently, they will yield different
estimates of number of people with disabilities because they
identify the population with disabilities differently.
So, those reports are not consistent, those two different
reports. Conflicting data could create confusion with elected
officials and policymakers who question the data's credibility
and reliability. Such an outcome would potentially complicate
an independent living center's advocacy effort even more.
Careful attention will be needed for how the data is used, how
the differences are explained, and what policy conclusions are
reached as a result. A possible solution could be to design a
Federal program to count the number of people with
disabilities.
And, last, unemployment rate among people with
disabilities--people with disabilities that are left out of the
labor force, because it drops people who have not actively
looked for work in the past 4 weeks thus people that are
disabled are discouraged in the job search process and it also
misses people on SSCI and SSI. It would affect--in regards to
funding, the Census data directly effects funding, many
programs critical to individuals with disabilities, including
programs for education, healthcare transportation, employment
training and housing. The Federal Government uses Census
information to guide the annual distribution of approximately
15 billion in--people with disabilities.
For example, the information is used to for IL dollars;
Independent Living dollars is what the acronym stands for, are
allocated to the States based on total population. The
population in Ohio is declining; therefore, so is independent
living funding, even though the disabled population will be
growing because of the aging of the baby boomers.
If the Census provided a means to accurately count people
with disabilities in each State, the information could be used
in the allocation process. It would also help State and county
agencies plan for eligible recipients under the Medicare,
Medicaid and supplemental security income programs. Distribute
funds and people with disabilities and the elderly under the
Rehabilitation Act, distribute funds for housing people with
disabilities under the Housing and Urban Development Act,
ensure that comparable public transportation services are
available for all segments of the population under the
Americans with Disabilities Act or Federal grants under the
older Americans Act based on the number of elderly people with
physical and mental disabilities, and make available special
education for children ages 3 to 5 through special education
preschools.
As Mayor Mallory testified, and stated in his testimony,
Cincinnati is estimated to be undercounted by approximately
45,000 people. We would like to know how many of these
individuals have disabilities in the Greater Cincinnati area.
For each person not counted, the city of Cincinnati loses
$2,263 per year in Federal funding.
Mr. Chairman and Representative Driehaus, members of the
committee, that concludes my testimony. Thank you for this
opportunity. I open it up to questions.
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much. Mr. Spring, you're recognized
for 5 minutes.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Hopkins follows:]
STATEMENT OF JOSH SPRING, GREATER CINCINNATI COALITION FOR THE
HOMELESS
Mr. Spring. My name is Josh Spring. I am the executive
director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition of the Homeless.
We have been around since 1984. We are the organization where
all organizations related to homelessness come together. We
have approximately 49 member agencies in the Greater Cincinnati
area; that covers most of Hamilton County and a little bit
outside that.
Generally speaking, there are kind of three levels or forms
of homeless that is an important distinction to make. The first
level is people who stay outside. People not in a shelter
system, not in a normal living setting that might be under a
bridge, an abandoned building, things like this. In 2000, this
particular population of Cincinnati was severely undercounted.
According to the Census, two people were sleeping outside in
Cincinnati. Two. Two whole people. And so it was severely
wrong, and we don't want to--we essentially don't want this to
happen again.
So, actually, this particular part, our community, we do
this count three to four times a year anyway. HUD Housing and
Urban Development requires one and we try to do better than
that. And so the way we do it, we come together about once
every quarter, we go out in teams, and we do a count very
similar, first and last name, last known Social, birthday, very
similar questions and we usually turn around good results
because we take out the outreach workers that are on the street
every single day. And so they lead us into the camps and we get
it down quick.
In this shelter system--that's kind of the next level--
people that are in the shelter system or transitional housing.
Those people, you know, we estimate that there's approximately
1,200 to 1,500 people on any given night within that particular
system. It's my understanding that our organizations have been
working with the Census workers and that Census workers are
setting up times and dates to come and actually help administer
forms.
