Military Families Urged to Fill Out Census Form

Feb. 18, 2010

This is the year that all Americans are counted in the census. In the next few weeks, every American home will receive a 10-question survey by mail.

It is essential that military families take time to respond to the census survey. The main reason is that military families may answer some census questions differently than their non-military, civilian neighbors.

An Army news article, “2010 Census: Especially Important to Military Families,” by Susan R. Anderson, explains that $400 billion a year in federal funds is at stake.

Retired Army 1st Sgt. Robert Crockett, now a spokesman for the U.S. Census Bureau, tells Anderson that military families in areas that have seen significant growth, possibly through Base Realignment and Closure moves, may see both direct and indirect benefits from participating in the 2010 Census. These benefits range from larger schools and road improvements to housing for the elderly and job training opportunities.

Military families living overseas will not receive census forms, Crockett said. Instead, the Defense Department will count them based on their home states of record.

Crockett offers tips for military families to consider as they fill out the form, which asks, among other questions, how many people are living or staying in the house, apartment or mobile home as of April 1, 2010.

If your spouse’s status is “deployed” and stationed overseas on that date, then do not count him or her as a member of the household, Crockett said. That’s because a spouse who is deployed overseas will be part of an overseas count conducted by the Department of Defense and will be counted in their “home state of record,” Crockett said.

If a spouse is stationed aboard a ship with a U.S. homeport, then do count the spouse as a member of your household, Crockett said. Spouses stationed aboard ships with non-U.S. homeports, should not be counted as part of the household.

Families who do not fill out the census form by the deadline will receive repeated notifications by the Census Bureau, Crockett said. If no form is received after a certain period, census workers will knock at the door, he said. If a census workers knocks on the door, ask to see an identification card and feel free to ask for the phone number for the individual’s supervisor, Crockett advised.

In addition to the regular moves within the military, there were many families that have been forced to move in the last 10 years due to BRAC, so many areas have seen a population flux that further emphasizes the need for military families to fill out the census form.