PDF: Census report on responses
If you didn't mail back a 2010 census questionnaire, you can expect a knock at your door in the next couple of months.
Beginning today, nearly 635,000 census takers across the nation, including 1,200 in the Chattanooga area, will begin going door to door to collect information from households that have not yet answered the census.
"Our people are trained, and we're ready to go," said Karen Alexander, manager of the Chattanooga census office, which oversees six Southeast Tennessee counties. "The bulk of our people will be going out Monday, but we have some people trained and will begin going door to door on Saturday."
Responses to the mailed 2010 census forms this year were above the levels of the last census in 2000 in every county in the Chattanooga region, limiting the number of workers the Census Bureau must hire. But about one in four households in the area didn't respond to either of the mailed questionnaires, and their households likely will be visited or called a half-dozen times to try to ensure an accurate count for the survey.
As required by the U.S. Constitution since 1790, the census is conducted every 10 years to help the government allocate legislative seats in Congress, state legislatures and city councils. The census count also will help determine the distribution of more than $400 billion a year in federal funds.
Census Director Robert Groves, who calls the 2010 count "a once-a-decade civic event," said he was pleased that the response rate this year was comparable with the mailed response rate to the 2000 census.
"We knew the job would be more difficult in 2010 than in 2000, yet the nation responded tremendously," Mr. Groves said when announcing the results of the mailed participation rates.
Census workers conducting household visits generally will work during afternoons and evenings and will carry visible ID badges, officials said, and they never will ask to step inside the house.
The visits are expected to continue through at least June this year, Ms. Alexander said.
All census workers have passed two background checks, including an FBI fingerprint check, officials said.
People unsure whether the person at the door is a census worker may call the local census office at 424-5912.
Jim Winsett, president of the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Tennessee, said homeowners always should make sure they know whom they are dealing with when someone comes to their door asking questions. But he said the local BBB has heard no complaints about any census-related scams or misrepresentations in the Chattanooga area.
"Hopefully, it will stay that way," he said.
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