Norton Releases Census Response to Her Inquiry on Spanish-Speaking Staff

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released the response from the Census Bureau to her August 14, 2020, letter where she raised serious concerns about the lack of Spanish-speaking enumerators and Mobile Questionnaire Assistance staff in District of Columbia for the ongoing 2020 Census. In its response, the Census Bureau noted it has hired 200 Spanish-speaking enumerators. The Census Bureau also indicated that is has already counted more than 86% of D.C. households overall.

"I appreciate the Census Bureau's response to my letter, indicating that they are working to have a sufficient number of Spanish-speaking staff to get an accurate Census count," Norton said. "I will keep working with the Census Bureau and the community to ensure that we continue to improve our count over the last Census to ensure D.C. receives the full federal funding it deserves."

The Census Bureau's response follows:

September 16, 2020

The Honorable Eleanor Holmes-Norton

U.S. House of Representatives

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite M-100

Washington, DC 20004

Dear Representative Holmes-Norton:

Thank you for sharing your letter regarding Spanish-speaking enumerators and Mobile Questionnaire Assistance (MQA) staff in the District of Columbia (DC).

Overall, we are making significant progress in DC. The Census Bureau has already enumerated more than 86 percent of the households in DC. You can monitor that progress at https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates/nrfu.html. This total progress includes self-response and the results of interviews by census takers.

The Washington, DC, Area Census Office (ACO) is currently conducting the Nonresponse Follow up Operation (NRFU). So far, the office has hired 1,150 enumerators in support of NRFU, to ensure every DC resident is counted for the 2020 Census. The office has selected 200 enumerators who speak Spanish. With a recruitment goal of 9,700 applicants much higher than what is needed to complete the operation, the ACO exceeded its goal with 12,500 total applicants. Of those, 1,000 speak Spanish. As we continue through the NRFU operation, we will utilize that applicant pool as we needed to continue to have sufficient staff.

On July 13, the Census Bureau launched the modified MQA Program, an operation in low-responding areas to promote and assist with responding to the 2020 Census. MQA is a separate activity from census takers going door-to-door to count households that have not yet responded. MQA representatives encourage people to respond to the 2020 Census in open, public places in the lowest responding areas of the nation. Places where people naturally visit when leaving home will be used to help increase self-response rates. Locations for MQAs will include grocery stores and markets, food banks, laundromats, restaurants and grab-and-go eateries, unemployment offices, back to school drives, places of worship, and libraries.

Examples of sites used for MQA in DC include Benning Ridge DMV, Skyland Workforce Center, and the Anacostia Community Service Center. The office has staffed 22 events, resulting in 140 surveys completed. Census staff have interacted with more than 600 individuals through this operation. ACO and Partnership staff are coordinating with local partners on future MQA events and where they can be most beneficial to DC.

The MQA program is an innovation for 2020, and this program did not exist in 2010. In 2010, there were some places with limited hours where respondents could get help and pick up a blank form, but the respondent still had to mail back the form. With MQA, our staff are helping respondents directly in completing their responses to the 2020 Census.

The design of the 2020 Census is much different from 2010, so such a comparison does not really apply. In 2010, the operation was paper based and required many more staff. The innovations in 2020 require fewer staff because we have improved the operation with technology and innovations that have led to significantly higher productivity. In addition, respondents can continue to self-respond until Field operations end, something not available in 2010, and when they respond, they are removed from the list for follow-up.

Our 2020 Census Congressional Partnership Initiative has garnered support for the Census with nearly every congressional office; we have arranged scores of Public Service Announcements and coordinated the Census Bureau's participation in hundreds of town hall meetings and Complete Count Committee events. As you amplify our "be counted" message across social media platforms, local radio, and TV, please continue to remind constituents that Census employees are legally bound to protect personal respondent data for life. In addition, the most important messages now are to encourage everyone to respond immediately and, for those who do not, to cooperative when census takers visit. Those are the main messages of our communications campaign now.

We extend our utmost appreciation for your continuing support for a complete and accurate 2020 Census count.

Sincerely,

Fernando Armstrong

Regional Director

U.S. Census Bureau – Philadelphia