11-11-2009, 08:01 AM
Waukegan shoots for 100,000 in new census
It's all about cash entitlements -- and everyone matters
November 11, 2009
By DAN MORAN <!-- e --><a href="mailto
MORAN@SCN1.COM">DMORAN@SCN1.COM</a><!-- e -->
WAUKEGAN -- When the U.S. Census Bureau wrapped up its head count of city residents in 2000, the number came in at 87,901, making this city the ninth-largest in the state.
But Susana Figueroa, the city's community liaison officer, said she believes Waukegan should have come in ahead of eighth-place Elgin, which reported 94,487 residents.
"I think we're above 100,000 now," Figueroa said Tuesday. "And even with the census in 2000, I think we were close to 100,000."
The problem is one faced by many communities, she said, particularly those with a large percentage of Latino residents: Mistrust of government leads to census forms being ignored.
In Waukegan, where an estimated 45 percent of the population is Latino, more than a third of the 2000 Census forms reportedly went unreturned. According to the Census Bureau, in some neighborhoods on the city's southeast side, fewer than 50 percent of residents mailed their forms.
The significance of an accurate count is more than a new number on a welcome sign. Census counts are used to distribute $400 billion in federal and state aid for things like unemployment relief, school lunch programs and road construction projects. Waukegan estimates that the allocation amounts to $10,000 for each resident counted.
In 2003, the city spent nearly $80,000 to conduct a special census to include residents added by subdivisions constructed after 2000. That effort added 1,976 residents to the rolls, which officials estimated at the time would bring in $180,000 annually.
Starting this month, Waukegan is launching an outreach program to make residents aware of the 2010 Census and recruit locals to serve as enumerators -- the workers who go door-to-door at residences that don't respond by mail.
The first step, starting this month and running through February, is to mail a census information sheet with residential water bills.
"The census is a count of everyone living in the United States, regardless of their ethnic group or legal status," the flier states in part. "Your personal information will remain confidential and will not be shared with anyone else!"
"We want to make sure people feel comfortable filling out the census," Figueroa said. "In a community with a large Latino population, the issue of dealing with the government and the overcrowding issues -- all of that can be a factor keeping people from filling it out."
Mayor Robert Sabonjian said one fear he's heard is that Latinos "have a hard time believing that all this information will be sequestered from the government. There's a lot of mistrust."
Federal law states that the Census Bureau cannot "disclose or publish any private information that identifies an individual or business," including addresses or GPS coordinates, Social Security numbers or telephone numbers.
Every person with access to census information is sworn for life to protect confidentiality, with penalties including up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A stake in the census
Waukegan's information campaign on the 2010 Census will include a census message sent out via automated-caller system, and a variety of community groups -- including churches and soccer leagues -- have been approached about spreading the message.
Last Friday, job testing for census workers took place in the council chambers at City Hall, and at least six more sessions are scheduled through the end of the month -- between 9 a.m. and noon and again from noon to 3 p.m. on Nov. 13, Nov. 20 and Nov. 27.
More information, including a practice test, is available at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.2010censusjobs.gov">http://www.2010censusjobs.gov</a><!-- m -->. For more information on Waukegan's census efforts, call (847) 599-2511.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1877155,5_1_WA11_CENSUS_S1-091111.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... 11.article</a><!-- m -->
It's all about cash entitlements -- and everyone matters
November 11, 2009
By DAN MORAN <!-- e --><a href="mailto
MORAN@SCN1.COM">DMORAN@SCN1.COM</a><!-- e -->WAUKEGAN -- When the U.S. Census Bureau wrapped up its head count of city residents in 2000, the number came in at 87,901, making this city the ninth-largest in the state.
But Susana Figueroa, the city's community liaison officer, said she believes Waukegan should have come in ahead of eighth-place Elgin, which reported 94,487 residents.
"I think we're above 100,000 now," Figueroa said Tuesday. "And even with the census in 2000, I think we were close to 100,000."
The problem is one faced by many communities, she said, particularly those with a large percentage of Latino residents: Mistrust of government leads to census forms being ignored.
In Waukegan, where an estimated 45 percent of the population is Latino, more than a third of the 2000 Census forms reportedly went unreturned. According to the Census Bureau, in some neighborhoods on the city's southeast side, fewer than 50 percent of residents mailed their forms.
The significance of an accurate count is more than a new number on a welcome sign. Census counts are used to distribute $400 billion in federal and state aid for things like unemployment relief, school lunch programs and road construction projects. Waukegan estimates that the allocation amounts to $10,000 for each resident counted.
In 2003, the city spent nearly $80,000 to conduct a special census to include residents added by subdivisions constructed after 2000. That effort added 1,976 residents to the rolls, which officials estimated at the time would bring in $180,000 annually.
Starting this month, Waukegan is launching an outreach program to make residents aware of the 2010 Census and recruit locals to serve as enumerators -- the workers who go door-to-door at residences that don't respond by mail.
The first step, starting this month and running through February, is to mail a census information sheet with residential water bills.
"The census is a count of everyone living in the United States, regardless of their ethnic group or legal status," the flier states in part. "Your personal information will remain confidential and will not be shared with anyone else!"
"We want to make sure people feel comfortable filling out the census," Figueroa said. "In a community with a large Latino population, the issue of dealing with the government and the overcrowding issues -- all of that can be a factor keeping people from filling it out."
Mayor Robert Sabonjian said one fear he's heard is that Latinos "have a hard time believing that all this information will be sequestered from the government. There's a lot of mistrust."
Federal law states that the Census Bureau cannot "disclose or publish any private information that identifies an individual or business," including addresses or GPS coordinates, Social Security numbers or telephone numbers.
Every person with access to census information is sworn for life to protect confidentiality, with penalties including up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A stake in the census
Waukegan's information campaign on the 2010 Census will include a census message sent out via automated-caller system, and a variety of community groups -- including churches and soccer leagues -- have been approached about spreading the message.
Last Friday, job testing for census workers took place in the council chambers at City Hall, and at least six more sessions are scheduled through the end of the month -- between 9 a.m. and noon and again from noon to 3 p.m. on Nov. 13, Nov. 20 and Nov. 27.
More information, including a practice test, is available at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.2010censusjobs.gov">http://www.2010censusjobs.gov</a><!-- m -->. For more information on Waukegan's census efforts, call (847) 599-2511.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1877155,5_1_WA11_CENSUS_S1-091111.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... 11.article</a><!-- m -->