2010 Census
Communications Campaign Has Potential to Boost Participation Gao ID: GAO-09-525T March 23, 2009A complete and accurate census is becoming an increasingly daunting task, in part because the nation's population is growing larger, more diverse, and more reluctant to participate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau). When the census misses a person who should have been included, it results in an undercount, and the differential impact on various subpopulations, such as minorities, is particularly problematic. This testimony provides an update on the Bureau's readiness to implement its Integrated Communications Campaign, one of several efforts aimed at reducing the undercount. GAO focused on the campaign's key components: partnerships with local and national organizations, paid advertising and public relations, and Census in Schools (designed to reach parents and guardians through their school-age children). GAO also discusses the extent to which the rollout of the campaign is consistent with factors important for greater accountability and successful results. This testimony is based on previously issued work, ongoing reviews of relevant documents, and interviews with key Bureau officials.
The Bureau has made notable progress in rolling out key components of its communications campaign; if implemented as planned, the campaign will help position the Bureau to address the undercount. For example, to help promote the census and convince individuals--especially hard-to-count groups--to respond, the Bureau plans to partner with state, local, and tribal governments; religious, community, and social service organizations; and private businesses to secure a more complete count. According to the Bureau, it has thus far secured partnership agreements with more than 10,000 organizations for 2010. The Bureau intends to focus its efforts on hard-to-count communities using data from the 2000 Census, and additional funding made available from the recently enacted economic recovery legislation will enable the Bureau to greatly expand staffing for the partnership program. Future success will depend in part on how well the Bureau communicates with partners and incorporates other best practices from 2000, as well as on how well it monitors the progress of the partnership efforts and whether it uses results-oriented measures so as to deploy resources as needed. The Bureau updated its paid media and public relations strategy from 2000 to meet a changing media environment and plans to focus its efforts on hard-to-count populations. In addition to traditional outlets such as television and radio, the Bureau also intends to employ on line media, such as podcasts and blogs. Currently, the Bureau plans to devote 55 percent of its advertising resources to national media, which provides the broadest reach, and 45 percent to local media, which better targets specific hard-to-count communities. The Bureau has also completed research on factors affecting census participation, which could help the Bureau address the long-standing issue of converting awareness of the census into actual participation. The Census in Schools program is also moving forward. Like the other components of the communications campaign, the Bureau plans to target its efforts to those schools where data from the 2000 Census suggest that the program will have the most impact: school districts in hard-to-count communities and kindergarten through 8th grade. In general, the design of the Bureau's communications campaign appears to be comprehensive, integrated, shaped by the Bureau's experience in the 2000 Census, and targeted to hard-to-count populations. The programs GAO reviewed are in the planning or early implementation phases, and future success will depend on how well the Bureau moves from the design to operational phases. Further, while the extra money the Bureau received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will help augment its outreach efforts, it does not necessarily follow that additional activity will yield higher response rates. Therefore, consistent with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the Bureau will need to identify, among other things, (1) cost estimates of the activities being funded, (2) the objectives and outcome-related goals of the planned spending, and (3) how the spending will help achieve those goals.
GAO-09-525T, 2010 Census: Communications Campaign Has Potential to Boost Participation
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Testimony:
Before the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National
Archives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of
Representatives:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
For Release on Delivery:
Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT:
Monday, March 23, 2009:
2010 Census:
Communications Campaign Has Potential to Boost Participation:
Statement of Robert Goldenkoff:
Director, Strategic Issues:
GAO-09-525T:
GAO Highlights:
Highlights of GAO-09-525T, a testimony before the Subcommittee on
Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives.
Why GAO Did This Study:
A complete and accurate census is becoming an increasingly daunting
task, in part because the nation‘s population is growing larger, more
diverse, and more reluctant to participate, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau (Bureau). When the census misses a person who should have
been included, it results in an undercount, and the differential impact
on various subpopulations, such as minorities, is particularly
problematic.