This is an important step for our shelters and like that,
will need to have the forms in bulk prepared. This is something
where mailing alone simply will not get the job done. And, so,
it's also important, and this is the part that we want to come
in with, is that our case managers, our social workers at these
sites understand how important this is and how simple it can
be. Their jobs are already tough enough. They have high case
loads, because it's not going down. It's on the rise and adding
one more form can be difficult.
But we are used to doing these kinds of things in terms of
trying to register people to vote, for example, coordinating
the giving and taking of forms. And so we want to do that
again.
Further--this is kind of the third tract and definitively
going to be the most difficult to count, I believe: The group
of people that are constantly moving from one household, one
family friend to the next. You know, we have termed that as
``couch surfing.'' This is going to be the most difficult
because Housing and Urban Development does not define that
group as homeless because funding from HUD doesn't interact
with these people very often.
So we don't know how many people there are. In 2000, we
estimated that in a given year 25,000 people experienced
homelessness in Cincinnati incorporating all three of these
forms. We don't know--we are sure it's higher due to the
economic crisis we are currently experiencing.
One of the main hassles, I believe, is going to be when the
form hits the door of a household and to have somebody there
that is staying a couple nights, one--the transitory nature of
this. You know, they might be here just a couple nights and
move on. They may not understand--``Where do I put down that
I'm living? I'm living here and I don't know where I'm going to
be tomorrow night.'' Further than that is, kind of the fear of
the landlord finding out and evicting the host.
So, I think it's important that we continue the message
that this information is not to criminalize you, this
information is held in secret, the specifics for decades. That
is very important.
And further we do have--the most connection we have right
now, as you know that through the Stimulus Plan there were
rapid re-housing dollars and homeless prevention dollars that
came forth to localities. Those dollars in the recent months
have opened up a slight avenue for us to have communication
with this body of people. We have a local phone number, 381-
SAFE where people call in to get this assistance.
So, on a daily basis we can get numbers of how many people
are calling; that gives an extremely small snapshot of what
might be going on.
For ourselves, our own initiatives, for the people outside,
we have been in communication with the Census workers for some
months now. What we want to do is simply schedule another one
of our counts. We have actually scheduled two tentative dates
for the end of this month to try to be flexible with Census
workers. We can go out and they can join us, and we can get the
count done.
We will always miss some people because we have vacant
buildings and cannot go in all of them. It's dangerous to do
so. But we can really get the count done. The last count that
we completed a month and a half ago, we counted about 75 people
outside.
Further, in the shelter system, like I said, some strong
coordination with just getting the forms, making them
available. That is the biggest thing. If they are available and
it's easy to get it done. The couch surfing we want to be more
than helpful with polling the contacts from the hotline.
Locally, I think the Census Bureau, the local workers have
been--have been very passionate about getting this done. They
have contacted us thoroughly. I think the one and only
criticism that I would offer, it's not about any specific
person at all, because everyone I've spoken with has been more
than helpful, is that we have--I've gotten calls from numerous
Census workers with the same questions and I always give the
same answers.
So, it's just a hassle to try to coordinate all the calls.
So, if we get down to one kind of line item--I think I'm almost
there--one person to talk to, we can get this done. And we do
believe it's important, because for funding efforts, for
advocacy, for the whole thing, we have to know how many people
are experiencing this and the number is versus 2000 and now
there are more people experiencing homelessness.
In the winter, our shelter numbers go higher. That's the
same across the country. This year we have winter numbers in
August. That is new. And we don't have a grasp on what is going
on overall. We want to have a grasp of who is doubled up,
because we know that people, before they hit the shelter
system, they are doubled up. We would like to be able to help
them so the Federal Government has a real accurate snapshot of
that group. That might alleviate, give more funding to help
people in the shelter.
Mr. Clay. All right. Thank you so much, Mr. Spring. Mr.
Duncan, you're recognized for 5 minutes.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Spring follows:]
STATEMENT OF TODD DUNCAN, DIRECTOR OF HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICES
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
Mr. Duncan. Thank you, Chairman Clay, Representative
Driehaus, and other distinguished members of the Information
Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee. Thank you
for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Todd Duncan. I
serve as the director of housing and food services of
University of Cincinnati, responsible for overseeing the
financial facility and administrative functions of the
University's housing system.
