Area Census response slowed to a crawl, advocates concerned

There are less than four weeks to respond to the 2020 Census, and the counts for the area are less than satisfactory for many area residents.

With just over three weeks left, Eastern Washington was about 35 percent away from being fully enumerated: Far below the national average and a likely representation of primarily rural communities, like Waitsburg and Walla Walla, across the nation.

Of 39 Washington Counties, Walla Walla ranks 13th with a response rate of 67.9 percent. In 2010, Walla Walla County had a 69.9 percent response rate. Columbia County is ranked 24th with a 58.1 percent response, and Garfield County is ranked 22nd with a response rate of 59.5 percent. In 2010, Columbia County had a 66.1 percent response, and Garfield County had a 55.1 percent response.

Those numbers would be great if it were May or June, but they are current as of Monday. This late into the year, advocates like Cindy Widmer, project coordinator for the Blue Mountain Complete Count Committee, are worried that Walla Walla, Columbia, and Garfield counties will miss out on funding for education, law enforcement agencies, health care, transportation, roads, emergency assistance, agriculture, food programs like SNAP and school meals, childcare, as well as grants and support to states. Walla Walla and Columbia County are at risk of being under represented for public services and programs residents depend on. There is roughly $1,910 per resident per year that can be received if counted. The same amount is lost with each missed count.

In an email, Widmer expressed frustration with the US Census Bureau's decision to not send personal surveys to post office boxes, resulting in the first Census notice being a knock on the door for many.

The area is also struggling to find enumerators, people willing to go door to door to try and collect missing Census responses. On August 28, a team of seven enumerators arrived in the area and the small team has their work cut out for them as they race against the clock to get as many missing counts as possible. Widmer said that small, rural communities, like Starbuck and Pomeroy, whose residents primarily use a post office box for their mail and have slower internet connections, will benefit greatly from enumerators in the area.

If you have not responded to the US Census yet, and would like to do so before enumerators approach your house, visit http://www.census2020.gov for the online survey, or call 1 (844) 330-2020 (Spanish 1 (844) 468-2020).