U.S. Census Count 2000 Takes to the Streets in Search of Non-Filers

You know who you are. Maybe you are an uncurable procrastinator. Or perhaps you relish being a government scofflaw.

Whatever your excuse, get ready for a knock at your door as the U.S. Census Bureau kicks off the second wave of its national head count today by tracking down the thousands of residents who didn’t mail in their forms.

The phase is officially known as the “non-response follow-up,” which means the agency will launch a massive, block-by-block campaign lasting up to six weeks. In Los Angeles County, an army of 16,360 census workers--”enumerators,” in census speak--will swarm neighborhoods toting signature black book bags.

They will carry short and long forms, a reference “flash card” to pinpoint 38 different languages, privacy notices and other paperwork. They have been coached on how to be polite but persistent; how to work around Sunday religious commitments; and how to convince the more stubborn naysayers to listen.

“This is the hardest part of the census,” said John Reeder, regional director of the Census Bureau.

His agency prefers the accuracy and relative simplicity of those who fill out forms and mail them in because tracking down non-responsive residents requires so much shoe leather.

For all the man-and-woman power that will be spent--census workers will do their job evenings and weekends to catch people at home--Reeder is convinced most folks are not really die-hard resisters.

“For whatever reason, they forgot, they were too busy or they threw it out by mistake because they thought it was junk mail,” he said.

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California, with a current response rate of 68%, has a goal of 70%. The state has already exceeded its 1990 census response rate of 65%.

Los Angeles County also has a response rate of 68%, putting it just a point shy of its target.

Most of the state’s big cities, including Los Angeles with a 62% current response rate, are still short of their goals. Los Angeles is aiming for 65%.

“We make an attempt to convert refusals into cooperation,” said Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt.

At this stage of the census, capturing those percentage points boils down to the persistence of workers such as Dona Evans, 45, of Van Nuys.

Tired of hearing her co-workers at a graphics firm grouse about the census, Evans applied for the part-time job. Now she is the census “source” at her day job, and she can tailor her hours as a census worker to nights and weekends.

Evans expects that some of the residents she will encounter will gripe--about the government, about taxes or whatever rubs them the wrong way--so she will try to convince them of the benefits of the decennial count by explaining how it translates into dollars for neighborhoods.

“You can get your answers,” Evans said. “You have to know how to deal with people and allow them to vent.”

Census workers undergo 24 hours of training, must be at least 18, are paid $14 an hour, and in Los Angeles, are as diverse as the city: Many are bilingual, range in age from students to retirees, and each has a different take on his or her role.

“My job is to get accurate information, not debate the issue,” said Marsha Lenox, 44, of Studio City. “They can argue with their friends.”

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Census workers will make up to three phone calls and three visits to reach residents, officials said. If that fails, they can seek out landlords, building managers or neighbors as substitute sources for information.

The workers can be identified by the white plastic name badges that bear the Census Bureau logo and an American flag.

They are instructed not to ask to enter a residence and not to leave blank forms if no one is home. Instead, a “Notice of Visit” card will be left and a resident can contact the worker later.

After a recent training class, Taylor Wright said he enjoyed his census job a decade ago in Santa Monica and Westside neighborhoods. This year, the 30-year-old North Hills resident will be working close to home. He has been brushing up on the questions.

“Most importantly, no one wants to talk to a robot,” said Wright, who also works for a shipping company. “Never read to them.”

Being a census worker is not a job for the thin-skinned, Reeder acknowledged. Years ago, when he hit the streets to get forms filled out, doors were often slammed in his face.

“You are often the only government they see,” he said. “If they are mad at the IRS or the city, they take it out on you.”