Travis County, Texas, and the U.S. Census Bureau already are working together to prepare for the 2010 Census.

     During July and August, census workers will be walking through parts of Travis County, including central and northeast Austin and Pflugerville, to verify and update census address lists and maps.

     “The census workers we hired know their neighborhoods, speak the predominant local languages and are familiar with area culture,” said Cleve Allen, manager of the Austin Local Census Office.

     During daylight hours, these workers—wearing official census identification and carrying handheld computers—will visit each block and housing unit in the test area to identify every place where people might live.

     In particular, they will seek out residences that may not be obvious, such as subdivided houses, basement apartments and occupied rooms in a housing unit that constitute separate living quarters. Besides determining the location of these living quarters, census workers may also ask residents to confirm their street address.

     The Census Bureau is studying new methods and technologies designed to improve accuracy and completeness in the 2010 Census. The activities conducted in Travis County will give the Census Bureau insight into new ways to meet the language needs of the diverse U.S. population, the best use of handheld computers for data collection and ways to improve accuracy in counting people who live in shared housing.

     In addition to studying new methods and technology, the Census Bureau will continue to uphold its high standard of protecting the confidentiality of all respondents. Every person with access to data is sworn by law to protect confidentiality. Violating this law is a federal crime with serious penalties, including a prison sentence of up to five years and up to a $250,000 fine.

     Respondent information is protected and identities cannot be shared with any person who has not sworn to protect the data.

     To find out more information about current employment opportunities with the Census Bureau in Travis County, call toll-free at (888) 814-6711.

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