Census makes sure valleys are counted

Once-a-decade U.S. Census forms began arriving in mailboxes across the county this week, and outreach efforts to encourage residents in the rural San Lorenzo Valley area to participate are especially high.
“One of the hardest-to-reach areas is the north county,” said Karen Mallory, a Census Bureau specialist. “A lot of San Lorenzo Valley homes don’t receive mail. Part of the challenge is getting the people who live in remote areas to want to participate.”
The census data will determine how more than $400 billion in federal money will be spent over the next 10 years. That money can pay for anything from schools to fire management to alleviating road congestion. Just how much federal money goes to states, counties and cities is determined by the once-in-10-years population count.
The census has been hyped this month as part of a nationwide outreach with high-cost television ads and visits by census staff to homes and businesses. Beginning Monday, March 15, census forms were sent to about 120 million American households.
Victor Janis, a Scotts Valley Market employee, said he has filled out the form and mailed it back already.
“I don’t remember if I filled it out last year, but I already finished it this year. It was really easy,” said Janis, 36.
A key worry of local coordinators is that not everyone will fill out their form and some residents will go uncounted — leaving the county short of the federal money to which it’s entitled.
Forms were hand-delivered this week to those who live in more isolated areas to ensure a better chance of participation, Mallory said.
The Santa Cruz County Complete Count Committee, made up of census workers and community members, is opening 23 questionnaire assistance centers and seven more places where residents can show up and be counted.
Mountain Community Resources in Felton has partnered with the Census Bureau as an assistance site to help promote filling out the form and outreach.
“There are quite a few people in the valley that are living in hard times, and MCR has a good handle on how to communicate with the community,” Mallory said.
Mallory said she also focuses on the low-income and homeless people and immigrants who are in California illegally, all groups of people who are more difficult to count.
The 2000 census missed nearly 1 million Latinos nationwide, she said.
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mark Stone said it’s important to get an accurate count of hard-to-reach populations, because the same people who are least likely to respond to the census are typically the beneficiaries of federal funding, which goes to things like human and health services, transportation and water distribution.
“To get our fair share, we have to have an accurate count, or that money gets distributed to other locations,” Stone said. “It’s vitally important to the function of all our jurisdictions.”
Census Bureau specialist Sonny Le said a growing community like Scotts Valley also really benefits from the census.
“More development means that cities need to request additional funding to accommodate the growth, and Scotts Valley really fits into that category,” Le said.
Le also explained that school districts need census data to project future needs.
“It’s a critical thing that people don’t think about,” Le said. “The only approved and accepted data is data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau.”
The census form has 10 questions and needs to be filled out by the end of the month.
For information: 866-928-2010.
At a glance
2010 Census Bureau Questionnaire Assistance Centers, where people can get bilingual census form help, have questions answered and pick up extra forms:
• Mountain Community Resources, 6134 Highway 9, in Felton: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays
• Davenport Resource Service Center, 151 Church St., in Davenport; 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 6
• Highlands Park Senior Center, 8500 Highway 9, in Ben Lomond: 11 a.m. 3 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. 2 p.m. Fridays
• San Lorenzo Valley Museum, 12547 Highway 9, in Boulder Creek: 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, noon to 3 p.m. Saturdays
 
2010 Census Bureau “Be Counted” sites where residents can pick up extra forms or forms in different languages:
• Safeway, 253 Mount Hermon Road, in Scotts Valley