There's Much Riding on 2010 Census

South Florida radio host Guylene Berry urges Haitians to participate in the Census. [Photo: Donna Victor]

In 1830, the first year Florida was included in the federal Census, U.S. marshals or their assistants traipsed through hundreds of miles of swamps on horseback to try to get a precise count of the population. The terrain wasn’t the only impediment to accuracy, however. Tallying errors by enumerators also cast doubt on the veracity of the survey.

For all the technological advances since, the process is still far from perfect. The Census Monitoring Board estimates that nearly 200,000 Floridians went uncounted in the last survey.

The primary reason for the chronic undercount in Florida, says Pam Page-Bellis, a Census spokeswoman for Florida, is the large number of foreign-born residents and minorities, many of whom tend to be either culturally or linguistically isolated. Other key characteristics of hard-to-count communities include poverty, low educational attainment, unemployment, complex household arrangements and high rates of mobility. Historically hard-to-reach populations include African-Americans, migrant workers, Hispanics, immigrants and Asian-Americans.

Candace Lankford, a member of the 2010 Sunshine Census Complete Count Committee that is working to create public awareness in Florida’s schools, says that immigrant concerns about privacy and the fear of being “discovered” by the government are the biggest roadblocks to an accurate count. For that reason, she says, the state’s outreach should stress the confidentiality of the Census.

Accuracy is important. The constitutionally mandated head count is used both to apportion representation in Congress and to draw state legislative districts. Following the 2000 Census, which counted 15.9 million Floridians, the state gained two congressional seats. The Census results also have significant financial implications as population counts also affect the amount of federal and state funding communities receive over the course of a decade.

The Census Monitoring Board estimates that the omission of 200,000 Floridians from the 2000 Census could cost the state as much as $91.6 million in federal aid over 11 years.

Census takers may encounter more obstacles than usual this time around. Some Floridians displaced by foreclosures and job losses may be hard to count because they’ve been forced into non-traditional households — moving into illegal units, for example.

Meanwhile, the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders is calling for a nationwide boycott of the survey by undocumented immigrants, saying that undocumented Latinos should “not allow themselves to be counted until comprehensive immigration reform has been achieved.”

Officials, however, are trying to ensure that doesn’t happen. The Census awareness campaign could range from slipping messages inside fortune cookies to creating a traveling, interactive museum exhibit for kids and families, says Page-Bellis.

Allen Douglas, Florida’s legislative affairs director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses and a member of the 2010 Sunshine Census Complete Count Committee, says his group plans to provide information to disseminate to employees. “We’re looking at the outreach now — e-mails, websites, newsletters, magazines — to drive awareness.”

Joe Quetone, executive director of the Governor’s Council on Indian Affairs, has been collaborating with Debbie Hinote, a liaison for Florida’s Native American Communities, to try to improve Native American participation.

“There’s a lot riding on it,” says Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty, chairman of the Sunshine Census Complete Count Committee, “but there’s a lot of complications and difficulties and challenges that are unique to Florida. These are all things we’re having to work through.”

Tags: Politics & Law, Government/Politics & Law