This testimony provides an update on the Bureau‘s readiness to
implement its Integrated Communications Campaign, one of several
efforts aimed at reducing the undercount. GAO focused on the campaign‘s
key components: partnerships with local and national organizations,
paid advertising and public relations, and Census in Schools (designed
to reach parents and guardians through their school-age children). GAO
also discusses the extent to which the rollout of the campaign is
consistent with factors important for greater accountability and
successful results. This testimony is based on previously issued work,
ongoing reviews of relevant documents, and interviews with key Bureau
officials.
What GAO Found:
The Bureau has made notable progress in rolling out key components of
its communications campaign; if implemented as planned, the campaign
will help position the Bureau to address the undercount. For example,
to help promote the census and convince individuals”especially hard-to-
count groups”to respond, the Bureau plans to partner with state, local,
and tribal governments; religious, community, and social service
organizations; and private businesses to secure a more complete count.
According to the Bureau, it has thus far secured partnership agreements
with more than 10,000 organizations for 2010. The Bureau intends to
focus its efforts on hard-to-count communities using data from the 2000
Census, and additional funding made available from the recently enacted
economic recovery legislation will enable the Bureau to greatly expand
staffing for the partnership program. Future success will depend in
part on how well the Bureau communicates with partners and incorporates
other best practices from 2000, as well as on how well it monitors the
progress of the partnership efforts and whether it uses results-
oriented measures so as to deploy resources as needed.
The Bureau updated its paid media and public relations strategy from
2000 to meet a changing media environment and plans to focus its
efforts on hard-to-count populations. In addition to traditional
outlets such as television and radio, the Bureau also intends to employ
on line media, such as podcasts and blogs. Currently, the Bureau plans
to devote 55 percent of its advertising resources to national media,
which provides the broadest reach, and 45 percent to local media, which
better targets specific hard-to-count communities. The Bureau has also
completed research on factors affecting census participation, which
could help the Bureau address the long-standing issue of converting
awareness of the census into actual participation. The Census in
Schools program is also moving forward. Like the other components of
the communications campaign, the Bureau plans to target its efforts to
those schools where data from the 2000 Census suggest that the program
will have the most impact: school districts in hard-to-count
communities and kindergarten through 8th grade.
In general, the design of the Bureau‘s communications campaign appears
to be comprehensive, integrated, shaped by the Bureau‘s experience in
the 2000 Census, and targeted to hard-to-count populations. The
programs GAO reviewed are in the planning or early implementation
phases, and future success will depend on how well the Bureau moves
from the design to operational phases. Further, while the extra money
the Bureau received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 will help augment its outreach efforts, it does not necessarily
follow that additional activity will yield higher response rates.
Therefore, consistent with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
the Bureau will need to identify, among other things, (1) cost
estimates of the activities being funded, (2) the objectives and
outcome-related goals of the planned spending, and (3) how the spending
will help achieve those goals.
What GAO Recommends:
GAO made several prior recommendations in its earlier review of the
Bureau‘s partnership program, all of which were implemented. At this
time, GAO is not making any new recommendations.
View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-525T] or key
components. For more information, contact Robert N. Goldenkoff at (202)
512-2757 or goldenkoffr@gao.gov.
[End of section]
Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Subcommittee:
Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the U.S.
Census Bureau's (Bureau) efforts to improve participation and reduce
the undercount in the next national headcount. As you know, the census
is mandated by the U.S. Constitution and provides data that are vital
to the nation. These data are used, for example, to apportion and
redistrict the seats of the U.S. House of Representatives, realign the
boundaries of the legislative districts of each state, and allocate
federal financial assistance.
Counting everyone in a country as large and diverse as the United
States is a significant challenge, in part because people are becoming
increasingly difficult to find and reluctant to respond to the census.
When the census misses a person who should have been included, it
results in an undercount; an overcount occurs when an individual is
counted in error. Such errors are particularly problematic because of
their differential impact on various subgroups. Minorities, renters,
and children, for example, are more likely to be undercounted by the
census while more affluent groups, such as people with vacation homes,
are more likely to be enumerated more than once.
