Published: July 16, 2009 11:42 pm      

Speaker spreading census awareness

DANVILLE — In 2000, the city saw poor census response from the West Downtown area and south of Main Street on the city’s east side, such as in the Rabbittown area.

Some of these areas saw less than 50 percent response, according to Kevin Jett of Hoopeston, Community Partnership Specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau.

Jett said even across Illinois, the response rate was only 67-68 percent.

“We’re shooting for 100 percent,” he said of the 2010 Census.

With the 2010 Census just around the corner, Jett stressed the importance of every residents filling out the short 10-question survey.

Jett spoke Thursday night to a group of about 20 people at the Lincoln Park Historic District Neighborhood Association meeting at Friendly Town about how the U.S. Census Bureau can partner with the neighborhood group and others to support and promote next year’s census.

The census counts citizens living in the U.S. every 10 years, and participation is required by law. The Census Bureau will mail or deliver only short-form questionnaires to homes in March 2010.

Danville’s population increased by only 76 with the 2000 census, to 33,904 from 33,828, and that was partly due to the annexation of the Danville Correctional Center and its 1,835 inmates. A 2005-2007 estimate showed a population of 32,494.

Vermilion County’s population also has seen an increase in poorer and older residents.

In a letter Brenda Dwiggins, LPHDNA president, received from U.S. Census Bureau Regional Director Stanley D. Moore, he stated “since federal funds are distributed based on population and since these funds are locked in for a 10-year period, it is essential that we reach all of your community residents in this decennial period.”

“This is where you can play a vital part in the building of your community. (The) more people that participate in the 2010 Census, the more benefits that will flow into your community for a 10-year period.”

City officials, including Ward 5 Alderman Mike Puhr, can’t stress enough that higher population counts mean greater benefits returning to Danville in terms of: motor fuel tax funds, block grants, hospital and school construction, funds for mass transit improvements and road repair.

According to Census Bureau officials, more funds also can be made available to address job training and retraining, adult education, after-school programs for children and community health initiatives.

Census data directly affects how more than $300 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities, according to the Census Bureau.

Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the census is also used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and to redistrict state legislatures, in addition to define school district assignment areas.

An analysis of the 2000 Decennial Census has made one point very clear according to the Census Bureau: those communities that participated in the bureau’s Partnership and Data Services, Complete Count Committee Program, had greater response rates, thus higher population counts than those communities who did not.

Jett is responsible for being a “pied piper” and educating residents about the 2010 Census in 14 counties in east-central Illinois.

Census workers hit the streets this spring with GPS-equipped hand-held computers to verify addresses to send the questionnaires to.

Jett explained that headcounts are taken at the prison, but homeless persons in shelters here, domestic violence victims also in shelters and illegal immigrants are all counted.

All census information collected is confidential and protected by law. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents’ answers with the FBI, the IRS, CIA, Welfare, Immigration or any other government agency. No court of law or law enforcement agency can find out respondents’ answers.

Jett said by him speaking to groups throughout the area, the goal is to get as many questionnaires returned as possible.