A delay in field work could create more challenges in reaching groups already undercounted by the U.S. census in 2010.
People involved in census efforts are reexamining their strategy during the pandemic, and what outreach will look like over the next few weeks, said Katie Martin, a census community engagement coordinator for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan policy institute based in Austin, Texas.
“Field representatives were hoping to have in-person events and set up shop where people are frequenting, like at a church after a service or a neighborhood block party. In this day and age, we can't be congregating like that,” Martin told. “Everyone in the census outreach world is having to take a step back to figure out how to reach certain populations.”
Some census workers are moving operations to the virtual world she said, with phone and text banking and with video conferencing. But not everyone they want to reach has access to the internet or social media. “There was a ground strategy in thinking about how to get the colonias, or areas that are unincorporated. Now, we’re thinking about how we get info out to rural folks in Texas if we’re not seeing them at the grocery store, at a favorite restaurant or a place of worship,” Martin said.: The U.S. Census had planned all along to lean more on collecting information online, by phone and by mail in 2020 than in previous decades.
. At about that point in time in 2010, it had about 145,000 temporary workers on the payroll, which includes field representatives.and has isolated themselves, NPR reported, although they did not make contact with the public as part of their job duties.
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