Jackson Heights Life

For the past month, there been a Census worker coming to my building every Sunday evening to ask about follow up. The guy said is for Census control, even though I told him I already complete mine back in June.

My first encounter, he said just few quick follow up questions, I agreed to it, but eventually it end up being the same Census questions I answered online, which at that point I stop the guy and said I already fill out the exact questions. So I told him to stop.

Afterward, they been coming every Sunday evening. At one point I even give them the confirmation code from the Census I completed, but they still insist asking me the same questions.

Does anyone encounter similar situation? Are they doing control to make sure my answers is consistent?

Thanks, that is helpful. I guess if they come by again I will ask if I can redo it online instead.

Actually I just noticed the article I posted had a publication date of Aug. 31, so maybe there shouldn't be any more follow ups at this time.

I worked for the census this year for about 3 weeks in the month of August. I think the importance of the census is lost on a lot of people, but an accurate count is essential for policymakers to make the case for expanding services in our neighborhood. Census counts determine the degree of federal, state, and even city funding to schools, hospitals, libraries, community centers, and even streets. I wanted to do my part though I ended up leaving in late August, partially because I was starting a new job, but also partially because I was frustrated with the chaotic and disorganized nature of how the census conducted its work.

Return visits are a pretty routine part of the census and our conducted mostly for quality assurance, but I frequently found that the system was giving me excessive return requests for the same handful of addresses. Enumerators use an app that is supposed to tell them whether or not the return visit is for quality assurance or to collect missing information. however, the app is not particularly well constructed, and many enumerators are poorly trained. In my three weeks of work I had four different supervisors who often gave me conflicting information on the best way to proceed when the app gave confusing instructions.

I know it's probably annoying to have a repeat visitor asking you personal questions after you have already provided the necessary information. If I were you, I would try to explain the situation to the worker and be as understanding as possible, since the enumerator is basically following instructions that are poorly defined. Nonetheless, the results of these counts are deeply important, especially for a neighborhood like ours where services are often not sufficient to serve the need.