Online Census Response Always Available
During the month of March, Valley County residents started to receive invitations to respond to the 2020 Census. Residents with physical mailing address were sent a paper questionnaire with a unique identification number followed up with an invitation card a few days or weeks later welcoming the resident to complete the Census online if they would prefer. Residents with P.O. boxes however did not receive the invitation as they were part of the Census’ update/leave operation, which was placed on hold as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, leaving these residents of Valley County without information on how to be counted.
According to Census Bureau’s media specialist Josh Manning, from mid-March through early April census employees were supposed to go to addresses that don’t have a physical mailing address, update and verify the address, and then leave a physical packet on the doorstep. “This was all part of a process called “update leave,” update the address on the ground and leave a packet with a paper census questionnaire and invitation to also fill it out online. Update leave was actually going on a few days before the operational pause so only a handful of households would have received this packet. These operations are vitally important for rural areas and tribal nations,” explained Manning.
Though update leave operations are expected to start up again as early as June, the resumption of operations could get further delayed depending on national and state health directives. In the meantime, it is advised to not wait for census workers to come to you and instead log online to https://my2020census.gov to fill out the Census. All residents, who might have received an invitation but haven’t filled out the Census and residents who have not received anything are invited to log on to be counted. “Those who have PO boxes, which is a large portion of Valley County, did not get the census information with unique identification numbers. We can however get online with our physical address and fill out the census,” stressed Valley County Commissioner Mary Armstrong.
When filling out the Census, it’s important to count members in your household as of April 1. Due to the virus, there might have been changes in members of the household, including the addition of college students who returned home early to finish out their semester virtually. “College students will still be counted where they live and are enrolled in college, as of April 1, even if campuses closed early for the spring semester or shifted to virtual learning for the remainder of the semester. In general, college students should be counted according to the residence criteria, where they live and sleep most of the time,” explained Manning. “Students who live in college-owned housing, such as dormitories, Greek housing, do not need to do anything, other than tell their parents/guardians not to include them in their household response. Students who live in off-campus housing (apartments, condos, etc.) should have received an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census in the mail. College students who were away from their usual off-campus residences when the invitation arrived should still respond at 2020census.gov. Everyone living at the same address will be counted on one questionnaire.”
To ensure all residents of Montana are counted, Census workers will follow up with residents who do not respond online, by phone or with the paper questionnaire in door-to-door operations come mid-summer to early fall 2020, dependent on national and state public health directives. Manning stresses Census workers will never ask you for your social security number, bank account information, political belief or money. When canvasing, employees will have an official Department of the Commerce US Census Bureau badge and computer equipment with the census logo on it. “If you suspect something suspicious, please report it to [email protected]. I would much rather people feel safe and secure about taking the census than worrying about whether something is legitimate,” stated Manning.
The Census is important for every household to complete as the data obtained is used to determine more than $675 billion in federal funding allocations across the nation, with most of the allocations determined by population and demographics at the State and county level. For more information on the Census, visit 2020census.gov.
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