PAGENO="0001" OYERS~HT Ej~ Rffk~ ON 1H~ 1980 CENSUS FART XYll~~SEATTLE, WASH~N~TON H EARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CENSUS AND POPULATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON POST OFFICE AND CIVIL SERVICE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NINETY~SIXTII CONGRESS SECOND SESSION FEBRTARY 15, 1980 Ser~aI No~ 96~$4 Printed for the use of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service ~ T~. GOVERYHENT PRINTING OFFICE fE-270 0 W'ASIIINGTON : 19~O PAGENO="0002" PAGENO="0003" Statement of- Page Charles Royer, mayor of Seattle 2 Ruby Chow, King County councilwoman 5 Shani Taha, representing John Speilman, King County executive~ -- 7 Alice Larson, migrant coordinator, Department of Labor 10, 112 Manuel Olivas, Washington Migrant Education 21 Ricardo Garcia, Northwest Rural Opportunities 23 Roman Reyna, Idaho Migrant Council 27 Santiago Juarez, Northwest Institute for Hispanic Development -- -- 28 Diane Wong, State advisory commission on Asian American affairs_ 35 Jon Nakagawara, International District Community Health Center~ 45 Bob Santos, International District Improvement Association 44 Tomas Villenueva, Rural Development Enterprises 25 Kathrine Rickey, past chair of Planning Council on Aging 48 Gundjorg Sandvick, League of Women Voters 52 Jan Gilden, Displaced Homemaker Network 52 Dave Haley, independent living evaluation project, University of Washington -- 120 Dave Okimoto, Asian Counseling and, Referral Service 59 Sun Do, Indochinese refugee project, HEW 61 Al Sugiyama, Center for Career Alternatives - 55 Dorthy Cordova, demonstration project for Asian Americans 60 Dr. Thad Spratlen, University of Washington 65 Michael Ross, United Inner City Development Foundation 75 Spruiell White, Seattle Urban League 76 Tom Elkman, Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center.~. - 77 Vivian Caver, Seattle Human Rights Commission 64 Roberto Maestas, El Centro de la Raza 81 Adan Juarez, Northwest Chicano health program 83 Jeff Casey Gaspar, Concilio 82 Dr. Joe Gallegos, National Association of Social Workers 80 Bob Saunders, South Puget Sound Tubal Planning Agency 88 Lola Romero, United Indians of All Tribes 94 Richard Brown, City of Seattle Complete Count Committee 90 Sharon Carrol, Blue Mountain Economic Development Counôil 90 Rudy Cruz, Health, Education, and Welfare; region X -- 100 Eugene Wiegman, Washington State Employment Security 96 Juan Bocanegra, Northwest Rural Opportunities -- 85 - Dick Stannard, Community Services Administration 104 Rick Schweitzer, Census Bureau 106 Maria Batayola, Asian-Pacific Women's Caucus 56 John Gonsalez, executive director, SER/Jobs for Progress, Inc 112 Gilbert Salcido, League of United Latin American Citizens, Snohomish County 113 Rolando Adame 114 Don Palermo 115 Joseph Zuiker, managing attorney, Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc~ 116 Robert C. Thurston, program manager, Division of Vocational Re- habilitation, State of Washington Department of Social and Health Services 118 Armando Laguardia, executive director, Committee of Spanish Speak- ing People of Oregon 120 Millie Russell, president, Seattle Multi-Greek Council 121 Seattle Indian Health Board .. 122 (iii) PAGENO="0004" 7 PAGENO="0005" PAGENO="0006" PAGENO="0007" 3! tee made up of 21 residents concerned with this is~sue. The group is working extremely hard and diligently to insure that we reach all our residents to convince theni to heip you count them. You'll be hear- ing from Richard Brown, a spokesman for that committee, later this afternoon, and I urge that you give ,f consideration to his more de- tailed testimony and his suggested action. One of the committee's major concerns, which I share, is the need for community assistance centers in Seattle; that is, neighborhood- based centers where residents can come to get help from enumerators and help in filling out and completing census questionnaires. Just last December I spoke about this need with Vincent Barabba, Director of the Census Burea, who ~ssured me that Seattle would in- deed have federally funded community assistance centers. However, we have since discovered that Seattle just barely missed by a few num- bers being designated by the Census Bureau as a city eligible for community assistance centers. This means there will be no special Federal help for the city in set- ting up centers in our neighborhoods where residents can get that kind of help which we believe they need.~ The Census Bureau will provide neither staff nor materials to help our residents in that special way. I consider this a very serious problem which will inhibit the ac- curacy of the count in this city. Our residents come from the broadest range of ethnic origin. Besides the large number of blacks and His- panics here, we have a sizable and growing number of ethnic Chinese, Japanese, Laotian, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Samoan, Korean, native American, and Filipino residents. Many of these people speak little or no English and will need assistance in filling out a census question- naire, even the short version. The residents exhibit a natural, understandable, and culturally based fear when governments request personal data from them, and in many instances they trust only those people with whom they are familiar or who are affiliated with community organizations which they trust. We've had a recent experience in trying to gather data to make a decision on electric rates in the city where we identified the people who responded to our questionnaire by income, and we found that those poorest residents, those residents who were under the poverty line, those people who could have been helped most by our rate decision had the most difficulty in dealing with the information and respond- ing to the questionnaire. So it's most important, I believe, that we develop the kind of trust in the enumerators that we need. If the Census Bureau would make available those trained and sworn-in staff and materials, we could establish assistance centers in those community organizations which are traditionally trusted by our ethnic minority residents. The undercount problem here, in our opinion, could be reduced significantly by that single action. My second major concern, and one that is equally shared by the complete count committee and other community leaders in Seattle, is the noncount, not merely the undercount, of Indochinese refugees. As I understand the process, Indochinese refugees will not be specified as a separate ethnic group on the census questionnaire. PAGENO="0008" 4 It is estimated that Washington State is