As U.S. Census workers gear up for a door-to-door court, the North Olympic Peninsula is topping the rest of the state when it comes to submitting the 2010 census form.
More than 79 percent of residents in both Clallam and Jefferson counties who received forms had sent them back as of Friday.
That leads the state, which was at a 73 percent participation rate, and the rest of the nation, which had a rate of 72 percent by Friday.
“Clearly, these two counties have done an excellent job filling it out and mailing it back,” said Cecilia Sorci, a regional spokeswoman for the U.S. Census Bureau.
“They’re doing really well. The rest of the state is playing catch up.”
Participation rates are different from return rates. Census officials use two sets of numbers to count the return.
The participation rate is the percentage of household that received a form, fill it out accurately and sent it back.
The mail-back rate is the total percentage of households that have returned a form, regardless if they have received one or not.
“The mail-back rate is less because not everyone got a census form,” said Brian Maule, regional census manager based in Silverdale.
Citizens who use a post office box rather than a mailbox did not receive a census form.
Jefferson County’s mail-back rate is 70 percent and Clallam’s is 69 percent. Those numbers lead the region, but not the state, Maule said.
Here are the participation rates of the census-listed jurisdictions of the North Olympic Peninsula, as provided by the U.S. Census on Friday.
• Port Townsend, 82 percent.
• Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, 82 percent.
• Port Angeles, 79 percent.
• Sequim, 79 percent.
• Forks, 70 percent.
• Lower Elwha tribe, 48 percent.
• Hoh tribe, 46 percent.
• Quileute tribe, 28 percent.
Knocking on doors
If the form was mailed back after April 16, citizens can expect a visit from a paid census taker beginning Friday.
The door-to-door census count will run through June.
“We’re asking people to be aware that there are going to be census people flooding the streets in Clallam County” and in parts of Jefferson County, said Brian Maule, regional census manager based in Silverdale.
Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau tries to count every person in the country.
Data taken from the constitutionally mandated count is used to draw legislative boundaries and distribute more than $400 billion annually to local, state and tribal governments for programs and services.
The census takers who knock on doors will ask the same questions that appear on the form.
Each census employee will carry a badge. Employees also have photo ID cards from the census.
Information given to a census worker is confidential. Disclosing personal information puts the census taker at risk of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Sorci said.
“It should take 10 minutes if they cooperate with the census taker,” she said.
Census takers will get daily updates from a processing center. Households that sent forms back late will be taken off the list.
“In theory, if you’re someone who didn’t return a form you’re asked 10 questions and you’re done,” Maule said. “In reality, there are going to be a lot of unique situations. . . . There’s going to be a lot of issues.”
After the initial attempt to contact a household in person, census takers will make five more attempts. They will leave paper notices of their attempts.
The door-to-door count by census-takers costs $57 per residence on average. It will cost about $85 million to count every 1 percent of the population that does not return a form.
Impressive rate on Peninsula
Sorci said the Peninsula’s participation rate is impressive considering a recent Pew Research Center study in which two-thirds of the population said privacy concerns and the heated political climate have caused them to distrust the government.
“I think there was a lot of effort to reach out to folks,” Sorci said.
The U.S. Census Bureau mounted a $133 million advertising campaign and stressed the importance of filling out the form at community events like the Portrait of America Road Tour, which made its lone stop on the Peninsula last month in Port Angeles.
Clallam County, the state of Washington and the nation each had a 72 percent return rate in 2000.
Jefferson County’s response rate in the last census was 75 percent.
Portions of Clallam County and Port Hadlock in Jefferson County were targeted for a second mailing of the census forms. Areas with low return rates in the last census were chosen for the special second mailing.
Most of the questions on the census form are the same questions that appeared on the census in 1990, Maule said.
Those worried that their households might not be counted can phone U.S. Census Bureau workers at 866-872-6868. Information can be taken over the phone.
The regional census office in Silverdale can be reached at 360-477-4470.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
