Low participation numbers are expected in northwest Louisiana as US Census wraps up

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    SHREVEPORT, La (KTBS) — For three months Deborah Reckling, a worker for the U.S. Census, put in an average of six miles per day going door-to-door to homes across Northwest Louisiana.

“I’ve been working since August 3 and I’ve been home two days. But ya know it’s getting done,” said Reckling.

Reckling was one of about 155,000 temporary workers hired to help. But that number was drastically lower than 500,000 the U.S. Census Bureau originally forecasted it would need to properly conduct the 2020 census.

Reckling said when she arrived in Florida in early September, the state had only reported about 76% and the number of those willing to take part weren’t adding up.

“If FEMA needs to drop something and there’s a disaster of any type, they might think there’s only 20,000 people and that’s what they’ll bring in enough supplies for and there could be 50,000, so that’s why the count is important,” she added.

The U.S. Census Bureau provided face masks and hand sanitizer for workers, but that still didn’t prepare them for what they would face once they knocked on the door. Reckling told KTBS a large percentage of people were afraid to open the door.

“They don’t want to be exposed. They open their door this much or talk through a window. Some of them just don’t trust you and I have a badge and I show it. A lot of them say, ‘I don’t want to be bothered,’ or they lie and say they did it. I won’t ask them then because I gave them the option to say yeah I did,” Reckling added.

The COVID-19 pandemic was only part of the problem. This year census workers in Louisiana also had to battle the affects of two major hurricanes, leaving them short of the goal of hitting 94% of the population reporting and 5% below the national average. These lower than expected numbers could potentially have a major impact on federal funding and more.

“To have a pandemic in the middle of a census cycle has been even more enormous than anything we’ve ever experienced before,” said Marilyn Stevens, U.S. Census assistant regional manager.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline to finish the census, which was set by the Trump Administration to be finished on Dec. 31 may be delayed again. Last month, a new problem, “data processing abnormalities.”

Census Bureau Director Steve Dillingham said, “these types of processing anomalies have occurred in past censuses. I am directing the Census Bureau to utilize all resources available to resolve this as expeditiously as possible. As it has been all along, our goal remains an accurate and statistically sound Census.”

The details gathered in the Census won’t be officially released until March, but the impacts due to a lack in participation across the state may be felt for years to come. For every 1% the area doesn’t receive it equals to an average $10 million for annual federal funds.

“More than 144 programs and every resident of the state will be depending on this over the next 10 years and to ensure that your community gets their fair share. Your numbers support your need for the next decade,” said Stevens.

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