As background, for those who are unfamiliar with the
University, UC is classified as a research university, very
high in research activity, by the Carnegie Commission, and is
ranked as one of America's top public research universities by
the National Science Foundation with a student population,
including undergraduates and graduate students, of
approximately 40,000; 3,800 of these students live in eight
university residence halls, 84 percent of our first-year
students reside in our facilities. The facilities range in size
and level of amenities.
In my opening statement, I will briefly discuss UC's
interaction with Census officials to date, identify some of the
challenges experienced by my department and offer suggestions
for your consideration regarding efficient and effective
enumeration of students, residential or commuter, at colleges
and universities.
During the question-and-answer period, I'll be happy to
expand on these topics and provide my thoughts about how Census
officials may be able that ensure a more efficient and accurate
count of students as preparations are made for the 2010 census.
Various Census officials made independent contact with the
Office of Housing and Food Services last September. The purpose
of each meeting was to confirm address, contact information and
current occupancy of specific residence halls. Some residence
halls were duplicated and other residence halls were not
identified in the inquiries made to our staff. Our staff
requested to establish a single point of contact at the Census
office.
In February 2010, our office was visited independently by
two members of the Census staff verifying the information
collected in September 2009 and providing marketing material of
the upcoming Census. Enumeration was reviewed and was
determined that another planning meeting would be scheduled
prior to the enumeration period of March 30th to May 14, 2010.
Again, our staff requested to establish a single point of
contact at the Census office. I must make note that the Census
staff has been very professional in all interactions. On March
10, 2010, a planning meeting was held with Mr. Howard
Newcastle, director of field staff.
With a goal of ensuring an accurate count of students,
residential or commuter, I offered the following suggestions
for developing an efficient and effective methodology for
implementing the 2020 census for colleges and universities:
Single point of contact. One person or one team from the Census
Bureau contacts the President's Office of the institution
seeking a similar single point of contact. Electronic delivery.
Allow institutions of higher education to deliver the Census
survey via electronic methods.
Today's student/institution interaction is an electronic
process for most institutions, from the admission application
and academic registration to billing and issuance of grades.
These systems have well-developed securities with student-
unique log-ins to insure data integrity. At the end of the
prescribed period the institution can easily deliver the
responsive data and the directory information of non-responsive
students in accordance with FERPA.
During the question-and-answer period, I'm be happy to
identify my experiences of the 2000 census during my tenure at
the University of Central Oklahoma or expand on the information
I have provided. Again, I thank the subcommittee for the
opportunity to testify today.
Mr. Clay. Thank you so much, Mr. Duncan, and thank you the
entire panel for their testimony today, and we will begin the
round of questioning with Representative Driehaus.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Duncan follows:]
Mr. Driehaus. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I have several
questions.
Mr. Spring, you talked about the difficulty of counting the
various groups of homeless, and you talked in part about some
of the folks sleeping outside. Give more to the first panel in
terms of when this count will take place for the hard-to-
locate. We are talking about spring going into early summer. It
seems to me that's when you're going to have more and more
people moving out of the shelters and spending the evenings
outside. Does that become a problem for you and the
organizations you work with in terms of trying to count those
individuals?
Mr. Spring. You are correct. There will be more people
outside. For us it's not too much of an issue, because, we
actually have average workers on the street level at least 5
days a week, every week. What makes our count that we do go so
smoothly is that they give everybody a heads-up that we are
coming. That's why we really want to join with the Census
workers and do it that way; otherwise, it simply will not work.
Mr. Driehaus. Have you worked with the Census office
locally to have someone from the Homeless Coalition employed by
the Census Bureau for this specific purpose of reaching out to
the homeless population in Cincinnati?
Mr. Spring. We have not talked about employment. I've
definitely, several times, relayed that we can do this count
and we want Census workers to join us. So, it seems like right
now what is in question is whether or not they're allowed to do
the count in that fashion. And I've attempted to let them know
that there really is no other fashion that will work; you
cannot mail it, and the Census workers don't know where the
camps are.
