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Published Friday, April 09, 2010 in Local

Some residents getting 69 question federal survey

By Winston Skinner

The Newnan Times-Herald

While most people in Coweta County received a regular U.S. Census form -- which takes only about 10 minutes to fill out -- some have received the "long form," now officially known as the American Community Survey.

When Doris Turner, partnership specialist for the Census Bureau serving several counties including Coweta, spoke to the Newnan Civitan Club on Thursday, she discovered two of the club's members -- Richie Jackson and Lillie Smith -- had received the ACS. Jackson, who was a U.S. Census worker when the 1990 count was done, said the ACS was several pages long and took about 45 minutes to complete.

The ACS has made its appearance since the last census in 2000.

Fred E. Elsberry Jr., president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau Serving Metro Atlanta, Athens and Northeast Georgia, said BBB offices have received calls from concerned people across the country who received a census form in the mail that asked personal questions involving their income range and employment situation.

While most received a short 10-question 2010 Census survey form, people should not be alarmed if they are chosen to respond to the 69-question ACS, he said.

The 2010 Census form has 10 questions covering basic information while the ACS has 69 questions on topics such as income, household expenses, employment, education and work commutes. Some individuals who received the ACS in addition to the 10-question form contacted their BBB over concerns that the form was actually the work of scammers.

"Everyone in the country has been prepped to expect the simple 10-question survey in their mailbox and red flags automatically go up when they receive the longer and more personal American Community Survey," Elsberry said.

A news release from the U. S. Census Bureau termed the ACS "one of the most significant changes in modern census history."

In recent censuses, most addresses received one of two forms: either the short form, which focused on the population count and demographics; or the long form, which included additional questions on socio-economic and housing characteristics.

Nationwide, about one-in-six addresses in 2000 received the long form. Together, the two parts of the decennial census showed not only the number of people living in America but also the way Americans live: education, housing and jobs.

After a decade of testing and development, the Census Bureau launched the ACS in January 2005. The survey is sent to a rolling sample of addresses every month, every year, throughout the nation, according to the Census Bureau.

Question on the "short form" this year relate to age, sex, Hispanic origin, race, family relationships and whether a home is owned or rented.

ACS topics include marital status, marital history, fertility, grandparents as caregivers, ancestry, place of birth, U.S. citizenship and year of entry, language spoken at home, educational attainment and school enrollment, residence a year ago

For veterans, there are questions about disability ratings and periods of service.

Economic questions on the ACS relate to income, food stamps benefit, labor force status, industry, occupation, place of work, journey to work, work status last year, vehicles available and health insurance coverage.

Housing queries include the year a structure was built, units in the structure, year moved into unit, rooms, bedrooms, plumbing, kitchen facilities, house heating fuel, telephone service available, home value, rent, mortgage status and selected monthly owner costs.

Approximately 2.5 percent of the U.S. population will receive the ACS in any given year, Elsberry said. "If you receive both the 10-question form and the ACS, you are required by law to respond to both."

Turner stressed information from the census and ACS are kept confidential -- by federal law -- for 72 years.

"It's just a headcount," Turner said. "We want you to be counted. That's the main thing."

There have been some concerns about scam artists capitalizing on the census process. Turner emphasized that no U. S. Census officials or materials ask about a person's Social Security number. If someone gets information or a phone call asking for a Social Security number, "that's not Census people," she said.

Elsberry said neither the census form nor the ACS will ask for donations -- or for bank account, Social Security or credit card numbers. The Census Bureau may contact individuals by mail or phone, he said, but will not send unsolicited e-mails requesting sensitive personal information.

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