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Workers needed for 2010 Census

By Lindsay Slater
The Times-Journal

Published January 29, 2010

It’s 2010 and time for a new census.

Terry Williams, office manager of the Gadsden Census Office, said he still needs applicants, especially from DeKalb County.

“We aren’t having that many from DeKalb County apply,” Williams said. “Fort Payne is doing reasonably well, but our biggest challenge is north DeKalb in areas such as Mentone, Hammondville and Valley Head.”

To date, Williams said 412 applicants have come from DeKalb, but he needs 866.

“We haven’t even gotten halfway, yet,” Williams said.

Williams said his first duty is to fill an applicant pool from which workers will be selected.

“I need to get about 8,700 from nine counties, which include Etowah, Calhoun, St. Clair, Blount, DeKalb, Cullman, Jackson, Cherokee and Marshall counties,” he said.

Anyone interested in applying would first call (866) 861-2010. The applicant will be asked for information like zip code and will be transferred to the Gadsden office.

“In the meantime, I suggest anyone interested go online to 2010censusjobs.gov and take the practice test,” Williams said. “It won’t be the exact questions, but it will be the same format.”

Applicants will then go to a testing site to fill out their application and then take the test.

“All applicants should be sure to bring their Social Security card, their driver’s license and must be at least 18 years of age,” Williams said.

If the test is passed, the applicant goes into the applicant pool, which workers are pulled from.

Williams said Census Day is April 1.

“This is the day everyone will receive a questionnaire,” Williams said. “This year, every questionnaire will only have 10 questions. If everyone sends the form back to us, we won’t have to send workers out into the field to collect information. We want to know who you are, how many of you there are and where you live and we want to count you once. ”

Williams said some people don’t like census workers showing up at their door, and the best way to avoid that is to simply fill out the form and send it back.

For the 2000 census, many issues arose concerning accuracy of Hispanic households in DeKalb County.

Williams said he’s been given the task of making 2010’s count as accurate as possible.

“We are actively recruiting and desperately needing bi-lingual census workers,” Williams said. “I believe there are two major problems with getting a correct count of Hispanic families. The first is many of them are isolated because of the language barrier, and the second and most difficult problem is the fear and intimidation factor many Hispanics feel when it comes to the census. We feel that by having bilingual census workers, we can effectively communicate with these families and get a more accurate count.”

Williams said he wants to hire as indigenously as he can, which would provide about 200 temporary jobs in DeKalb County.

Census workers can make between $11.75 and $14.75 per hour plus 50 cents per mile.

“There is also training, which is paid as well,” Williams said. “We also have flexible hours, which range from a full 40 hours or as low as 10 hours per week.”

Williams said he wanted to stress that all information remains protected under the Chapter 13 privacy laws.

“Folks need to understand that because the information is protected, there is no government agency that can get a hold of this information,” Williams said. “Once all information is collected, a report is made and sent to the president, which he will use to distribute more than $400 billion in federal funding.

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