Census 2010 – Be Counted!
As planners, community development specialists, and grant writers – we here at TEA have a particular interest in making sure that West Virginians fully participate in the 2010 Census. Recently the US Census Bureau ranked West Virginia 47th in the nation in terms of response based on the fact that only 59 percent of the state’s forms have been mailed in. In 2000, the state only had 66 percent participation. This gives us great cause for concern as the demographic data collected by the decennial census is important information that we constantly rely upon to help make policy and investment recommendations and to demonstrate need and capacity within our communities.
Allocation formulas and other decisions driven by census data have a large impact on our state and local communities. Every year, the federal government can allocate more than $300 billion to states and communities based, in part, on census data. Census data determine how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Equally as important is the use of these statistics by public agencies, nonprofits, community –based organization, and the private sector for marketing, operations, and planning. Census data guide local decision-makers on where to build new roads, hospitals, child-care and senior citizen centers, schools and more. Businesses use census data to locate supermarkets, new housing and other facilities.
Starting May 1 through July 10 Census workers will be out going door-to-door to capture the remaining population in WV that has not participated by mailing back their forms. Please do what you can to support these efforts in making sure that accurate data about West Virginia is being captured. To monitor participation rates or to find an assistance center near you visit http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/
Good grief, that is terrible! Thanks for making this better known. I had no idea WV’s response rate was so puny.