To help reduce the undercount for the 2010 Census, the Bureau developed
the Integrated Communications Campaign aimed at hard-to-count
populations. Its components include partnerships with government,
private sector, social service, and other organizations; paid
advertising; public relations; and Census in Schools (a program
designed to reach parents and guardians through their school-age
children). Funding for the communications campaign received a
substantial boost under the recently enacted economic stimulus
legislation.[Footnote 1] The conference report[Footnote 2] accompanying
this legislation provided "up to $250,000,000 shall be for partnership
and outreach efforts to minority communities and hard-to-reach
populations," a 61 percent increase over the $410 million the Bureau
had originally budgeted for its communications effort.
Importantly, the communications campaign is just one example of the
tremendous effort the Bureau puts forth to improve participation and
help reduce the undercount. Other activities include building a
complete and accurate address list, using special enumeration programs,
and offering language assistance guides in 59 languages.
Although the Bureau has made considerable progress in gearing up its
communications campaign for the 2010 Census, encouraging traditionally
hard-to-count populations, such as minorities, renters, and
linguistically isolated households, will be difficult. Besides such
long-standing challenges as the nation's cultural diversity, the Bureau
also faces newly emerging issues, such as local anti-illegal
immigration campaigns and a post-September 11 environment that could
heighten some groups' fears of government agencies. At the same time,
the Bureau's communications campaign must not only raise public
awareness of the census, it must also motivate people to respond--a far
thornier task.
At your request, this statement focuses on the Bureau's readiness to
reduce the undercount through its Integrated Communications Campaign,
paying particular attention to the partnership, paid advertising and
public relations, and Census in Schools programs. We will also discuss
the extent to which the rollout of the campaign is consistent with
various factors that we believe will result in greater accountability
and more successful results. These factors include the extent to which
the various components of the communications campaign (1) were informed
by lessons learned from the 2000 Census and other evaluations, (2) are
implemented on schedule, (3) receive appropriate funding and staffing,
and (4) are targeted to where they are most needed. Likewise, it will
be important for the Bureau to have the ability to monitor response
rates and other developments at the national and local levels, and to
quickly deploy components of the campaign as needed to address
contingencies that could undermine the completeness and accuracy of the
count.
My testimony today is based on our ongoing and recently completed work
(please see the Related GAO Products section at the end of this
statement for a list of products we have issued on the Bureau's efforts
to reach hard-to-enumerate populations).[Footnote 3] To review the
readiness of the Bureau's communications campaign, we analyzed
planning, funding, and progress reports. We also interviewed Bureau
officials responsible for designing and implementing the communications
program. This work was conducted in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and
perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide
a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit
objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable
basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
In summary, the Bureau has made notable progress in rolling out key
components of its communications campaign, and if implemented as
planned, it will help position the Bureau to address the undercount.
For example, the Bureau's plans reflect some key lessons learned from
the 2000 Census, and the economic stimulus package makes more money
available to the Bureau than what it had originally planned to spend.
The programs we reviewed are mainly in the planning or early
implementation stages; therefore, moving forward, it will be important
for the Bureau and Congress to continue to monitor the campaign's
rollout to ensure that it proceeds as planned. Further, while the extra
funds available to the Bureau under the economic stimulus legislation
will help the Bureau expand its outreach efforts, it does not
necessarily follow that increased funding will affect response
behavior. As a result, and consistent with the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009, it will be important for the Bureau to
develop a spending plan for the money, identifying, among other things,
(1) cost estimates of the activities being funded, (2) the objectives
and outcome-related goals of the planned spending, and (3) how the
spending will effectively achieve those goals.
Background:
Although the Bureau goes to great lengths to conduct an accurate count,
some degree of coverage error in the form of persons missed or counted
more than once is inevitable. Historically, undercounts have plagued
the census, although Bureau efforts to evaluate count accuracy have
indicated that undercounts have generally diminished since 1940. For
the 2000 Census, for the first time in its history, the Bureau reported
a slight net overcount of approximately 0.5 percent or about 1.3
million people. However, as shown in figure 1, coverage errors are not
always evenly distributed through the population. For example, the
Bureau reported an overcount of non-Hispanic Whites, and an undercount
of non-Hispanic Blacks. Figure 1 also shows how the Bureau made strides
in reducing the undercount in the 2000 Census compared to 1990.