Honestly, if we simply said, ``These are all the camps,''
and a worker goes, it's very likely the people at the camp
won't talk. That's why we take outreach workers with us.
Mr. Driehaus. Right. And of the organizations that existed
today as it existed in 2000 as well.
Mr. Spring. That's right.
Mr. Driehaus. And we came up with a rather significant
undercount. And so I guess what I'm concerned about is making
sure that, you know, people of the Homeless Coalition are, in
fact, working very closely with the Census to reach out,
because in the constitution it says ``All persons.'' It doesn't
say, ``All persons that own a single-family home'' or ``All
persons that live in an apartment.'' It's ``All persons,'' and
so the homeless are certainly part of that count.
So I would certainly encourage the representatives to hire
someone on specific to this purpose of, you know, counting the
homeless population especially if we already have a model here
in place here in Cincinnati. So, I appreciate that.
Mr. Spring. Certainly, thank you.
Mr. Driehaus. Jason, if I could speak to the Hispanic
community for a minute. You heard in the first panel that when
20 percent of the population of a given Census tract is deemed
to be Hispanic or of another ethnicity that they will use an
additional form, in Spanish, for example. There aren't many
tracts like that in Cincinnati, if there are any. Yet, we have
a sizable growing Hispanic population.
I'm concerned that this, you know, Spanish language form
will not be used in any of those tracts, given it won't reach
the 20 percent threshold. However, we have very strong pockets
of Hispanics living in Greater Cincinnati. Certainly, in parts
of Price Hill and Butler County, Carthage.
Obviously, with, you know, St. Charles and the outreach
that Su Casa does, is there a way to work with the Census
Bureau in identifying those pockets and getting those forms to
those households other than determining or using that threshold
of 20 percent of Census tract?
Mr. Riviero. I think so, based on my conversations with
some of these specialists here locally. They have set up
different community partnerships similar to Mr. Spring's
situation, where highly trafficked Latino populations that go
and receive services.
I think my concern is in the areas where families don't
typically go through these processes, that some of the
enumerators are unfamiliar with those tracts. The tracts that
they hire are, let's say--because it's so spread out, they
don't actually live in that neighborhood. So, I think it's
important to hire folks, enumerators that live within those
areas, or at least try to find someone that is closer to them,
because Cincinnati is spread out. It doesn't make sense to have
someone that lives in Hamilton County coming down and going up
to Butler County.
Or, you know, that's not going to necessarily be the case,
but I think it's very important to be in those areas. And, yes,
the 20 percent threshold would be difficult to reach, even
many--so many other places across the country that can reach
that kind of threshold.
Mr. Driehaus. You know, I have a feeling and I assume, that
this is true and many non-traditional households, especially
first generation, second generation immigrants, not just
Hispanics. We have a large and growing West African population
in Cincinnati. You have households living--multiple individuals
living in the same house; sometimes they are documented,
sometimes they are undocumented.
What is the likelihood that they are going to open the door
for someone knocking on the door wanting to know how many
people are in? And how do we overcome the fear in that, you
know, what I think would come with that type of questioning?
Mr. Riviero. Certainly, and that goes back to what I was
referring to in the report; that besides knowing Spanish I
think it's important to have other qualifications. Looking at
other agencies, other governmental agencies, you see that
there's some more specific guidelines in regard to minority
groups and different requirements for people to apply.
I know that basically the only differentiation is the
language skill set, but I think there should be other
requirements that we put forth in that as far as knowledge of
the community. Perhaps being born in a foreign country or
having that experience in your background is very important
because, yes, it's an official, someone that they are already
going to have some prejudice toward. I mean, I don't know if I
made myself clear with that as far as the hiring process.
Mr. Driehaus. Well, I just think it's important that we are
getting the right people to knock on the doors because it does
matter. It does matter. It's not just about language, it's
about trust. And so getting, you know, recognizable faces and
getting people that understand people's situations I think is
important especially if we are going to try to get an accurate
count.
We could have people knocking on the doors, but if it's not
the right people that understand the community, that understand
the population they are working with, it's going to be an
undercount, because we are not going to get people to be
forthright in terms of reporting everyone living in the
household.
