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The Census Bureau is resuming field data operations in Atherton, meaning field staff will be in neighborhoods knocking on doors to collect population information, Atherton Police said in a statement Aug. 13.
Such field data operations were temporarily stopped due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, but the Census Bureau will now will be making contact with residents in efforts to complete their 2020 census questionnaires. The operations will run from now until Sept. 30.
Police said that Census Bureau field staff can be identified by their Census photo identification.
Census field staff will operate between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. and will have “an official bag and Census Bureau-issued electronic device, such as a laptop or smartphone, bearing the Census Bureau logo,” according to the Census Bureau.
“If you become suspicious of someone claiming to be a Census Field Staff member, please call the Atherton Police Department so we can help to determine whether the person is a legitimate census employee,” Atherton police said.
Atherton is not the only area where Census field staff have been deployed! We are also going to Redwood City, Menlo Park, North Fair Oaks and other unincorporated County areas. Almanac readers in all coverage areas may spot a Census worker. And yes, I have also been to Atherton!
I speak as one of them, currently working about 32 hours per week trying to help the Census meets its internal goal of having all residents counted by the end of August! (The official end date is September, but that isn’t much time given the COVID-19 pandemic where the Census is short workers.) My mother was an enumerator and I always want to be one too. I consider the work very important and I’m learning more about the composition of my community. Of course, I’m keeping all information confidential and have sworn an oath to do so!
If a Census worker knocks on your door, please take the 10 minutes (or so) to help us complete your information. If we are sent to “re-check” information as part of “quality control,” please take the 3-5 minutes that it takes.
All information is kept strictly confidential and it will not be released for 72 years! The US Census also DOES NOT share the information, in any way that could identify individuals, with other branches of the government!
If you are reading this, and you have not yet filled out your Census information, please do so today!
We’re not answering the door, certainly not for anyone we don’t know. Why isn’t the Census Bureau trying another mode of contact instead? Going door to door during a pandemic, where most of the county is on lockdown and almost everything is remote, doesn’t make a lot of sense.