Final push of 2020 Census is underway in Nome
“Time is running out!” warns the U.S. Census website. With less than two weeks remaining in the last phase of the 2020 census enumeration, the clock is ticking to complete the count before the September 30 deadline.
While there was concern about an undercount in Nome until just a few weeks ago, a big push during the Nonresponse Follow-up phase has lessened worries. About 75 percent of the town have been accounted for and it is expected that the census will wrap up data collection very soon.
Census enumerators began the second and final round of data collection, known as Nonresponse Followup or NRFU, in Nome earlier this month. Nome City Manager Glenn Steckman said that a large team of enumerators arrived in Nome around September 5 and began counting shortly thereafter. As of last Friday, 71.65 percent of households were counted, according to Donna Bach, tribal partnership specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau. This means that under 400 households remain to be counted. “We’re down to the final stretch,” said Bach.
NRFU officially started nationwide on August 11, but did not begin in Nome until more than three weeks later because the census was unable to organize a group of enumerators. Once NRFU eventually began, though, progress has been relatively quick, with enumerators working ten to 12- hour days to complete the count before the end of the month. During NRFU, census workers visit households that were not counted during the first enumeration period and that have not self-responded to the census. Enumerators make two attempts to reach residents in the NRFU phase. If they miss them twice, the next tactic is to speak with neighbors and rely on them to fill in information.
According to Steckman, there will be up to 18 enumerators total in Nome, including six local workers. Bach said the census turned to nonlocal enumerators for Nome’s NRFU because “the workload was pretty big in terms of what they had to achieve.” Bach said that the workload in Nome was abnormally large due to the lack of time during the Update Leave period of data collection. Moreover, Nome has an extremely low self-response rate of 29.3 percent. According to Bach, it was difficult to find local workers who could commit the necessary amount of time, since most individuals have other jobs and because the count occurs during the height of the subsistence season. She emphasized that census counters are considered essential workers. This means enumerators coming into the community are able to begin counting after receiving a second negative COVID19 test, so long as they follow the quarantine protocol for essential workers, including avoiding public spaces.
Steckman explained that Nome was supposed to be counted early on in the census’s first phase, but the COVID-19 pandemic impacted data collection, forcing enumerators to “play catch up.” The status of the census count in Nome raised concerns about an undercount, the implication being the potential loss of thousands of dollars in federal funding over the next decade. The possibility of an undercount left many in the community “abuzz and concerned,” Bach said. But she said, “ground is being covered” during NRFU. Steckman echoed this sentiment, stating that he feels more “comfortable” about the status of Nome’s count now that NRFU is solidly underway. “I feel a lot more confident than I was a month ago,” Steckman said.
The census in Nome has been somewhat of an uphill battle. Local enumerator Danielle Slingsby, who was one of two local counters during the first phase, said that a continuing challenge for them has been reaching residents. People are often outside for subsistence purposes during the summer and early fall, and therefore are not at home to be counted. Having the enumeration period conflict with the subsistence season is particularly problematic because Alaska Native and American Indians were the most undercounted group during the 2010 census. According to statistics from the Alaska Federation of Natives, a community loses $3,500 per year toward programs such as Head Start for every Alaska Native individual who goes uncounted.
Even though responding to the census is required by law, it can be difficult to incentivize people to take the time to fill out the census form. “It’s just a white piece of paper in a bag, it’s not interesting,” Slingsby said of the form she dropped off during the first round of enumeration. Although she did not experience anyone who was hostile toward the census or outright refused to fill out the form, Slingsby said some people were hesitant due to fear of being exposed to COVID-19. “I get it, I respect that,” said Slinsgby. This was less of an issue during the first phase of enumeration, because census workers simply dropped off material at residences. During NRFU, however, enumerators directly interact with residents because they ask a set of questions. Steckman added that enumerators cannot enter residences, are required to maintain a six-foot distance, and everything is digital so people do not need to physically sign a form.
Nome is not the only Alaskan
community to experience difficulties with the census. Alaska has historically proved challenging to count and 2020 was no exception. The state ranks last in the nation in selfresponse; with a self-response rate of 53.5 percent, Alaska is well under the U.S. average of 65.8. However, while self-response is lagging, as of Monday Alaska’s total enumeration rate is 94.1 percent, which is slightly higher than the national average of 91.8. This could be in part because rural Alaskan communities are counted in person rather than through self-response. And, as has been the case in Nome, enumerators have been playing catch up. Of the 94.1 percent of Alaskans enumerated, 40.6 percent were counted through NRFU.
To add to the uncertainty of conducting the decennial census during the midst of a global pandemic, the census timeline has also been subject to controversy and several changes. In order to give enumerators extra time to complete an accurate count, the Census Bureau announced in April that it pushed back the final day for data collection to October 31. In early August, however, the Bureau moved the deadline to September 30, leaving census workers across the country scrambling to count residents.
Last week, though, a federal judge in California issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the Census from following the amended August 3 plan for the time being. Notably, this includes not “winding down or altering” any field operations until a court hearing on September 17. The case, put forward by a group of counties, civil rights organizations and cities against the U.S. Census Bureau, asks that the bureau return the census deadline to October 31. The concern is that expediting the census deadline will leave minority populations uncounted. This in turn would impact the allocation of federal funds as well as congressional appointments, because the census numbers are used for redrawing congressional districts.