The 2020 Census is around the corner and will start next month in Alaska. The United States Census Bureau has named Tooksook Bay as the first community in the country to be surveyed.
However, Interior communities like Fairbanks, North Pole, Delta and Tok won’t be surveyed until later in the spring, and most of that will be with a short electronic questionnaire. If residents don’t respond online, a Census worker will physically knock on doors in neighborhoods to ask the Census questions in person. Alaska still needs a lot more Census workers.
The Census will be online for the first time. Across the country, Americans will get a mailing telling them to complete the census online, by phone, or by mail in March and April. But if they don’t, the follow up is in person.
Those door-knocking workers are called enumerators. They will begin working in Interior neighborhoods in late April. Right now, there are not enough people ready to do the job.
“All of Alaska needs enumerators. They want to hire local people to count local communities – neighbors counting neighbors – because we know the community the best.”
That’s Alysha Childs. She’s the Complete Count Coordinator for the Fairbanks North Star Borough. She is not a Census employee, rather she works with the citizen group that partners with the Census Bureau to prepare for the count. There are Complete Count Committees across the country.
Childs says it could take 1400 people in the Interior to finish the counting this spring. Census recruiters are looking now to hire enumerators, because the hiring process takes a couple of months. A background check is part of it, and there will be training before the count starts in the spring.
“The Census pays really well; its $28/hour for enumerators. And they’re not looking for full-time people; it is just a temporary position. And they are looking for people who can go out at night after work, who can go out on the weekends.”
Childs says the Complete Count Committee is helping spread the word on Census jobs because an accurate count is important for federal funding. If Alaska is under-counted, it means less money for medical and housing grants, student loans, school lunches and education programs.
Borough Mayor Bryce Ward is a member of the Statewide Census Commission. He says Fairbanks was undercounted in the last Census.
“My main concern is that we get accurately counted. If we don’t believe that there is an accurate count, we could challenge that. Back in 2010. I would love not to do that again.”
The count also determines how many people are represented by each legislator.
“As we look at our legislative representation, in the House and in the Senate, here in the state, its really important for us to get those numbers accurately counted.”
People looking for work with the Census Bureau can apply online at 2020Census.gov.