On May 1, the U.S. Census Bureau will start its next phase of operations to ensure that everyone in the nation is counted, even if they missed the opportunity to mail back a 2010 Census form. In this phase, called “Nonresponse Follow-up,” up to 650,000 temporary workers nationwide will go door-to-door to collect information from households that did not return the form.

These census takers will visit a household multiple times to ensure that a resident is available to complete the interview, which generally takes about 10 minutes. A census taker will present an official badge with a Department of Commerce watermark, will not enter the residence, and will only ask questions that appear on the 2010 Census form. Residents can verify the identity of a census employee by requesting the phone number of the employee’s supervisor or Local Census Office. Residents are also encouraged to request to see the employee’s driver’s license or other government-issued photo ID to verify the identity matches the official census badge.

Each census taker will have a flashcard containing a sentence about the 2010 Census written in approximately 50 languages. If the census taker does not speak the language of the resident, the census taker will display the flashcard so that the resident can point to the language he or she speaks. A census crew leader will then reassign that address to a person who speaks that language.

Census takers are sworn federal employees who take an oath for life to protect the confidentiality of your personal information. The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both.

Cooperating with census takers helps ensure the most accurate count. Since census data determine congressional apportionment, state redistricting, and how more than $400 billion in annual federal funds are distributed, opening your door to a census taker ultimately means getting your community’s fair share of political representation and funding.

For more information about the 2010 Census, visit the 2010 Census website:

Alert: Beware of Census Scams
There have been reports of several scams targeting the 2010 Census information gathering effort. Please be advised:
• The Census Bureau does NOT conduct the 2010 Census via the Internet
• The Census Bureau does not send emails about participating in the 2010 Census
• The Census Bureau never:

• Asks for your full social security number
• Asks for money or a donation
• Sends requests on behalf of a political party
• Requests PIN codes, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.

For more information, please visit the 2010 Census website’s Fraudulent Activities webpage:

2010 Census Fraudulent Activities