Mr. Riviero. That's right and I think that is the same for
all minorities, so----
Mr. Driehaus. I can continue or I can turn it over and we
can go back and forth. Whatever you prefer.
Mr. Clay. We will go back. Mr. Scharfenberger, the Postal
Service says that 40 percent of the houses in Census Tract 16
here in Cincinnati are either vacant or occupied illegally.
Obviously, that poses several challenges for the Census.
In your experience, when people occupying homes illegally,
known as squatters, participate in a Census how can we
effectively count this segment?
Mr. Scharfenberger. I think that is a good question. One of
the--there were a couple of elements that other people
mentioned that I think are common to people in foreclosure or
who might be sliding. No. 1, there's a sense of fear in whether
they even respond to a mailing. I think in terms of--it's a
good question. Whether people would respond to a Census
enumerator coming out, if they were squatting in that building?
Unless there was a trusted person that encouraged them to
fill this out, it's possible or if they could meet that person
at another location, you know, I was thinking that rather than
at the house. But I can't imagine that if they were squatting
that they are going to want to fill out a Census form.
Mr. Clay. Be kind of difficult.
Mr. Scharfenberger. It would be very difficult. I think the
other situation that I thought about as other people were
talking, Mr. Spring and Mr. Riviero, if someone is in between
and awaiting for, I guess, the hammer to drop for lack of a
better word. They are waiting for that sheriff's sale, and some
people wait in the house; and even after the sheriff's sale
they will wait. Will they fill out a Census form not knowing
what their situation is going to be?
Mr. Clay. OK. Good point. Ms. Hopkins, what is the best way
to get the word out that the information you provide to the
Census Bureau is confidential as well as the benefits, like you
mentioned in your testimony, to the disabled community for
filling out their Census forms? I mean, is it publications? Is
it radio, TV, or Internet or all of the above?
Ms. Hopkins. I would say all ways of media, especially,
those for non-profit agencies such as ours, if you could
provide us some information to distribute to your consumers
with disabilities, all other disability-related agencies that
provide services to individuals with disabilities. I understand
there's a question-assistance center for those with visual
impairments, hearing impairments that could assist them with
completing the questionnaire. However, I'm not familiar with
where that question assistance center may be located in
Cincinnati.
So, that would be helpful for us to distribute information
to individuals with disabilities.
Also if there's any type of literature to be handed out,
that it also be in the format of Braille, large print and other
formats to make better accessibility for individuals with
disabilities.
Mr. Clay. And the Census Bureau does provide information in
Braille. Mr. Duncan, did the university get a single point of
contact from the Bureau?
Mr. Duncan. Yes, sir.
Mr. Clay. OK. That's good to know. Let me ask you about,
you know, of course the whole issue of semesters beginning and
ending. If enumerators come after May 1st, will you have a
reduced population on campus?
Mr. Duncan. Chairman Clay, UC has a very unique academic
calendar. We are on a quarter system and a very late quarter
system, so we do not dismiss for the summer until mid-June. So
we are safe there.
Mr. Clay. I see. Yes, you are.
Mr. Duncan. Your question is applicable in 95 percent of
the universities in the country. We are one of the anomalies in
that regard.
Mr. Clay. It's good to know that they hang around here for
longer on the campus. I'll turn it back over to Representative
Driehaus.
Mr. Driehaus. Mr. Duncan, the Census obviously uses an
address system for trying to contact individuals. So, you know,
it's based on household not on individual. Your system, I
assume, in tracking students, I was interested in your
electronic delivery methodology. I assume that is student-
oriented. So, how would you then be able to transpose that data
into an address-type system that is used by the Census? Are you
following me?
Mr. Duncan. I am. Each student is assigned a bed space
within our housing system, which is in a room, which is in a
building, which is in a mailing address. So, when the student
logs in with their unique identifier into the system we can
self populate that information. What building, residence hall,
they are actually in, what is the room number, which would be
essentially the mailing address.
That is publicly used, so that defaults in. Even
simplifying the data that we provide, Todd Duncan, in room 101
of Building 1, and then here are my responses to the survey.
