By Layla Burke Hastings
[email protected]
The state of Vermont is struggling to meet its recruitment goal of 9,000 U.S. Census Bureau applicants due in large part to the number of available jobs as a result of a 43-year low unemployment rate.
Along with fellow New England states Maine and New Hampshire, census data indicates lower-than-desired numbers in enrollment efforts, which could lead to unsatisfactory outcomes in roll out of the one-in-a-decade head count.
Jason Broughton, state librarian for the Vermont Department of Libraries, said the most recent information was not what he had expected.
“The Federal Department of Labor examined what it would take to have adequate amounts of workers who assist with the census,” he said. “It is about a thousand people and at that time it definitely was surprising.”
In a congressional hearing last month, Managing Director of the Government Accountability Office’s Strategic Issues team J. Christopher Mihm said, “[The Census Bureau] may have difficulty hiring enough staff to complete upcoming operations, leading to delays, increased costs and eroded data quality… Recruitment and hiring success in one area may provide little advantage to an area where efforts are lagging. The census, while a national effort, is implemented locally in communities and neighborhoods across the country.”
But according to Michael Moser, head of the Vermont State Data Center, this statistic is one of temporary value when compared to the overall five-to-one hiring ratio and the state’s 2.3% unemployment as of December 2019.
“Part of the problem is that Vermonters are by and large employed. If they’re in the workforce they are not counted as eligible recruitments. And some work more than one job,” Moser said. “So that’s one of the reasons.”
And according to Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham in a congressional meeting with lawmakers last month, statements saying the agency is behind are simply not true.
The Census Bureau recruits more than five times the amount the agency plans to hire in an effort to account for applicants who don’t pass background checks and those who choose not to take the job.
“We recruit five times as many people as we need to hire and our recruiting goals are inflated because they typically have a lot of turnover on a sensitive basis. So we build in that turnover and that’s why we equate to roughly a five-to-one ratio,” said Jeff Behler, Census Bureau New York regional director. “So we’ve been trying to ensure we have the best candidate pool when we get ready to select.”
Moser also noted that another reason for a low number of applicants is simply a result of rural areas having less population density. Statistics a decade ago indicate that a large number of residents will opt to complete the census themselves either online, by mail or telephone — in what is referred to as “self-count” — which decreases the need for workers to go door to door come May.
“This is the largest civilian non-military governmental operation and it happens every 10 years. These folks are consummate professionals. That’s why being able to answer online is really straightforward,” he said.
The Center for Rural Studies research project specialist offered insight into how COVID-19 concerns are being taken into consideration in how the agency is preparing a safe recruitment and roll out process. In this sense, the Census Bureau’s main concern is door-to-door counts.
“This is around group quarters specifically and homeless count for census employees going into homeless encampments who will probably be taking additional precautions,” Moser said. “I’m sure those shelters already are employing additional precautions. With the closing down of university campuses, the census employment numbers might change slightly.”
Moser said the Census Bureau is tracking the information about COVID-19 and preparing to adjust accordingly in group counts.
“We just awarded around $4,000 in mini-grants to different agencies and entities across the state of Vermont to help them do census outreach events and activities. That is a place where we’re a little bit concerned about having gatherings of folks and so we may postpone those events until May or just push them down the line a little bit,” he said. “Or we may revise how those census events happen.”
Behler agreed with Moser about people opting for self counting by phone, mail or online as another way to dispel any fears about the COVID-19 outbreaks.
“We don’t want to have to send people in your community nor do you want to open your door to someone you may not know. So self-respond. Go online, fill it out on paper or call our toll-free telephone numbers.”
The Census Bureau is also extending its reach to the homeless through networking with community action agencies.
“We do have local resources and we are pushing those out into communities across the state to do additional work,” he said.
Moser said there are advertisements on the radio in Vermont in several different languages launching next week.
“We’ve got that statewide complete count commission and we are pushing out a series of radio advertisements that are going out across the state of Vermont and those will I think those are going to start I think they start next week. The advertisements are going out across all these different radio stations and those messages will be going on for four weeks,” Moser said.
To fill out the census online, go to https://2020census.gov.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.
