Archive for Monday, June 21, 2010
Census 2010 data collection wrapping up in Northwest Colorado
Western Slope office manager expects government project to be completed by mid-August
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Steamboat Springs — Census 2010 work is wrapping up in Northwest Colorado, and the region’s manager said the majority of data collection work should be finished by mid-August.
“We’re just winding down our nonresponse follow-up operation,” said Kathleen DuHamel, local Census office manager for the office in Grand Junction. “We are over 99 percent complete right now.”
DuHamel’s office handles data collection in western Colorado, covering basically everything west of the Continental Divide. The end of the project means the jobs provided by the census are winding down, too. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment released May employment figures Friday, citing an increase in government jobs largely because of the census.
Employment with the census peaked in April and May, DuHamel said, when teams were working to follow up with households that hadn’t mailed their census forms. At that point, the Grand Junction office employed about 2,500 people across the region.
“We have about 40 people still actively employed in Steamboat Springs,” she said Friday.
Census workers now are finishing the “vacant/delete check,” during which they make sure houses that were marked vacant are indeed empty.
“In an area like yours that had so many second homes, we want to get those off the list so your census participation is as high as possible,” DuHamel said.
After that, workers will do a quality control operation, but it’s small operation that will involve few employees, she said.
Current response rates weren’t yet available. As of April 27, 38 percent of Steamboat Springs’ households had participated by mail. The national mail participation rate was 72 percent.
Hayden’s mail participation rate was 65 percent, Oak Creek’s was 54 percent, Yampa’s was 59 percent and Routt County’s overall rate was 43 percent.
DuHamel said the census went smoothly in the region.
“It went extremely well,” she said. “In fact, we’re ahead of schedule for completion.”
— To reach Blythe Terrell, call 871-4234 or e-mail bterrell@steamboatpilot.com
Comments
scottford (Scott Ford) says...
No problem with the accuracy of the numbers in this article - except there is no historical basis of comparison or comparisons to other like communities.
Routt County's overall response rate in the 2000 census was 51% (43%)
• Hayden = 71% (65%)
• Oak Creek = 57% (54%)
• Steamboat Springs = 47% (38%)
• Yampa = 60% (59%)
The percentages in parenthesis are the rates show in the article.
Assuming that they are 99% done and that there is a lag in the data getting reported to "Census Central" - I think the real story is different than the one reported on. The participation rate in the outlying communities are likely going to match Census-2000 rates. Steamboat Springs is where participation will be the lowest. The real story would be to dig into the why?
• Is the low participation due to demographic / age, education level and income?
• Why in-spite of a massive coordinated effort is Routt County to get the highest possible response rate - thanks to Steamboat Springs Routt County as a whole is going to miss participation marks.
• Reasons people have for not completing the census - do those reasons hold in Steamboat Springs?
• How does Steamboat Springs compare to similar communities like Durango and Gunnison?
• What checks are in place to assure that Census Workers did not take any short-cuts that could have resulted in over reporting in 2000 and now under-reporting in 2010?
• What methodology is being used to get the second-homes off the non-response list?
• Is the second-home methodology different than what was used in 2000?
• Examples of how this will affect funding for programs such as Veterans services, NW-Colorado Visiting Nurse services - If there will be no impact - who cares what the response rate is.
• Is there anything that can be done at this late date to make a difference in Steamboat Springs's response rate?
• Does the Census Bureau have mathematical models that adjust for low participation that will help fill in the blanks - or are we just out of luck?
I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer and these are the questions I have.
June 21, 2010 at 4 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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