Figure 1: Comparison of Percent Net Undercounts, 1990 and 2000
Censuses:
[Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph]
Race/Hispanic origin: American Indian/Alaska Native off reservations;
Percent net overcount/undercount 1990 Census: [Empty];
Percent net overcount/undercount, 2000 Census: 0.62% undercount.
Race/Hispanic origin: American Indian/Alaska Native on reservations;
Percent net overcount/undercount 1990 Census: 12.22% undercount;
Percent net overcount/undercount, 2000 Census: -0.88% overcount.
Race/Hispanic origin: Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander;
Percent net overcount/undercount 1990 Census: [Empty];
Percent net overcount/undercount, 2000 Census: 2.12% undercount.
Race/Hispanic origin: Asian (non-Hispanic);
Percent net overcount/undercount 1990 Census: 2.36% undercount;
Percent net overcount/undercount, 2000 Census: -0.75% overcount.
Race/Hispanic origin: Hispanic origin;
Percent net overcount/undercount 1990 Census: 4.99% undercount;
Percent net overcount/undercount, 2000 Census: 0.71% undercount.
Race/Hispanic origin: Black (non-Hispanic);
Percent net overcount/undercount 1990 Census: 4.57% undercount;
Percent net overcount/undercount, 2000 Census: 1.84% undercount.
Race/Hispanic origin: White (non-Hispanic);
Percent net overcount/undercount 1990 Census: 0.68% undercount;
Percent net overcount/undercount, 2000 Census: -1.13% overcount.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Notes: A negative number indicates an overcount. In 1990, Asian (Non-
Hispanic) included Pacific Islanders.
[End of figure]
Participation in the census, as measured by the mail return rate, also
affects the accuracy of census data. The Bureau calculates mail return
rates as the percentage of questionnaires the Bureau receives from
occupied housing units in the mail-back universe.[Footnote 4] Although
the Bureau attempts to count individuals who fail to mail back their
census forms during a subsequent operation called nonresponse follow-
up, high mail return rates are critical to quality data. A Bureau
evaluation of the 2000 Census found that questionnaires returned by
mail tend to be more accurate than those obtained during nonresponse
follow-up. Higher mail return rates also help save considerable
taxpayer dollars, since a questionnaire returned by mail obviates the
need for enumerators to make costly in-person visits to households to
collect information.
The Bureau designed its Integrated Communications Campaign to help
increase census participation. The campaign's objectives are to raise
the mail response rate, reduce the workload in follow-up operations,
and improve cooperation with enumerators. Combined these efforts could
help reduce the undercount and thus enhance the overall accuracy of the
census.
In September 2007, the Bureau awarded its communications contract to
DraftFCB, a communications firm that will orchestrate its key
components. The campaign includes the following milestones (see table
1).
Table 1: Timeline of Selected Key Communications Campaign Events:
Date: May 2008;
Decennial activity: Bureau hired first 120 partnership staff.
Date: December 2008;
Decennial activity: DraftFCB delivers final communications plan.
Date: March 2009;
Decennial activity: National partners briefing.
Date: June 2009;
Decennial activity: Census in Schools materials available
(print/online); Additional partnership staff (funded by American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) to be hired.
Date: January 2010;
Decennial activity: Paid media campaign is launched.
Source: GAO analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
[End of table]
DraftFCB delivered its final communications plan, which includes a
specific focus on undercounted populations, in December 2008. As one
example, the contractor worked with the Bureau to segment the
population into distinct groups or "clusters" using socioeconomic,
demographic, and other data from the 2000 Census that are correlated
with a person's likelihood to participate in the census. Each cluster
was given a hard-to-count score, and the Bureau's communications
efforts are to be targeted to those clusters with the highest scores.
