Log in

Census Bureau still hiring in Arizona to help with 2020 count

Posted 1/18/20

On Tuesday, Jan. 21, the 2020 Census officially kicks off at the remote Alaskan native village at Toksook Bay, where U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham will personally …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor

Census Bureau still hiring in Arizona to help with 2020 count

Posted

Where did the decade go?

On Tuesday, Jan. 21, the 2020 Census officially kicks off at the remote Alaskan native village at Toksook Bay, where U.S. Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham will personally count the first citizen in agency’s Constitutionally mandated decennial effort.

Though the count in the contiguous states won’t launch until April when mail-in surveys will be sent out, the in-person count ramps up in May.

(The early effort  in takes advantage of the still-frozen Alaskan landscape to gain easier, safer access to rural residents ahead of the spring thaw.)

In a press release earlier this week, the census director noted the importance of getting an accurate count everywhere.

“It’s a once-in-a-decade chance to inform how billions of dollars in funding are allocated for critical public services like hospitals and health care clinics, schools and education programs, roads and bridges, and emergency response for the next 10 years,” Mr. Dillingham explained.

Far from the snow-swept shores of the Bearing Sea and closer to home, Peoria officials and local leaders are working to ensure a complete count in their community.

Philip Haldiman, editor of the Peoria Independent weekly newspaper, serves on the city of Peoria’s Complete Count Committee, which fosters local participation in this year’s count.

He previewed the census director’s concerns in a recent commentary.

“The decade census count is extremely critical because it determines how Arizona municipalities will divvy up the state-shared funding determined by the decade count,” Mr. Haldiman wrote in December.

He claimed state-shared revenues make up about 30% of Peoria’s general fund revenues, citing information from the city’s finance and budget department.

Each municipality needs an accurate count to ensure their fair slice of the federal funding pie, according to Mr. Haldiman.

“Response to the 2020 Census helps ensure that more than $675 billion in federal funds is directed to the right places to support education, roads, health care, firefighting and more each year. That’s a lot of money so it is important to make sure it goes to where it is needed most,” he stated.

Beyond state and local funding for crucial infrastructure and services, this year’s count will determine Congressional maps for the coming decade. Fast-growing states, like Arizona, stand to grow their representation based on the results.

A report from Cronkite News published last week revealed the stakes for Arizona voters and others in neighboring states, who stand add to their Congressional delegations.

“Besides giving the state that much more clout in Congress and one more vote for president in the Electoral College, the addition of a House seat is also sure to draw attention from the national political parties as they battle to win the seat,” the report stated.

Citing Census Bureau data, the report estimated Arizona had accrued 780,000 more residents as of 2018 compared to the official 2010, all but assuring the state will add another representative — for the seventh decade running — to the 435-seat U.S. House of Representatives.

Other states likely to increase their delegations are Florida, Texas, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon; while those likely to lose seats include New York, Alabama, California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia, according to the report.

Outreach efforts

In their bid to promote participation, the census bureau this week announced a $500 million national education and outreach campaign.

“On the eve of the nation’s once-in-a-decade headcount of every person in the country, the U.S. Census Bureau is unveiling an unprecedented $500 million public education and outreach campaign featuring more than 1,000 advertisements,” officials stated in a press release.

The 2020 Census Integrated Communications Campaign debuted Wednesday as the agency shared messaging strategies with members of Congress, agency heads, bureau partners and the media, unveiling their campaign motto: “Shape your future. Start here.”

The agency is also reaching out locally and nationally to hire tens of thousands of additional census takers and other much-needed temporary staffers.

With a goal to hire 2,000,000 workers in total, bureau officials said they hope to add another 500,000 by March.

Officials kicked off their hiring campaign in October at the U.S. Census Bureau National Processing Center Paper Data Capture Center in Phoenix, where Timothy Olson, associate director of field operations for the bureau, said his agency was already ahead of the game.

“We are now embarking on a pretty big thing starting this week,” Mr. Olson said. “We have a goal of generating 2.7 million job applicants throughout the nation. And from those 2.7 million applicants, we will be able to select, hire, train and put into the field approximately 500,000 temporary census employees.”

By then, the agency had already received 900,000 applications for the temporary positions, which range in pay from $13.50 up $30 an hour nationally.

The census bureau website has an interactive tool, which lists pay ranges for every county in the country.

In Maricopa County, the pay will range from $15.50 to $19.50 per hour. The pay rate in Manhattan, which lies in New York County, by comparison, is $25 per hour.

The bureau will begin hiring supervisors now and then census takers in February and March, Mr. Olson said.

Census takers will work 20 to 25 hours per week during the evening and on weekends on a self-determined schedule.

Candidates with bilingual skills are a high priority for the agency; about 20% of those who have already applied are bilingual, representing more than 400 languages and dialects.

To qualify, applicants must:

  • Be at least 18 years old.
  • Have a valid social security number.
  • Be a U.S. citizen.
  • Have a valid email address.
  • Be registered with the Selected Service System (or have a qualifying exemption) if born before Dec. 31, 1959.
  • Pass a background check with fingerprinting.
  • Commit to complete training.
  • Be available to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends.
  • Complete an application and assessment.

Most jobs require access to vehicle and drivers license, as well as a computer with internet access and email account.

Online applications take about 30 minutes to complete. Learn more at 2020Census.gov/jobs.