Mr. Driehaus. So, in addition to the questionnaires being
returned, they can check that against the information that is
provided by the university saying, ``Well, in fact, Mr. Duncan
you should be in room 201 in this housing development?''
Mr. Duncan. Yes.
Mr. Driehaus. Are you using any form of social media to
reach out to the student body? I assume there are communication
methods that exist today to reach out in terms of social media
to encourage people to participate in the Census, such as
students?
Mr. Duncan. We are not doing that ourselves. Now, the
Census Bureau itself may have been getting out there with
Facebook, those types of things. The most effective way we have
still with our residential students is mass email. We send that
message only to those students with directions. We do that
multiple times in a quarter with everything from getting ready
to check out at the end of the quarter, to going home for the
summer.
When a student applies to the university they are issued an
email account, and it's identified to them at that point if
they confirm their admission that this is the official point
where the university will communicate with you. So, that is set
in stone before they actually enroll the very first time to
take their very first class at the university.
So, we have a very effective way of communicating at the
university. They are looking for an email and that easily for
our purposes could be forwarded onto their parents; but in the
case of the Census, they just need to complete this.
Mr. Driehaus. So the day the questionnaires go out, the day
the surveys go out, you are able to say, ``Please complete the
survey and send it back?''
Mr. Duncan. We can send out a reminder 8 days later to
those who have not responded; not trouble students that have,
just cross-reference the data real quick, run a little query--
``OK, this 30 percent has not, so let's only send out that 30
percent. Hey, you still got 2 days, let's get this in, come
on.'' If that doesn't work, we go to the face-to-face.
But we should be able to do it in the most efficient and
the most expedient way. One percent of Cincinnati's population,
if I'm doing the round math--of the numbers we have heard
today, we should be the easiest.
Mr. Driehaus. Ms. Hopkins, can you tell me how CILO is
working with other organizations here in Cincinnati around the
Census to help the folks that you work with specifically,
understand the importance of completing the Census and the
consequences in terms of the disabled community and
undercounting of the population that it serves?
You're part of a broader network of organizations,
obviously, reaching out to individuals with disabilities in
Cincinnati. Is there a network of some type that is being
called upon to reach out for purposes of the Census?
Ms. Hopkins. We are not necessarily a network. We are the
only Center for Independent Living in the Greater Cincinnati
area. However, we are a network of 11 centers for Independent
Living in the State of Ohio and 435 within the United States.
However, we are each our own entity. We do network or
collaborate with a lot of other disability-related
organizations as well as we have some--a couple of homeless
disability service programs for individuals with disabilities
and families with disabilities and our organization is also a
member of the Coalition for the Homeless as well.
As far as the Census goes, we have not started any advocacy
efforts on that yet, but we would be more than happy to do so.
Mr. Driehaus. Yeah, I'm just thinking of the multiple
entities here in town that work with people with disabilities
and whether or not there has been a coordinated effort of any
type to reach out to those served in, you know--just trying to
emphasize the completion of the Census and the consequences of
an undercount especially for the disabled community?
Ms. Hopkins. Not that I'm aware of. However, most
disability-related organizations, they are targeted toward a
specific type of disability. However, we are unique in the fact
that we serve cross-disability-based. Meaning, we serve of all
types of disabilities of all ages.
So, we would be, in my opinion, the prime agency to get
that started or initiate such a process for the Census. If you
have any suggestions or ideas, we are more than happy to comply
with those.
Mr. Driehaus. Great, thank you.
Mr. Clay. Could we add another seat here for Mr.
Mesenbourg? We would like to ask you to join us back at the
table, so that we may do a little followup and expedite it
quickly. And I'll let Representative Driehaus take it from
here.
Mr. Driehaus. Mr. Mesenbourg, thank you for hanging around.
This conversation is really at the heart of what we are
concerned about when it comes to hard-to-count populations. And
so I'm interested especially--and I keep going back to this
secondary data but these are the organizations that are rich
with this data, especially for hard-to-count populations.