drawing approximately 800 refugees every month, many of them from States other than where they were settled originally by the private sector settlement opera- tion. Seattle is getting more than 60 percent of the State's refugee population. These figures, understandably, are very rough because we do not have an accurate count, and without an accurate count, we will be unable to tell the Federal Government what our concerns are in terms of housing, health care, and education for the refugees, nor can we make a case for Federal help to meet this group's unique needs without accurate census data. I suggest that we need a special effort; to enumerate the Indochinese refugees whose need for services from local government is increasing every single day. Census needs to hire bilingual enumerators, especially for this group. They need to establish community assistance centers in neighborhoods where the refugees are most likely to be settling. They need to make phone calls and visits and followup phone calls and visits until they receive an accurate, complete questionnaire from each refugee house- hold. Only with the special effort of this kind will we be able to insure that we get a complete count of our Indochinese refugee population. I submit, Mr. Chairman~ that it is of the utmost importance to this administration to understand the full scope and impact of the refugee immigration especially into the west coast port cities. In summary, I would like to see this committee take two decisive actions immediately: No. 1. ask the Census Bureau to designate Seattle eligible for federally funded community assistance centers and pro- vide the staff and the materials that are concomitant with that desig- nation; and. No. 2, ask the Census Bureau to make a special effort to count Indochinese refugees. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you this morning about issues which concern me personally and which. I know, concern most of our citizens, concerns that will benefit. your effort in obtaining as accurate and complete a census as possible. I thank you, Congressman Garcia. for enduring our snowstorm and we're delighted, nevertheless, to be able to offer you the city's hospi- tality and welcome you to Seattle. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. Mr. LOWRY. Mayor, thank you very much for that excellent state- ment and before we move to that, I do appreciate the honor of intro- ducing Congressman Bob Garcia who is chairman of the House Sub- committee on Census and Population. who has flown all the way from New York to have the joy of this morning in the snow. Before he asks his questions, I want to point out that in Chicago they changed the mayor because of a snowstorm. Mr. ROYER. That's why, Mr. Chairman, I only have a few minutes. Mr. Dicics. I cannot resist telling you what Congressman Garcia said to me last night as an aside. He said, "My goodness," he said, "this is just a little bit of snow. lVhy are people getting so nervous." He said. "In New York we really have snowst.orms." I just want you to know that our taxicab drivers aren't quite as good as yours in get- tin~ through the snow. Bob. We're glad to have you here. Mr. GARCIA. Mr. Mayor. before I even start. first of all, excuse me for being late. I did leave the hotel 45 minutes ago to get here in time. So please, circumstances obviously were beyond our control. PAGENO="0009" 5 I'm delighted to be here, Mr. Mayor, and I'm here, frankly, at the invitation of these two gentlemen to my right, both Norm Picks and Mike Lowry. They came to me quite some time ago to ask me to come into the city of Seattle. I've tried very hard to concentrate all the hearings that we've had in cities because you and I, as well as mayors across this country, know the hardships that you're facing. The tremendous hardships- the urban crisis is not getting any better. It's getting worse. So I just felt that the undercounts, as we have known them in past censuses, whether it be the 1950, 1960, or 1970 census, was mainly in urban centers, so that is why I have concentrated the effort in cities. The testimony given today will be printed, recorded into the record, but if I may, Mr. Mayor, through you, talk to the people of the cit.y of Seattle that this census of 1980 is probably the most important census that will ever be taken in the history of our country. It's important because in 1970 we dealt with just, for the most part, political re- apportionment. Since 1970, and as a mayor you know, that there has been any number of fiscal programs attached to the census and to the various agencies based on the population figures that these Federal agencies, whether it be HEW or HTJD or whatever it is, are supplied through the Bureau of Census. So we talk now about anywhere from $50 to $80 billion a year that's reapportioned or reappropriated back to localities. So it's really important. I mean it's not just the policies of census any more, Mr. Mayor. It's the question of whether these many cities survive or not, based upon those census figures. So I'm delighted, I'm particularly glad to be here with both Con- gressman Picks and Congressman Lkowry. The last time I was here, Congressman Picks took inc to see a foot- ball game, and I am delighted to say that you were, in many instances, underdogs but you came through magnificently and went crazy (luring the last 10 minutes of the game and beat MinnesoLa. But getting back and being absolutely frank, I'm delighted to be here. It's a beautiful city, Mr. Mayor, and I think you've got some great representatives in Congress protecting your interests at that level. Mr. Roi~R. Thank you, and I can only agree with what you've said. I appreciate, again, the extra effort that you've made to be here with us. