Census has tech focus but bureau still looking for workers

Census 2020 is approaching, and, although information technology will be used to gather data, the U.S. Census Bureau is still looking for workers to conduct the count.

Bear Paw Development Corp. Executive Director Paul Tuss, who is part of a group forming a census Complete Count Committee, said Hill County residents should expect their census form to arrive in the mail April 1.

Tuss said 95 percent of households are going to receive their census invitation in the mail with an invitation to complete the census online. Less than 1 percent of households will be counted by census takers.

The people who don’t complete it online or who do not receive the invitation will be contacted by census representatives going door-to-door.

He added that as a community and as a region people need to be as prepared as they can possibly be to embrace the census and to make sure that the census gives a good, accurate count of people from northern Montana.

“Every single person that is counted means thousands of dollars to the community in which they live, and so getting an accurate account is important for the services we rely on including, infrastructure, health care and education,” Tuss said.

This is the time of year where the census is recruiting people for jobs to assist with Census 2020. 

Tuss said this is going to be undoubtedly the most technology-heavy census effort, but will still need a significant number of people going door-to-door to get the census count for those households that have not responded to the census questions electronically.

“In some ways it’s the best of both worlds,” he said. “We have an opportunity to go online to answer a few questions, but for those folks who don’t want to do that or can’t do that, we still need people going door-to-door up here to assure that people are properly accounted.”

People who are interested in applying to be part of the census team can learn more at https://2020census.gov/en/jobs.html or call a toll free number to see what jobs are available in the area nationally and in north-central Montana 1-855-562-2020. 

The Census Outreach website said the Census 2020 is aiming to hire close to 500,000 office and field staff nationally. The majority of those hires will be census takers, also referred to as enumerators.

“Candidates must be U.S. citizens, 18 years or older by February 2020 and be able to pass a federal background check. Bilingual candidates are highly desired. Veterans may be eligible for preferential hiring,” the website said. “The job pays well, from $13.50 up to $30/hour depending on the county.”

“I would encourage them to apply I mean, if they are interested in having a flexible job that will really make a difference in the community which they live, these would be great for them,” Tuss said. “They can do it on their own time. It’s a part-time job that will be flexible enough that you can have another job and still be an enumerator.”

Tuss added that he and others are in the early stages of developing a Complete Count Committee to make sure Hill County and all of northern Montana have the mist complete count possible during the 2020 census.

He said that Complete Count Committee will be made up of government entities, private entities, non-profit groups and others to make sure they are covering the waterfront in terms of counting everybody they can possibly count.

“My understanding is that there will be some meetings to strategize on how best to locate everybody who needs to be located to complete the census form,” Tuss said.

No dates on the meetings have been set yet.

People who are interested more in what the census is and the numbers not only in Havre, but also Hill County, Montana can visit https://www.census.gov .