The four clusters with the highest hard-to-count scores made up 14
percent of the nation's occupied housing units based on data from the
2000 Census, and included the following demographic characteristics:
renters, immigrants, non-English speakers, persons without higher
education, persons receiving public assistance, and persons who are
unemployed.
The campaign strategy will be based on the theme "It's in Our Hands"
and will target the clusters mentioned above. According to the Bureau,
this approach reflects a marketplace trend where communications are
becoming more two-way or participatory, and can be seen, for example,
in people creating their own content on the World Wide Web. The goal of
the strategy is to encourage personal ownership and involvement that
spreads the word about the census. Further, the generic theme will be
tailored to specific groups. For example, outreach targeted to families
might carry the message, "The education of our children. It's in our
hands," while the economically disadvantaged might receive, "The power
to matter. It's in our hands."
Although the effects of the Bureau's communication efforts are
difficult to measure, the Bureau reported some positive results from
its 2000 Census marketing efforts with respect to raising awareness of
the census. For example, four population groups--non-Hispanic Blacks,
non-Hispanic Whites, Asians, and Native Hawaiians--indicated that they
were more likely to return the census form after the 2000 Census
partnership and marketing program than before its onset. However, a
Bureau evaluation demonstrated a limited linkage between the
partnership and marketing efforts and improvements in actual census
mail return behavior for these or other groups. Put another way, while
the Bureau's marketing activities might raise awareness of the census,
a remaining challenge is motivating a specific behavior, namely
completing and returning a census questionnaire.
Key Practices Are Helping to Enhance the Effectiveness of the
Partnership Program:
To help promote the census and convince people to respond, the Bureau
plans to partner with state, local, and tribal governments; religious,
community, and social service organizations; and private businesses.
The program stems from the Bureau's recognition that "trusted voices"
representing organizations with high credibility in a particular
community could help convince otherwise reluctant individuals to
participate in the census. According to the Bureau, it partnered with
around 140,000 organizations during the 2000 Census.
The program will be implemented largely by partnership specialists who
are to reach out to key government and community leaders and gain their
commitment to support the census. Other partnership staff include
graphic designers, media specialists, and clerical employees. The
Bureau had initially planned to hire 680 partnership staff for the 2010
Census, and achieved that level in January 2009. However, the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided additional funding that
allowed for the Bureau to hire around 2,000 additional partnership
staff, and the Bureau plans to ramp up to this new level by June 2009.
By comparison, for the 2000 Census, the Bureau hired around 600
partnership staff. The additional staffing levels will help the Bureau
better support the partners' efforts, and help address concerns
expressed by some local census office managers following the 2000
Census that the partnership specialists were spread too thin.
According to the Bureau, it will allocate the partnership staff among
and within the Bureau's 12 regions using a formula that incorporates
the hard-to-count score, as well as other data, including population
size, geographic information, language needs, and local knowledge.
Officials emphasized that they are using census data to focus resources
on hard-to-count populations.
In our previous work, we highlighted best practices for both the Bureau
and partners that appeared to be key to successful engagements. In
addition to these best practices we also included several
recommendations aimed at making the partnership program more
accountable and performance-oriented--all of which the Bureau
implemented.[Footnote 5] Best practices for partners outlined in our
previous work include (1) identifying "census champions" or advocates
who will actively support the census and encourage others to do so, (2)
integrating census-related efforts into partners' existing activities
and events, and (3) leveraging resources by working with other partners
and customizing census promotional materials to better resonate with
local populations. Best practices for the Bureau include (1) providing
adequate and timely information, guidance, and other resources to local
partners on how they can support the census; (2) maintaining open
communication with partners; and (3) encouraging the early involvement
of partners in census activities.
While it is premature to obtain a complete picture of how our best
practices have been used thus far, to date it appears that the Bureau
has incorporated some of the best practices we identified in the design
and early implementation of the 2010 program. For example, with respect
to obtaining early involvement of partners, the Bureau hired a core of
120 partnership staff in mid-2008 who, among other activities, secured
early commitments with state, local, and tribal governments; as well as
with various community organizations. The Bureau reports that it has
obtained partnership agreements with over 10,000 organizations as of
February 2009.
