CAMDEN, NJ — As of Tuesday, Camden’s census self-response rate is 46.5% — a 1.1% tick up since last month. New Jersey as a whole has a response rate of 65.8%.
“It’s extremely low,” Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez, who has led census efforts in Camden County, told TAPinto Camden.
Rodriguez estimated that the current response rate is approximately 10% lower than the city’s complete count for 2010.
“Enumerators are starting now so hopefully we’ll see some shift,” she continued. “[However], what you see in urban communities a lot of the time is people not responding when census workers are knocking on doors. It can be challenging. When they don’t know what it is, it can be a scary thing.”
Enumerators began making their rounds in Camden last Tuesday — wearing face masks, gloves, and t-shirts/bags with the Census logo so residents are aware of their canvassing efforts.
When asked about Camden city’s current rate, Roberto Frugone, a spokesman with the New York Regional Census Center said, “we need to ensure that 100% of households are counted.”
“It will take everyone's help to ensure neighbors, family, friends, and everyone we know who lives in Camden responds to the census,” Frugone added.
Educating the public on the importance of the census has been part of the challenge, made especially unique this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Roughly $675 billion in annual allocated funds hangs in the balance nationwide.
Those funds impact all sectors of public life including health, education, transportation improvements, hospitals, roads, businesses and other resources.
A ‘perfect storm of problems’
Camden already has a number of “hard to count” populations, including undocumented people, the homeless population and children under five.
At the start of the month, the U.S. Census Bureau also said it would stop counting efforts Sept. 30, a month prior than initially set. Last month, President Donald Trump also signed a memorandum calling for the undocumented not to be accounted for in the census - a move that Camden Mayor Frank Moran called “completely insane.”
Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham wrote in a statement that the change looks to “accelerate the completion of data collection and apportionment counts” by December 31, 2020.
But what was already an uphill battle has turned into “the perfect storm of problems,” Rodriguez said.
“Something difficult is becoming almost impossible,” she said. “COVID derailed every initiative we had. Those we do have we take all the precautions but many events planned meant gatherings of more than 25 people and like everybody else doing this work, we’ve taken a big hit.”
Camden County has promoted the census at food distributions and provided tablets at water ice giveaway so attendees can fill out the census right on the spot. Rodriguez said the most difficult part of getting Camden locals to fill out the ten-minute survey is some won’t respond unless you make it convenient for them to access.
“I got the feeling we probably will lose some of the count,” Rodriguez said. “ But there’s still some time.”
Frugone said even if you’ve already filled out the census, you can do your part.
“Residents who have already responded to the Census can use their powerful voice to share how safe, easy, and important it is to respond,” he said. “Each person should encourage [others] to respond, knowing the benefits will be felt by the entire community and city.”
To fill out the census visit www.2020census.gov. You can also call (844-330-2020 English; 844-468-2020 Spanish), or fill out the survey via mail.
Find TAPinto Camden on Facebook and Twitter. Download the TAPinto mobile app for Android or iOS.
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August 19, 2020 at 03:19AM
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Time is Running Out for Camden to Complete the Census - TAPinto.net
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