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Chairman, we will now go on to our other two panelists. King County Councilwoman Ruby Chow, who is graciously hosting us here in her district. STATEMENT OP RUBY CHOW, KING COUNTY COUNCILWOMAN Ms. CHOW. Congressman Garcia, Congressman Lowry, and Con- gressman Norman Picks, I want to thank you for the opportunity to testify before your subcommittee regarding the importance of the accurate census data. As a native of Puget Sound region and local official and active corn- munity person, I have had an opportunity to form some opinions about the way the. Federal Government treats non-English-speaking persons. PAGENO="0010" PAGENO="0011" 7; STATEMENT OP SHANI TAHA, REPRESENTING JOHN SPELLMAN, KING COUNTY EXECUTIVE Ms. TAHA. Thank you. I'm extremely pleased to be here on behalf of the county executive. Perhaps in last August, August of last year, the executive wrote your offices. Congressman Garcia, as part of a major letter-writing campaign that came out of this region, requesting that, not only a subcommittee be brought to the area, but that there be some recogni- tion of the diversity and the complexity and the uniqueness of the Pacific Northwest. That we're here today and that you're here today is a testament, both to the responsiveness of our office, to the sincerity of our interest, and to the persistence of our congressional delegation. King County supports the 1980 census. We share the concerns that have been mentioned by the mayor and by Councilwoman Chow about the count and the usefulness of the information which is collected. In the last 10 years, we have all learned the importance of knowing who we are and how we live and wl~ere we live. Since 1953, King County's population has grown from 73,000 to 1.2 million, a 61-percent increase. Over one-third of our residents live outside of municipal boundaries. Another 250,000 people are expected by 1980. More people, rapidly changing neighborhoods, have increased the responsibility of county governments. We have taken on many of the problems and concerns that were historically the purview of the city. Today you'll find county government is proud of agricultural land preservation programs as we are of the emergency medical services and as concerned about the maintenance and conversion of septic tanks as we are on the delivery of mental health services countywide. Our responsibilities have changed and we're becoming more and more urban and our people are demanding the same concerns, same kinds of quality services that those in urban centers are. They want productive work, adequate and affordable housing, the opportunity for quality education and health care and the protection of their No,rhtwest environment. Providing effective municipal and human services over such a large and diverse area requires careful tar~eting of resources and accurate identification of needs. The census will help our county do this, par- ticularly in the following area: In health and human services, we're committed to working through private and public resources toward developing a comprehensive net- work of service. These programs must not only be organized but they must work on a very personal level, recognizing cultural differences and the special treatment needs of different age groups. Knowing more about our communities will assist proper program design and orientation. King County also sponsors job development and employment pro- grams. We're attempting to deal with two major problems: First, the large number of people arriving in the county who are without work, PAGENO="0012" 8 and, second, the deepening dilemma of the long-termed unemployed who daily face a more competitive and congested labor market. If w-e're to offer localized assistance, we must know where the un- employed live, how many they are and what the barriers to employ- inent are if they're to be removed. On a regional level, we must make every effort to break the cycle of deficit services that has resulted from the undercount of this area's migrant and seasonal farmworkers. An aggressive census information program will help us do these things. We also are very supportive of the inclusion in the 1980 census of questions relating to fuel and electrical consumption. Energy policies on conservative and production simply cannot be formulated or car- ried out without good data on individual use patterns. We're currently attempting to inventroy, on a countrywide basis, energy use and comnnmity planning project. The census data will as- sist us in updating and assessing our baseline information and ~t will also a.ssist us in terms of the critical need to assess tranportation alter- natives and develop more energy-efficient way to move people. King County has also undertaken programs to ease the housing crisis, especially as it affects the elderly and low-income residents. We've already committed to building 1,000 new low-income units over the next few years. Census information about the living conditions of our poor and elderly will help us make further decisions about where to encourage particular types of construction, about how many people need to be assisted in relocation, and about how much of the housing problem can be solved by rehabilitation. Of course, I could go on because there are many things that counties do that cities do, but the main point, obviously, is that an accurate and aggressive census is critical, not only to our constituents, but to our ability to effectively serve our constituents. Finally, I'd also like to say that I believe King County recognizes its responsibilitiy in terms of assuring that the census does all that it can do and that we hope it will do. We are working to assist the Census Bureau in terms of the identification of the number of housing units in King County to assure that everyone in King County will receive census forms. In addition, as the city has done, we have developed a countywide complete county committee. It's some 75 individuals who fully repre- sent the diversity of this county and who will then devote their ideas and their energies to making sure that every c:itizen that we can reach and get in contact does, in fact, have assistance they need. In closing, on behalf of the county executive, John Speilman, I again thank Chairman Garcia and the members of the subcommittee and our congressional delegation for being here today and for allowing us this opportunity to spea.k to you about our particular concerns so that we could all work together for the development of a thorough and efficient 1980 census. Thank you. Mr. GARcL~. Thank you very much. Mr. Lowny. Shani. excellent statement. Mr. GARCIA. Has King County appropriated any funds for a local review of promotional activities to supplement the Census Bureau's work? PAGENO="0013" 9 Ms. TAITA. Most of the effort is coming through the use of county staff that are on board and have been, their time and energies have been devoted toward working with citizens and then working intern- ally to help the census. Mr. GARCIA. Just let me make one point if I may. The State of New York recently introduced legislation calling for an appropriation of approximately $3 million to aid the State's effort in terms of the. census. The State of California appropriated $600,000, which has already been passed. That legislation w:as passed, I believe, in 1979, by the California Legislature. To your knowledge, is any effort being made by the legislature here in the State of Washington