Moreover, as noted above, according to the Bureau, the full complement
of 2,680 partnership staff should be aboard by June 2009. By
comparison, for the 2000 Census, the full complement of partnership
staff--around a third of the roughly 600 hired--did not come aboard
until fiscal year 2000, with just a few months remaining until census
day. The near quadrupling of the planned size of the partnership staff
could help the Bureau expand its outreach efforts. However, it will be
important for the Bureau to have in place the appropriate management
infrastructure to hire, train, organize, deploy, and supervise the
additional personnel, as well as to ensure that guidance, information,
and other material provided to partners are communicated in a clear and
coordinated manner.
In addition to the paper-based promotional materials that will be
available for use by all partners through Bureau staff, the Bureau
plans to use the Internet to better communicate with partners and
disseminate material and information. The Bureau expects this to be a
significant enhancement and far more efficient than the strategy
employed in 2000, which relied solely on paper-based mailings and hand-
delivery of materials. For example, the Bureau plans to mass e-mail
newsletters and other information to partners, and has set up a
"partnership and communications area" on its Web site. Partners can use
this portal to receive updates and the latest program information.
Likewise, Bureau staff can use the Internet to contact and provide
newsletters, promotional materials and other forms of information to
national organizations directly rather than through a contractor as was
done in 2000. The Bureau expects that national organizations will in
turn share the information and materials with their local affiliates.
At the same time, if the Bureau shifts too much responsibility for
sharing and reproducing materials to its partners, the partners could
see it as a burden akin to an unfunded mandate. Indeed, local groups
may not have the budget, staff, or time to execute the Bureau's
partnership efforts. The Bureau received this type of feedback from
small rural counties following the 2000 Census.
Importantly, the Bureau will need timely information to track and
monitor progress of partnership activities. For 2010, the Bureau
introduced a new system, the Integrated Partner Contact Database to
track and monitor activities of partner organizations. The database
became available in January 2009 and, according to the Bureau, includes
real-time information on the number of partner organizations,
populations served, demographics, value added contributions, and
constituent reach. The Bureau believes this will enable it to evaluate
the partnerships in real time and redirect or reallocate staff as
needed. Bureau officials have noted that the 2010 partnership tracking
system is an improvement over the 2000 system, which was cumbersome and
not user-friendly.
That said, as the Bureau monitors the progress of the partnership
efforts, it will be important for the Bureau to develop specific
performance metrics linked to the goals of the partnership program and
the census itself. In contrast, according to a former senior Bureau
official who was responsible for the 2000 partnership program, success
was based more on the number of partnership agreements secured rather
than the quality of work the partners performed.
The Bureau Updated Its Paid Media and Public Relations Strategy to Meet
a Changing Media Environment:
The Bureau will use numerous paid media sources, such as TV, radio, the
Internet, and magazines, to reach individuals from all clusters and
ethnic audiences. The Bureau plans to devote 55 percent of its
advertising resources to national media, which provide the broadest
reach, and 45 percent to local media, which better target specific hard-
to-count communities. The role of the public relations effort, which is
to include news releases, media briefings, special events, podcasts,
and blogs, is to support all aspects of the census.
Bureau officials indicated that technological changes and society's
evolving media habits prompted the Bureau to update media strategies
employed in 2000 so as to be effective for 2010. For example, there is
far greater access to the Internet, social networks, blogs, satellite
radio, podcasts and Web-enabled phones than in 2000; some of these did
not exist at all. The Bureau believes these new forms of digital media
represent new ways to educate the public about the census. Last fall,
the Bureau completed market research to gain an understanding of
people's feelings about the census and the factors that inspire or
hinder participation. According to the Bureau, the research will help
it determine which communication medium works best for different ethnic
groups.
