Over 1,600 Adams County Census volunteers and paid employees will scour the Adams County Area this spring in an attempt to contact every person who lives here.
The results of the 2020 U.S. Census will be used for the next ten years to determine Adams County’s representation in the U.S. Congress and our share of the billions of dollars in government funds sent to counties across the country.
The 2020 U.S. Census is hiring temporary workers in Adams County. Click for more information.
The Adams County 2020 Census Complete Count Committee, chaired by local resident Leon Reed, met at Destination Gettysburg on Thursday morning to get the process started.
2020 U.S. Census Partnership specialist Francine Stephens from the Philadelphia Regional Census Center explains the workings of the census.
“We recognize the importance of this activity,” said County Commissioner and chair Randy Phiel. “It’s a pain the butt, but it influences how much money our community gets and it affects our political process. We try to engage our community in this action,” he said.
“Every person counts in what we do,” said County Commissioner Jim Martin. “It’s an end in people helping the strength of their communities toward proper funding. Have fun with the census,” he said.
Considering the difficulty of getting a complete count, County Commissioner Marty Qually said “We do have technology but it won’t hit the people who are hard to count. It’s not the 90 percent of easy people. It’s the hard people, those who don’t want to talk to you, the traditionally undercounted. It takes building trust,” he said.
The 2020 Census, mandated in the U.S. Constitution to occur every ten years, is the 23rd. The first occurred in 1790.
For the first time people can respond to the census online, beginning March 12. The questions that will be asked on the census are available on the 2020 Census website.
2020 U.S. Census Partnership specialist Francine Stephens said the Census was “Easy, Safe and Important. The Census has a legal mandate to protect your information. The Census does not share information with anyone, including government agencies,” she said.
The Adams County 2020 Census Complete Count Committee. Photo by Leon Reed
The official start of the Census will be on National Census Day – April 1, 2020.
Although most Adams County residents will respond to the 10-item questionnaire online, through the mail, or over the telephone, it is expected about 14,000 people will not self-respond.
To find these non-responders a team of “enumerators” will fan out across the county later this year. Gettysburg Borough and York Springs County are the most undercounted areas, according to Stephens, and a focus will be on these areas.
The goal of the Census is to “count every person once, only once, and in the right place,” said Stephens.
Stephens said each uncounted person costs the state about $2,100. That means in Adams County about $31 million in U.S. government funds could be lost through undercounting.
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.