for the additional appropriation of money just for the State's own purpose in terms of making sure tha.t there is a complete count in the State of Washington? Ms. TAHA. I do not have that information. I'm not sure. Perhaps, there's someone in the audience or ~ member of our delegation that may know that. Mr. GARCIA. Well, the last point I would like to make, and I don't know how familiar you are with this, is concerning the examinations that are being given t.o people to qualify to work for the census. Do you have any knowledge as to the number of people who have applied anU ta.ken the te.st, the number of people who have taken the test and passed as opposed to failed, and then those w'ho have passe.d, how many of those that have passed are actually working for the census or have any hope of, in fa.ct, coming on board with the census? Ms. TAHA. No, I haven't. Mr. GARCIA. Well, if you hear of any problems in King County, I would ask you that you get that information back to us. Ms. TAHA. We certainly will. Mr. GARCIA. We're getting reports that the test is not really reflec- tive of many of the communities across America and we're trying to look into that. If there is any possibility that we can change that be- tween now and the kickoff date, the kickoff date being April 1, we're going to try and do it. I also would like you to know, just in closing, that Brooklyn, as we know Brooklyn in New York, is called really King's County. Ms. TAHA. I would love to share with you a secret. I was born in Brooklyn. Mr. GARCIA. Thank you very much. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you, Shani. Could we have the next panel, please. I believe they're ready. Mr. GARCIA. The Hispanic issues panel, migrant and seasonal farm- workers, Alice Larson, migrant coordinator for DOL; Manuel Olivas, Washington migrant education: R.icardo Garcia, Northwest Rural Opportunities; Roman Reyna, Idaho Migrant Council; and Santiago Jriarez. Northwest Institute for Hispanic Development. Mr. VILLENTJEVA. One addition, Tomas Villenueva from the Rural Development Enterprises. Mr. LOWRY. Two requests again, and we're probably going to have to ask this ma.ny times. This room really carries noise and we're having trouble hearing the witnesses and so, as much as people can give us that consideration, it's very necessary. PAGENO="0014" PAGENO="0015" ii This knowledge of lack of data has been well documented in the past. A couple of sources include the national office of HEW and, most recently, the task panel on migrant and seasonal farmworkers of the President's Commission on Mental Health. My written testimony provides some concrete examples of where farmworkers have been overlooked in the Northwest because of lack of data. It also gives a couple of theories I have developed as to why this information is so hard to get. One of these theories is that there is no common definition in use as to who is or is not a migrant or seasonal farmworker. In addition, there is no one survey designed specifically to count and characterize farmworkers and therefore takes into account the spe- cial problems involved in collecting data on this population. This brings me to the 1980 census. The census is a crucial, if not the crucial, source of demographic information for planners, for service providers, for elected officials, for proposal writers, for target group advocates, and for thousands of others. Every year $50 bil- lion worth of Federal, State, and local government funds are dis- tributed, according to census figures.~ However, the census will not be able to obtain information on migrant and seasonal farmworkers as a specified group in 1980, as it was not able to do in 1970. There are three major reasons why. First, the question of how to categorize census response on em- ployment questions to identify migrant and seasonal farmworkers is a real dilemma. As we have no commonly accepted Federal defi- nition, no one Federal definition can be used. Those occupations related roughly to agricultural workers will be categorized as farm- worker, supervisor, or farmworker. The categories migrant and sea- sonal farmworker are not even included in the census. This means that seasonal farmworkers are grouped with perma- iient farm laborers and permanent part-time farm laborers: all of those employed regularly and working for just one farmer or grower. In addition, family workers, if they are paid for working on their own farm, are grouped into this category. This means that census data cannot be used to derive num~bers or characteristics on' exclusively the migrant and seasonal farmworker group. The second major problem with the census counting migrant and seasonal farmwo'rkers is that employment questions are asked of census respondents in relation to the work they performed the week immedi- ately preceding April 1. Most seasonal farmworkers will not have begun seasonal farmwork by this early date. They will not note that they were employed in seasonal farmwork and, therefore, they will not even be classified as agricultural workers. The third major problem with census data is one that we particu- larly face in the Northwest, and that is because we use temporary niigrant laborers. Census data will not indicate migrant travel patterns and temporary residences. Information about them will `be recorded only in relation to the place they consider home base. No temporary residence information will be provided in the census. This means that when migrants are in `the Northwest and are in need of services like public health services, bilingual education, and public welfare services-all allocated according to census figures-there will PAGENO="0016" 12 be no allocation for provision of these services while they temporarily reside in the Northwest. All of the service funds allocated to serve them will go to their home base. Migrants are in the Northwest from about March through October, 7 months, and they will need those services while they are here. How- ever, there will be no service funds allocated to the Northwest to provide these services to them. Mr. GARCIA. You say they're going to be here from March through September. Then they're within the category of April 1. Ms. LARSON. Right, but if they are found in the Northwest as a migrant, they will be asked to specify their home base, the place they consider `to be their permanent residence~. They may say Texas, for example, and so, their census data will be forwarded back to Texas. We will not even know they were here because they will be recorded as a Texas resident. This is a major problem for us here. These problems I have described are