Document text
Census forms begin to show up in county Assistance centers open today to help with documents By DAVID PRESZLER The once-a-decade effort to perform a national head count has begun in Jackson County. Census 2000 workers are delivering questionnaire forms to residents in rural areas who aren't on formal postal routes. The rest of the county should receive questionnaires in the mail next week, according to Mike Steenhout, who is coordinating the census effort in Southern Oregon from Eugene. Many have already received letters telling them that the forms are coming. Today, the U.S. Census Bureau will begin opening assistance centers across Jackson County to answer questions and help residents fill out forms. The centers will be staffed by census workers and volunteers. Census officials say it's extremely important to fill out the forms. Census data is used to determine federal funding as well as the apportionment of seats in Congress and the state Legislature. The counting of the nation's 275 million residents determines how more than $100 billion in federal funds is awarded. Steenhout says Jackson County has missed out on an estimated $8.7 million in federal funding since 1990 because the area was under-counted in the 1990 Census. "These are your county's tax dollars that should be coming back to your communities," he says. The forms must be returned by April 11. Most people will receive a short form with questions about seven basic subjects such as name, sex, age, relationship of people residing at the home, race, whether the dwelling is owned or rented. Census officials say the short form takes about 10 minutes to fill out. One of every six households will get a longer form that covers 34 subjects including education, ancestry and employment. That form takes an estimated 38 minutes to complete. Answers to census questions are confidential, and individual information cannot be shared -- even with other government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI. In late April, census workers will begin efforts to track down people who don't return the forms. To handle that task and other aspects of the census, the government will hire roughly 450 employees in Jackson County, about 30 of whom have already begun working. The bureau has concluded its formal recruiting and has plenty of candidates but is still accepting applications. It will begin selecting the majority of workers later this month. The introductory letters that began arriving mail boxes late last week or early this week may have raised a couple of questions. For one, why was an extra "1" placed in front of the street address? The extra number appeared on every address throughout the nation because of an oversight by a private vendor that printed them, according to a census press release. The U.S. Postal Service assured census officials that the letters would be properly delivered despite the extra digit. Another apparent oddity was the return envelope included with the letter. The envelope was provided so that non-English speakers could request census forms in other languages. Instructions about how to do that are included on the reverse side of the letter in five languages: Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Chinese or Korean. Here's a list of the assistance center locations scheduled to open today: Oregon Adult and Family Services office at 800 Cardley St. in Medford, Willpower Temporary Services (Goodwill's job center) at 11 W. Jackson St. Open weekdays from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Confederated Tribes of Rogue and Table Rock at in suite 229 of 229 W. Main St. in Medford. Open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Ashland Civic Center at 1175 E. Main St. in Ashland. Open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Gold Hill City Hall at 420 Sixth Ave. in Gold Hill. Open weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Talent City Hall at 204 E. Main St. in Talent. Open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Rogue River Community Center at 132 Broadway Ave. in Rogue River. Open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA