Getting Our Census Numbers Up
By Albert B. Kelly
Naturally, everyone’s attention these past weeks is on “flattening
the curve” and driving down the numbers as it relates to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is understandable as it is hard to think of anything else. Each day the
updates come out with the number of people testing positive in our county and
state for Covid-19 along with the number of fatalities. With such depressing
statistics bracketing our days and nights, it is difficult to imagine that
anything else matters.
As hard as it may be to catch a glimpse of the future on the
other side of this pandemic, we will get back to some degree of normal and when
we do, other things will start to matter again whether the condition of our
roads, affordable housing, or support for small businesses. And all of it
involves having an accurate count in the census- something that is difficult in
the best of times.
As we speak, the census is taking shape. Most households
have received instructions and reminders to respond online. If you have not yet
responded online, there is still time to do so before the end of April. The
Census Bureau has mailed out paper forms to households that have not yet
responded. For your safety and that of the census workers, please fill out the
paper forms and mail them in so the bureau doesn’t have to send people into our
neighborhoods.
By the time we get into May and June, it will be necessary
for census takers to visit neighborhoods in person to try and get an accurate
count. This may be hard to picture right now with our stay-at-home orders and
social distancing, but getting an accurate count is vitally important and it
takes what it takes to get it done.
As of mid-April, New Jersey’s response rate was 49.2%
(nationally, the rate is 48.1%). Here in Cumberland County, the response rate
county-wide stands at 46.2%. The community with the lowest response rate as of
mid-April was Downe Township at 26.9%. The highest response rate in the county
belonged to Hopewell Township at 56.7%.
As for the rest of Cumberland County, Upper Deerfield was at
52.7%, Stow Creek 51.9%, Millville 50.4%, Vineland 49.4%; Fairfield was at 46.2%, Lawrence Township
46.2%, Greenwich 43.1%, Deerfield 41.9%, Commercial Township 35.5%, Bridgeton
34.3%, Shiloh 33.5%, and Maurice River Township 30.6%.
The census people are working as hard as they can within the
constraints placed on them due to the public health crisis we’re living with at
the moment. The census dates back to the beginnings of our country and thinking
back, I’m not sure that census-takers have ever faced anything quite like this
pandemic. I would imagine that taking the census in 1860 as the Civil War was beginning
presented its own challenges. The same could probably be said of the 1930
census taken in the midst of the depression.
But even considering those eras and the lack of technology,
census-takers could count on the fact that people were not nearly as mobile as
they are today and more than that, people were not nearly as mistrustful as we
seem to be. If there is one thing that can be said of this census, people are
home and most have an unbelievable amount of time on their hands.
The census is about far more than just safety net programs,
though my guess is that many now need those programs with our economy in
lock-down. Not for nothing, but the census impacts highway planning and construction,
federal Pell Grant Programs, career and technical education, wildlife restoration
funds, formula grants for rural areas, water and waste disposal systems for rural
communities, small business development centers, housing for senior citizens, underground
storage tank programs, historic preservation grants-in-aid, hazardous waste management
state program support, and beach monitoring grants to name but a few.
All of this is to say that we still have time to be counted
and more than that, we have a lot of reasons to make sure we get counted
accurately. It is critically important that all residents respond to the
census. How much of the federal pie we get and how many resources are made
available to us for key projects here in Cumberland County over the next 10
years will largely be decided in the next few weeks.