serious, and they affect the ability of the 1980 census to gather data on farmworkers. The result will be an incomplete resource, the, census, used as the authoritative source on migrant and seasonal farmworkers, basically because the census is supposed to `be the authoritative source on all population groups. I would like to request that when you return to Washington, D.C., you ask Congress to consider the testimony that I have presented on this issue and try in future censuses to develop data collection pro- cedures that will help us get the data we so desperately need on migrant and seasonal farmworkers. I would like to conclude by thanking you for the opportunity to allow me to testify before you today and to tell you once again how pleased we are that you have come to the Northwest to listen to our concerns. Thank you. Mr. GARCIA. Thank you. Mr. LOWRY. I think we should just go straight on down the panel and then come back for questions. [The complete written statement of Ms. Larson follows:] PAGENO="0017" 13 TESTIMONY OF ALICE LARSON, MIGRANT COORDINATOR EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS ADMINISTRATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR I would like to begin by thanking you, Mr. Chairman, and the Subcommittee for holding this hearing in Seattle. I am the Migrant Coordinator for~the Employment Stan- dards Administration, U.S. Department~of Labor, Region X. In this position, I attempt to bring Federal, State and local agencies, organizations and individuals together to work on the many problems of migrant and seasonal farm- workers (MSFWs). In addition, as a consultant in 1976, I conducted a study of service delivery barriers for MSFWs for the Department of Health, Educatián and Welfare, in this Region. Throughout this and other work I have seen a recurrent theme, a barrier which prevents the development of policy and other assistance services for MSFWs: the lack of accurate data on the oooulation. As you will hear today, we are concerned about many issues surrounding the 1980 Census, particularly the problem of obtaining an accurate count of the diverse ethnic groups in the Northwest. We appreciate your taking the time to listen to our concerns and hope that you come away from this hearing with the feeling that your time has been well spent. I have several areas of concern ~ihich I would like to discuss with the Subcommittee today, all of which involve obtaining accurate data on MSFWs through the 1980 Census. The Problems faced by the Census in Accurately Counting and Characterizing MSFWs Accurate and complete information is essential in assisting any group of people with enormous and complex needs, such as MSFWs. As all of those who work with this group are well aware what limited information which does exist -- usually numbers data -- is not necessarily accurate. Basic characteristics data on the population is practically non-existent. In planning for allocation of funds and services, particularly in our present era of shrinking resources, those about whom little is known will often be the first 66-270 0 - 80 - 2 PAGENO="0018" 14 to be overlooked. Services and policy impact cannot be measured without accurate target population data. Without this information, it is impossible to tell what proportion of the target population is being reached and, consequently, how many are not being reached. In addition, it is difficult without hard data to (1) assess whether the population has unmet needs and problems which should be corrected; or, (2) for migrants in in-stream areas (such as the Northwest), determine whether they are in the State long enough to be a service delivery consideration. Knowledge of this lack of data ha-s been well documented by numerous authoritative sources, including the national office of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare; the Task Panel on Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers of the President's Commission on Mental Health; the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; Legal Services Corporation; the National Association of Farmworker Organizations; Rural America and others. Yet, the problem remains. In the Northwest, the following are just a few examples of what this lack of information has meant to MSFWs: 1. Those involved in developing State Health Plans in the Northwest under the National Health Planning and Development Act indicate they do not have the quality of data they would like concerning MSFW health conditions and needs to assure adequate health services to this popula- tion. They are forced to use existent data they know is deficient. 2. The Idaho State Office of the Farmers' Home Adminis- tration indicated it is not convinced that there is a need for migrant housing in that State as there is no hard evidence documenting this need. The Washington State Farmers' Home Administration Office recently drew up a list of service and funding priorities for allocation of resources across the State in line with a new policy of targeting services. Although I personally believe that housing is a crucial probl em of MSFWs in Washi ngton State, service to this popu- lation was not considered a priority by Farmers' Home Adminis- PAGENO="0019" 15 compensatory benefits through the trade adjustment assistance program, including living allowances and training assistance, under the U.S. Department of Labor administered Trade Act of 1974, MSFWs employed in hand labor~ intensive field work necessary to produce sugar beets did not. Most MSFWs were not even eligible for unemployment compensation. As there were no reliable figures on the number of MSFWs formerly involved in sugar beet production or the proportion of their income which comes from their wbrk in sugar beets, there was no way to prepare for assisting those who were in need due to this loss of employment. There was also no way to determine the impact loss of employment had on migrants who were forced to draw on a~iditional assistance resources at their home base due to lack of this usual source of income. Why is there such a lack of dataabout MSFWs? There are two main reasons why it has been so hard to obtain such data: First, there is no one definition of who is or is not a "migrant" or "seasonal" farmworker in common use by service providers, policy makers, those who enforce regulations, and data-gatherers. This means the target population cannot be defined, and a data source prepared for one agency may not be relevant to another. Second, major data sources are not aimed specifically at counting and characterizing MSFWs, and so are not as sensitive as they might be to the special problems~ associated with collecting data on this population. These problems include: 1. MSFW5 move from job to job and migrants move across the country. MSFWs are difficult to find and interview at work. Migrants have no perma- nent residence while working; therefore, they are hard to find at a home site. 2. Because MSFWs constantly move, it is easy to count an individual more than once. 3. Data cannot easily be projected from what is known. For example, total population cannot be projected from the known number working on PAGENO="0020" 16 specific days because of duplication of counts. Family size cannot be projected from the number of children in school or the number of family workers in the field because children in school and the number of family workers vary depending on community resources, family economic situation and other factors. 