The Bureau will also retain greater control of its paid advertisements
so that they can be shared with other organizations. In 2000, a number
of entities, such as state and local governments and private
organizations, wanted to use census ads but were unable to because the
Bureau only retained limited use of its licensed advertising content.
As a result, ads with similar content had to be purchased by partners
for their use.
Additionally, the Bureau plans to create some of its informational
material, including posters, flyers, and brochures, as electronic
templates. This will enable the Bureau's 12 regional offices to easily
change out photos and languages that better suit a particular area.
Partnership materials are to be available in 19 languages and
advertising materials are to be available in 14 languages.
One of the Bureau's recent challenges is getting promotional materials
developed and distributed to regions. The Bureau has experienced delays
in procurements for its promotional items because it is encountering
difficulty in identifying small and minority-owned businesses that have
the capacity to produce large quantities of printed materials. The
Bureau is revising its plans and noted that the delays have not
significantly affected its ability to deliver promotional materials to
regional staff.
Census in Schools Program Will Be Targeted toward Younger Students:
The goal of the Census in Schools program is to improve participation
in the census by giving the schools lesson plans and teaching materials
to support existing curricula so that (1) the students can be
introduced to the purpose and importance of the census, and (2) the
students will take home information about the census. The Bureau
believes that weaving information about the census as well as census
data into lesson plans helps get the message home to parents and
guardians that answering the census is important and confidential.
For the 2010 Census, the Bureau plans to reduce the Census in Schools
budget because they believe they can leverage materials developed in
2000 and better target its efforts to students. In 2000, the Census in
Schools budget was $17 million, and for 2010, the Bureau plans to spend
$11.3 million. According to Bureau officials, the reduced funding will
not significantly affect the program since the Bureau will use
previously developed materials thereby saving on development costs and
making more of the materials available electronically through the
Bureau's Web site rather than providing printed copies. Similar to what
was noted earlier, however, the level of resources schools may need to
disseminate material is not clear, and it will be important that the
schools do not perceive this approach as an economic burden.
For 2010, the Bureau has contracted with Scholastic Publishing to
develop lesson plans for schools nationwide. According to Bureau
officials some stakeholders have expressed concern because the program
is not as extensive as it was in 2000. However, the Bureau reduced the
goal of the number of participating schools based on its conclusion
following the 2000 census that the program is most effective and
receives the greatest return on investment in hard-to-count areas and
with younger grades (kindergarten through 8th).
Stimulus Funds Provide Additional Money for Outreach to Hard-to-Count
Populations, but Planning Is Not Yet Complete:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $1 billion
in funding for the 2010 Decennial Census. The conference report
accompanying this legislation, directed the Bureau to spend up to $250
million for the partnership program and outreach to "minority
communities and hard-to-reach populations." As noted above, the Bureau
has said that it will use the stimulus funds to recruit as many as
2,000 additional partnership staff this year (costing around $120
million) and expand advertising, especially in areas with historically
low mail response rates (costing around $100 million). The Bureau is
making plans for how to allocate the remaining funding.
To date, a fraction of the money for the communications campaign has
been obligated; as of February 28, 2009, the Bureau reported obligating
$48 million out of the $216 million to be spent for this campaign.
[Footnote 6] According to Bureau officials, the funds have been
obligated for a variety of communications activities, including
research initiatives such as the Census Barriers, Attitudes and
Motivator Surveys; promotional materials for partnership specialists
and regions; and Census in Schools.
Concluding Observations:
The design of the Bureau's communications campaign appears to be
comprehensive and integrated. Further, the Bureau generally appears to
be addressing some of the factors that will be important for success,
including (1) incorporating lessons learned from 2000 and (2) targeting
resources to where they are most needed. The Bureau also plans to track
response rates in 2010 and quickly deploy resources to those areas in
need of a boost. If each of the various components of the
communications campaign is implemented as planned, they will help
position the Bureau to improve participation in the census and address
the differential undercount.
Importantly, however, the various programs we examined are generally in
the planning or early implementation stages. While the communications
campaign has made important steps forward, considerable work lies ahead
in moving from the planning to the operational phases. Further, while
money from the economic stimulus package could help augment marketing
of the census, less clear is the extent to which these additional funds
will improve response behavior or which component of the campaign will
yield the best results.
