The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Reminders to be sent out before visits
Notices to arrive July 22 - 28, Census Bureau confirms
The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced it will send an additional reminder postcard to households that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census.
The postcard is scheduled to arrive the week of July 22-28, just a few weeks before census takers are scheduled begin visiting most units that have not be accounted for.
With the novel coronavirus pandemic delaying the start of visits from midMay to mid-August, the Census Bureau is using the time to send one more reminder, encouraging individuals to respond online, by phone or by mail. Responding now minimizes the need for census takers to visit homes to collect responses.
According to the Census Bureau, about 61.8% of households across the country have already responded online, by phone or by mail since invitations began arriving in mailboxes March 12.
As of July 10, Ohio is at 66.5 percent, just ahead of the national average of 61.9 percent.
Currently, Northeastern Ohio response rates, updated daily, are as follows:
• Geauga County – 76.9 percent
• Lake County – 75.4 percent
• Lorain County – 71.4 percent
• Cuyahoga County – 62.9 percent
The Census Bureau also announced plans to send postcards to about 1.3 million post office boxes in communities that are required to use P.O. boxes for mail delivery. The postcards alert households that a census taker may drop off census invitations or visit later to interview them.
The bureau does not mail invitations to P.O. boxes because each census response must be associated with the physical location where people live, not where they receive mail. Though COVID-19 delayed delivery of census invitation packets to some communities, census takers have dropped off 96 percent of the packets as of June 18.
Households are encouraged to respond using the Census ID provided in the packet or their street address, instead of a P.O. Box number. In addition, the public is strongly encouraged the public to respond online at 2020census.gov.
However, households can respond online or by phone in English or 12 other languages, or by mail using the paper questionnaire mailed to non-responding addresses or dropped off at the door.
Although census takers will begin visiting households that haven’t yet responded beginning Aug. 11, households can still respond on their own until these visits conclude on Oct. 31.
Notices received after a response has been issued may be disregarded, the bureau confirms. Some households that have already responded will receive a census taker visit as part of quality checks on the census.
For more information, call 844-330-2020 or visit 2020census.gov. For a revised timeline of the census, visit the 2020 Census operational adjustments page.
Susan L. Licate, media specialist at the Philadelphia Regional Census Center, emphasized all responses are protected by law and that no personal identifying information can ever be shared with any other agency.
“That includes law enforcement, children’s services or child support, ICE, the FBI, IRS, or zoning or housing authorities, to name a few,” she said. “Responding to the census is easy, safe, and secure and only takes minutes to complete. Participation is a right for everyone living or staying in the United States.
“Census data also helps to determine how federal funding is allocated right back to communities for such things as roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and libraries,” she said.
Collected data, in addition, also serves programs such as Medicare, SNAP, WIC, Mealson-Wheels, the National School Lunch program, HEAP, public transportation, public housing, and Pell Grants, for example.
“And, because the Decennial Census only occurs once every decade, this is data that will affect funding every year for the next 10 years,” Licate said.