4. There is a feeling that the MSFW population is constantly changing depending on the economic situation of the country and labor needs. MSFWs are not like veterans. Once a person is a migrant or seasonal farmworker, that person is not always a migrant or seasonal farmworker. This brings us to the 1980 Census. The decennial Census of the United States is a, if not the, crucial source of demographic data for planners, service providers, elected officials, proposal writers and target group advocates, just to name a few. Census figures are used by Federal, State and local governments to allocate over $50 billion worth of funds per year. These funds go for such programs as Revenue Sharing, Bilingual Education, Public Health Services, Vocational Education, AFDC and hundreds of others which affect MSFWs. Census figures are also used by government agencies and thousands of non-profit organizations for planning purposes. Although the 1980 Census is designed to count and gather characteristics data on every person in the United States, it will not be able to obtain this information accurately for MSFWs as a specified group in 1980, as it also did not do in 1970. There are three major reasons for this. First, the question of how to categorize a Census response to employment questions, and thereby distinguish migrant and seasonal farmworkers, is a real dilemma. Because there is no single Federal definition of MSFWs, no one definition can be used. Employment/occupation questions PAGENO="0021" PAGENO="0022" 18 public health services and others used by migrants. This migrant population is present in the Northwest from approxi- mately late March to October, around seven months, in which they will need to make use of many of these services. Even if recognition were given to the need to allocate funds for provi si on of services in temporary sites for migrants, such as those in the Northwest, no data would be available through the Census to indicate the extent of this need. These are serious problems with regard to the ability of the 1980 Census to gather data on MSFWs. The result will be an incomplete resource used as the authoritative data source on MSFW5, because the Census is `supposed to" contain accurate data on all population groups. I would like to ask this Subcommittee to consider the testimony I have presented about the inability of the 1980 Census to supply much needed data on MSFWs, and to consider procedures to improve data collection in future Censuses on this population group. The Hiring of Bilingual Enumerators Another area of concern which I wish to discuss involves the hiring of Spanish-speaking enumerators. The ESA Regional Office has been active in helping the Bureau of the Census recruit MSFWs, particularly Hispanics, for employment on the 1980 Census. Along with the Bureau of the Census, we feel that hiring Spanish-speaking enumerators is crucial to obtaining an accurate count of Spanish-speaking individuals for the 1980 Census. We understand that the Bureau is committed to hiring bilingual people who are from the communities in which Spanish-speaking enumeration assistance is needed. We hope their efforts are successful since we believe that bilingual capability is essential to an accurate count in these areas. We do wish to take this opportunity, how- ever, to urge that in the future the Bureau of the Census give consideration to printing and distributing copies PAGENO="0023" 19 of the enumerator employment test in Spanish to affected District Offices to allow applicants the option of taking tF~e test in the language with which they may be most familiar. The Problem of Listing "Special Places" for MSFWs and Enumerating MSFWs in "Special Places" The final area of concern we have relates to the problem of identifying "Special Places" where~ migrants reside and enumerating migrants residing in the "Special Places." Despite the problems which will cause the 1980 Census to be inaccurate in reporting MSFWs as a~specified group, we are very much concerned with the counting of every migrant or seasonal farmworker as an individual. An accurate identifi- cation of "Special Places" and a careful enumeration of migrants residing in these "Special Places" are crucial in counting migrant and seasonal farm'iorkers. Unlike most of the rest of the United States, migrants will be working in the Northwest on Census Day, April 1. Specifically, thousands will be in Washington State in the Yakima Valley to harvest the asparagus crop. I have also been told that some migrants will be in the Pocatello area of Idaho to clean fields, prepare potato fields and perform other agricultural tasks. Many migrant individuals and families in Washington during the Census period will be living in labor camps. Due to a severe shortage of migrant hOusing in Washington, however, many will be hying in their cars, in abandoned shacks, along river banks or anywhere else they can find shelter. MSFW5 may be found living in labor camps in Oregon and Idaho as well , due to MSFW housing shortages in these two states. Both the labor camps and unusual residence sites for migrants are classified as "Special Places" in terms of Census~ enumeration. We recognize that there are difficulties inherent in attempting to identify "Special Places" where migrants reside in this region. The ESA Regional Office has several lists of labor camps for Washington State developed by a variety of sources, although some of this information PAGENO="0024" 20 may be outdated. In addition, the Region X office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has done extensive work on developing such a list for their needs. .1 will be happy to share these lists with Regional Bureau of the Census officials. I also have some information on Oregon and Idaho