So, I'm concerned that the Census Bureau is working very
closely with grassroots organizations such as this to call upon
them, especially for their secondary data, to help identify
those that are particularly difficult to count.
Mr. Mesenbourg. This panel has reinforced the importance of
what we call our partners, and we now have 212,000 of them.
They serve really as the trusted voices. They can convince the
homeless and convince the Latino that has concerns about the
Census. It could be the minister in the local church. We can do
all the advertising in the world and spend endless amounts of
money on it. But it's really the trusted voices in the
communities that play a key role in convincing people that have
concerns about reporting, that it's safe to report, it's easy
to report, and it's important to report.
So, I think this panel has re-enforced that. We are working
with all of these organizations and we will continue to work
with them.
In terms of the disabled, we do have a tool kit available
on our Web site that folks can download and put out to their
partners. We have also, in the American Community Survey in
2008, actually, changed the questions related to disabled
persons. So for the first time in the 2009 survey, we're
separately counting the seeing-impaired and hearing-impaired,
and we are also for the first time measuring folks with
cognitive issues and so on.
So, I think that really that is the largest household
survey done in the United States and I think that's an
important first step in getting good measures of the disabled.
With the homeless, we are working with Mr. Spring's
organization and actually what we will do, we want to leverage
their expertise. We will send folks at the end of this month to
actually participate in that count. We will swear them in as
Census employees to assist us. We clearly understand we need
the gatekeeper to get us into that community. And help, so that
will start March 29th, 30th, and 31st. So we look forward to
working with them.
The question on the foreclosures and squatters, clearly
that's a difficult issue. If we can't get a response in our six
contacts, what we will do is then go to the neighbors. And if
people had seen there are five people living there we will try
to get a proxy measurement and that's about the best we can do.
I take LULAC's point about some of our recruiting numbers.
We are taking this quite seriously. And right now we have more
recent data. Actually, we started sharing information by race
and ethnicity starting in August or September of last year, and
we are putting that data out monthly. So, we are monitoring it
ourselves.
One of the challenges we face in the Detroit Regional
Office is the number of Hispanics. Michigan has about 4.1
percent, Ohio 2.6, West Virginia 1.1. So, we are at right about
3 percent in terms of our work force. We are doing better than
that with our partnerships, but there's always room for
improvement. I think we all agree that we need to hire locally.
We need to know people that know the neighborhood, and that is
what we are working quite hard to do, and that's where our
partners can help too.
It's also a competitive process how people score in the
test. That is important. We certainly appreciate the help we
are getting from the University of Cincinnati and others. This
is a partnership and we all have to work together. The Census
Bureau cannot do it alone, nor can the partners that support
us. We are very thankful for the support we are getting from
everyone.
Mr. Clay. And I'm certainly encouraged by the approach that
the Bureau has taken in this Census to realize that you do need
a true partnership with people. I think it's pretty innovative
that you will deputize Mr. Spring's people and let them assist.
I mean, because we have heard it in other cities too, that we
can go and look over the Census-takers, show them, but you
can't do it. I understand that.
So, you figured out how to do it. It's critical that we do
this. The whole community in your process. Thank you so much
for that.
Mr. Driehaus. I would just reiterate my concern that I hope
the Census Bureau is using secondary source data and that we
have people researching to verify what we should be seeing; not
only are we talking about the neighbors who might be living
there, but we have a good idea that unit is occupied.
So, it's worth trying to get them to fill out a form and
try to identify the specific individuals living in that
particular household. I think, you know, a lot has changed in
terms of the last 10 years in terms of the data available to
us. It would be a shame not to do everything that we can to
call upon that data and resources in order to get an accurate
count.
Mr. Clay. And, Mr. Riviero, hopefully you will get with
your regional director and start referring some of the members
of the organization to take the Census test, and that they can
get involved too.
OK. This will conclude the hearing. Let me, again, thank
all of our witnesses, thank my colleagues and friends,
Representative Driehaus for the invitation. Timing-wise this
was perfect, and this community was the perfect setting for
this hearing. I appreciate your invitation and I thank you all
for your testimony. And that concludes this hearing.
[Whereupon, the subcommittee was adjourned.]