Moving forward, to help ensure a more accountable and results-oriented
communications campaign, it will be important for the Bureau to
continue to apply lessons learned from the 2000 Census to the
implementation of the 2010 communications effort, as well as develop
and meet specific performance goals. Moreover, consistent with the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it will be important for the
Bureau to first develop a spending plan for the money it receives under
the act, identifying, among other things, (1) cost estimates of the
activities being funded, (2) the objectives and outcome-related goals
of the planned spending, and (3) how the spending will help achieve
those goals.
As always, we will continue to track the implementation of the Bureau's
communications campaign as well as other key census-taking operations
on behalf of Congress, and provide Congress with regular updates.
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, this concludes my
prepared statement. I would be happy to respond to any questions you
may have.
Contacts and Acknowledgements:
If you have any questions on matters discussed in this testimony,
please contact Robert Goldenkoff at (202) 512-2757 or at
goldenkoffr@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional
Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this
statement. Other key contributors to this testimony include Ronald
Fecso, Chief Statistician; Signora May, Assistant Director; Thomas
Beall; Steven J. Berke; Richard Hung; Andrea Levine; Catherine Myrick;
and Timothy Wexler.
[End of section]
Related GAO Products:
2010 Census: Fundamental Building Blocks of a Successful Enumeration
Face Challenges. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-430T].
Washington, D.C.: March 5, 2009.
2010 Census: Little Time Remains to Address Operational Challenges.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-408T]. Washington, D.C.:
March 5, 2009.
2010 Census: Census Bureau Needs Procedures for Estimating the Response
Rate and Selecting for Testing Methods to Increase Response Rate.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-1012]. Washington, D.C.:
September 30, 2008.
2010 Census: The Bureau's Plans for Reducing the Undercount Show
Promise, but Key Uncertainties Remain. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-1167T]. Washington, D.C.: September
23, 2008.
2010 Census: Bureau Needs to Specify How It Will Assess Coverage Follow-
up Techniques and When It Will Produce Coverage Measurement Results.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-414]. Washington, D.C.:
April 15, 2008.
2010 Census: Diversity in Human Capital, Outreach Efforts Can Benefit
the 2010 Census. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-1132T].
Washington, D.C.: July 26, 2007.
2010 Census: Census Bureau Has Improved the Local Update of Census
Addresses Program, but Challenges Remain. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-736]. Washington, D.C.: June 14,
2007.
Decennial Census: Lessons Learned for Locating and Counting Migrant and
Seasonal Farm Workers. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-605]. Washington, D.C.: July 3,
2003.
Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Data on the
Homeless and Others without Conventional Housing Need Refinement.
[hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-227]. Washington, D.C.:
January 17, 2003.
Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Hispanic
Subgroup Data Need Refinement. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-03-228]. Washington, D.C.: January 17,
2003.
2000 Census: Review of Partnership Program Highlights Best Practices
for Future Operations. [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-579]. Washington, D.C.: August 20,
2001.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-5
(Feb. 17, 2009).
[2] H.R. Rep. No. 111-16, at 417 (2009).
[3] GAO, 2010 Census: The Bureau's Plans for Reducing the Undercount
Show Promise, but Key Uncertainties Remain, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-1167T] (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 23,
2008).
[4] The mail return rate differs from the mail response rate in that
the mail response rate is calculated as a percentage of all the housing
units in the mail-back universe, including those that are later
discovered to be nonexistent or unoccupied. The Bureau uses this
percentage as an indicator of its nonresponse follow-up workload.
[5] GAO, 2000 Census: Review of Partnership Program Highlights Best
Practices for Future Operations, [hyperlink,
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-01-579] (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 20,
2001).
[6] The $48 million figure does not include funds for partnership
staff. Also, Bureau officials have indicated that an additional $4
million has been obligated for the campaign since the original life-
cycle estimate of $212 million.
[End of section]
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