labor camp sites which I will be glad to share, although I am sure this is only a small percent of the total camps in these two States. I have no list of unusual migrant residence sites in any of these states to give to the Bureau. It is our understanding the Special Place enumeration with regard to unusual migrant residence sites e.g. automobiles, abandoned shacks, along river banks, will take place on only one night, H-Night. As~ I have noted, many of the migrants in this region live in these unusual residences due to the shortage of migrant housing. We are concerned about the ability of Census enumerators to reach all of these sites and find individuals "at hone', given only one night for enumeration. If these efforts are not suc- cessful, many ~1SFWs will not be reached. We believe the Bureau of the Census may have to look into the issue of hiring a sufficient number of Special Place enumerators in each affected Census District Office or, alternatively, extending the Special Places H-Night enumeration efforts with regard to unusual migrant residences for a sufficient length of time to assure that MSFWs at these sites are counted in the 1980 Census. I would like to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to testify before the Subcommit~ee today to share the views of the Employment Standards Administration about the 1980 Census count of MSFWs. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding my testimony. PAGENO="0025" 21 STATEMENT OP MANUEL OLIVAS, WASHINGTON MIGRANT EDUCATION Mr. OLIvAs. My name is Manuel Olivas. I reside in the Yakima Valley. I'm also an employee of the migrant education program for the State of Washington which deals primarily in the education and recruirtment of true migrant, children into the school system. We have several concerns that have been brought to our attten- tion throughout the initial contacts with the Census Bureau. We have recently found that the testing that is currently being used for the recruitment of census takers and enumerators is, one, irrelevant to the job performance that will be conducted by these individuals and, two, is combined with a clerical test for clerical staff which is irrelevant to that particular enumerator position. The recruitment of applicants has been sporadic in terms of con- tacting agencies that can provide qualified Hispanc applicants for enumerators. There is no relevant bilingual testing instrument to determine the bilingual capabilities of individuals that will be going out as Hispanic or bilingual enumerators. The hiring practices that have been implemented, at least in the Yakima Valley, have been one of exlusion in terms of hiring quali- fied Hispanic minorities, or rather qualified Hispanic enumerators. The individuals that have been referred to hire in the Yakima area have been either misinformed of the testing date and, therefore, have not been able to test. The other is a lack of coordination and coopera- tion by the Census Bureau individuals from this particular region. As early as February 1978, there was a meeting held in Yakima \Talley with several organization heads from community-based orga- nizations that serve and provide services to the migrant seasonal farmer community. An effort was being made at that time to coordi- nate training for individuals that ëome in contact with the migrant population on a daily basis. Nothing ever came of that. There was a letter that was sent to the Census Bureau requesting that staff from Census. come down to put on a workshop so that we could assist with the enumeration. The news media that has been coming from the census has been primarily in English. The methodology that has been used to dis- tribute this has been primarily through PSA .announcements. The PSA announcements are lefl to the wishes of the station. They are primarily run either early morning hours when people are not at home, or late at night when people are already in bed. There has been no effort, or a minimal effort, made in disseminating bilingual cen- sus announcements on English-speaking, as well as Spanish-speaking media. We would recommend very strongly that the Census Bureau take an active role in developing comprehensive media dissemination into the Spanish population and, if necessary, sponsor-by that I mean pay for-these announcements so they can get into the Spanish-speak- ing population during prime time, utilizing both English- and Span- ish-speaking media. The other area of concern is the mail-in-mail-out questionnaires in Spanish. There is a definite need fOr followthrough with the mail- PAGENO="0026" 22 ing of questionnaires in Spanish. The questionnaire may reach a place where more than one family resides. As is written in the testimony, when the migrant population comes in, approximately the latter part of March, early April, for the aspar- agus season, which is the first crop to hit this State, the housing is taken up almost immediately. Individuals that reside here locally then, in turn, turn around and rent attics, basements, garages, and so forth to the migrant population. Sometimes there are as many as 5 to 10 families living in one dwelling. These people, because of fear of repercussion, will not allow the enumerator to come onto their property, will not pass on the ques- tionnaire to the families and, therefore, the people will not be counted. The process that is currently considered, or being considered, for implementation, the mail-in-mail-out, is inadequate in terms of reach- ing the Spanish-speaking population. Mr. LOWRY. Is that because of the address? How can that be im- proved? Mr. OLIVAS. There's a combination of problems. One is the address. Two is the fear of the individual who owns the property of repercus- sions, either from city officials or other officials. One of the other issues pointed out in the paper is the appointments of district office managers. We are asking the Census Bureau to take a close look at the positions that are currently filled nationwide, specif- ically here in Washington State, that are a managerial capacity or supervisory capacity, how many Spanish, Hispanic people do you have that have been hired into these positions. The appointment of district office managers, we find that has been primarily done by the governing party at that particular or that particular district, the Republicans or the Democrats. The person gets appointed and there are no Hispanics in those key positions. We're also asking that the Census Bureau include in the citizens' review process, that takes place in July, individuals that are familiar with, or part of, community-based organizations, programs, or