[StBernard] Census Form can be picked up at several sites

[Westley Annis]

Census Form can be picked up at several sites

44 percent of St. Bernard residents have returned their Census forms;
encourage your friends and neighbors to mail in their completed forms! 

 

It is very important for St. Bernard Parish residents to complete their 2010
Census Form and mail it in. Anyone who did not get a form or who may have
lost it can pick one up at eight locations in St. Bernard Parish. More sites
may be added.

 

The following locations throughout St. Bernard have Be Counted! boxes that
have Census forms in several languages: 

 

*	St. Bernard Parish Government, 8201 W. Judge Perez Drive in
Chalmette 
*	St. Bernard Parish Library, 7701 W. Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette
*	St. Bernard Parish School Board, 200 E. St. Bernard Highway in
Chalmette 
*	Nunez Community College, 3710 Paris Road in Chalmette 
*	American Red Cross, 909 E. Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette
*	First Baptist Church, 300 E. Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette
*	Christian Fellowship, 5816 E. Judge Perez Drive in Violet
*	Walgreens,100 Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette

 

The Census Bureau is urging communities nationwide to take charge of their
2010 Census mail participation rates. Anyone can visit the 2010 Census Web
site to see how well their state, county or neighborhood is participating in
the census at 2010.Census.Gov. For instance, as of mid-April, 69 percent of
the nation's estimated 134 million households had mailed back their census
forms. St. Bernard's participation rate is 44 percent.

 

St. Bernard Parish Craig Taffaro said it is critical for local residents to
return their forms by mail. Currently the parish has an estimated population
of 43,000, but it is necessary for every household to mail in their forms
for the 2010 Census. 

 

According to the Census figures, each form that is mailed back returns
$1,300 in federal tax dollars back to the community. For St. Bernard's
current estimated population of 43,000, that would mean about $55 million
annually would return to St. Bernard to help fund a variety of programs such
as assistance for transportation, roads, law enforcement, education, and
special programs for children and the elderly. 

 

At this point in the Census, you can still mail in your Census form, but it
is possible that a census taker will visit your home in person to ensure
that we accurately count each person in the country. According to the Census
Bureau, Census takers are your neighbors - people from your community, hired
by the Census Bureau, to go door-to-door and collect census information from
residents that have not sent back their 2010 Census forms.  Please cooperate
with the census takers to ensure an accurate count of your community. 

 

A census taker will visit your home up to six times, each time leaving a
door hanger.  The door hanger has a phone number on it that you can call to
schedule a visit and be counted. 

 

The Census Bureau is training more than 600,000 temporary workers and
identifying households around the country that will be visited by census
workers from May to July. Although households are encouraged to mail back
their forms as soon as possible, there is a chance they may still receive a
visit from a census worker despite having sent in their forms. 

 

In St. Bernard Parish, Census officials have hand delivered the forms to
people's door steps to ensure everyone gets one. The St. Bernard Government
Complex at 8201 W. Judge Perez Drive in Chalmette is one of the sites that
have forms. There is a full list of sites where Census Forms may be picked
up locally on 2010.Census.gov and on www.sbpg.net <http://www.sbpg.net/> .

 

All 2010 Census forms ask households to list persons living in their homes,
apartments or mobile homes as of April 1, 2010. The date is not a deadline
but the point in time at which everyone is to be counted where they live and
sleep most of the time.

 

When census workers in May begin going door to door to households that
failed to mail back their forms, that massive operation costs taxpayers an
average of $57 per household versus the 42 cents it takes to get a response
back by mail.

 

The purpose is to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among
the states. Census figures are also used for a host of other planning and
funding purposes, including the disbursement of more than $400 billion in
federal funds annually to states and communities. Responding to the Census
is a foundational act of endorsement in our democracy and one of the few
civic duties of people living in the United States.

 

Census figures will anchor almost every scientific American poll and study
done during the coming 10 years, as they have been for decades. The data
collected and the figures compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau will be used by
businesses that are seeking to locate new stores or factories; by highway
and city planners who are configuring commute patterns, residential areas
and zoning areas for proposed retail centers.

 

The credibility of the Census relies on keeping the information you provide
absolutely confidential. The Census does not share any personally
identifiable information with any other individual or agency, including the
Internal Revenue Service or immigration authorities. In fact, every Census
worker swears a confidentiality privacy oath that he or she will not divulge
any personal information in their lifetime, or face fines of up to $250,000
and up to five years in prison. The Census Bureau takes the obligation
seriously.

  

For more information about the 2010 Census and to view our area's mail
participation rate, visit 2010.Census.Gov. If you need help filling out the
form, please call: 866-872-6868. To get questionnaire assistance in Spanish,
call 866-928-2010.

 

For local information about the Census, contact Karen Turni Bazile in the
President's Office at 504-278-4280 or kbazile at sbpg.net. For more information
about Recovery and Growth in St. Bernard Parish, visit our website at
www.sbpg.net
<https://mail.sbpg.net/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.sbpg.net/> .

 

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