Census goes door to door

SANDPOINT — By mid-July, the U.S. Census Bureau hopes to count every Bonner County resident.

The mail-in phase wrapped up earlier this spring and the door-to-door visits officially began today, according to Stacy McBain, media specialist with the U.S. Census Bureau.

While today marks the official start of the door-knocking operation, some Census workers got an early start in the state and began knocking on doors since their training was complete, McBain said.

“Our goal is to count everyone,” she said.

Census workers are trained to go straight to the front door, knock and if there is no response, leave a note saying they had stopped by. They will make up to three visits to a home to try and contact residents.

They are trained, particularly in North Idaho, to follow specific protocol when they go to a home. The caution comes in the wake of  a March 3 incident in which a St. Maries man is accused of shooting over the head of a census worker after he attempted to give the man the population-counting questionnaire.

Workers will identify themselves with a census ID badge that contains a Department of Commerce watermark and also may be carrying a bag with a Census Bureau logo, McBain said. If asked, he or she will provide supervisor contact information and/or the Local Census Office phone number for verification.

Up to three visits may be made to a home to attempt to reach a household member in person. If those efforts are unsuccessful, they may attempt to call those homes where phone numbers are known to conduct an interview with the household member, McBain said.

If someone is home, the worker will show their identification, explain the process and ask the 10 questions.

The questions include how many people are in the household, age, date of birth, name, relationships, and whether the home is owned or rented by the individual.

They will not ask for financial information, Social Security numbers, whether you owe money or ask for money.

“People give more information to the pizza delivery guy than they will to the census worker,” McBain said.

Idaho’s mail-back participation rate for the 2010 census reached 75 percent, which places it in the top 10 states nationwide. Overall, Bonner Count saw 59 percent of residents mailed in their questionnaires. In Sandpoint, mail-in participation was 77 percent; in Priest River, 56 percent; in Clark Fork, 56 percent; in Dover, 84 percent, in Ponderay, 69 percent; in Kootenai, 80 percent; in Hope, 56 percent; and in East Hope, 49 percent.

If residents have any questions, or any doubts about whether a person is a census worker, they are asked to call the Boise office at (208) 319-3341.