from the community that are familiar with not only the lifestyle, but the migration patterns of the migrant farmworker population so that they can validate a review, be part of this review process. A hotline should be set up in each particular region that should be manned by bicultural or bilingual individuals that are sensitive and will not alienate or scare off individuals that are calling in to get clarification on the filling out of these forms. This office should be manned from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock in the evening for maximum utilization. The other, you should have community-based organizations, such as migrant health clinics, Northwest Rural Opportunities day care cen- ters, migrant education field representatives, Department of Social and Health Service field representatives, employment security field representatives. You have a variety of agencies that employ individ- uals that perform face-to-face contacts with the migrant population. These individuals should be working very closely with the census or, vice versa, the census should be working very closely with these individuals. We're also proposing that individual enumerators or census takers should be stationed at these sites that have a large flow or traffic of PAGENO="0027" 23 migrant seasonal farmworkers that come through to avail themselves of these services. A good example is a health clinic. This would catch those migrant seasonal farmwork~rs that might be missed by the enumerators. In the hiring process, if all else fails, we would like to see the census make an appropriation or an allocation within their fiscal budget to, if there is not enough money, to hire translaters to go along with the monolingual, English-speaking census takers to act as the translater to fill out these particular forms. The individual should be, preferably, from that particular area. They should be knowledgeable abOut the migrant lifestyle and the places where these people live. The individuals that can best refer these types of people for employment would be the community-based orga- nizations that hire these particular kinds of individuals to perform said services for them. They would know, simply by the grapevine and the conununication network established here, who can or cannot do the job. That concludes my testimony. I want to thank you for the opportunity to address the committee. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you. STATEMENT OP RICARDO GARCIA, NORTHWEST RURAL OPPORTUNITIES Mr. RICARDO GARCIA. Buenos dias. My name is Ricardo Garcia, director of Northwest Rural Oppor- tunities, a statewide organization serving migrant and seasonal farm- workers. I would like to introduce to the committee Mr. Elsenora Nesto Maldonado. Ernesto Maldonado is a farmworker from the Yakima Valley and he has lived in this area for 30 years. He has never been counted in the last three censuses. I'm taking the opportunity to speak on behalf of people like Mr. Maldonado. Mr. ROBERT GARCIA. If I may, I think that if you ask people all across America to raise their hand if they can ever remember being counted or if they have not been counted, you'll find three-quarters of the people will raise their hands saying that they can never remember ever being counted. Mr. RICARDO GARCIA. That's true, probably. Mr. Maldonado, well I speak on his behalf and because our concern, working with the farmworkers in the State of Washington, and many of them being Chicanos from Texas, California, the Southern States, and then the population that is growing from Mexico in the Yakima Valley, we speak on their behalf, and because, you know, I would like to emphasize that many of our Chicanos in the State of WTashington, and other States too, we have an educational problem. Many are ii- literate in English. Mr. Maldonado does not speak any English. His language is Spanish. In the Yakirna Valley that is very prevalent. Many people still prefer to speak Spanish. I support the testimony given by Alice Larson and Manuel Olivas in that sense, to support the things that they said about farmworkers. We have a radio station, Congressman Garcia, Radio Cardena, and PAGENO="0028" 24 we go on, you know, we started to go on the air every Monday with a specia.l emphasis, a program to address the census, and we started it last Monday and I would like to share with you some impressions of that 1-hour-iS-minute show that we did. We talked about the census We explained what the census was and we told the audience that is listening: This is going to take place April 1. This is what the census consists of. Now, we want your co- operation. Many of you that are listening are from Mexico. We would like you to understand what the census is all about. Our program is in Spanish. you know and within that 1 hour and 15 minutes, we had about 15 calls and people who were wanting to know more about the census, and as we talked, you know, and now that im- presses on us that we must go on every Monday; we're going to do it every Monday and further explain what the census is about. That is the problem that exists within our community, that the cen- sus is still, you know, something that the people still don't under- stand what it is. The form that they will receive through the post office is carried, it's a big form, and many, we suspect that many of our Chicanos will re- ceive the form and not deal with it. The other problem in the Yakima Valley is the enumerators. We don't have enough who are bilingual or who can speak Spanish flu- ently to communicate with the people. Now, we don't have any because the test tha.t's imposed on a $4-an-hour job was too difficult for some of our people to pass the test and, therefore, ~et hired. Mr. ROBERT GARCIA. If we had that test in Spanish, do you think that the scores would improve? Mr. RICARDO GARCIA. Maybe so. It would help, but the test is the issue. I think the responsibility of the enumerator and the test that is given does not match. It just doesn't make sense, and it has eliminated several people that we have referred that we know that are literate in English sufficiently and in Spanish and who can relate. Now, that's a very important issue too. You must be able to relate to farmworkers who are either in the camps of Del Monte, who are liv- ing in the houses of the growers, who are living in the-the people that we're going to approach are very humble people. I think that if Northwest Rural Opportunities would have had a chance somehow to get involved and provide our expertise in dealing with farmworkers, we might have, the census might have been more complete. We suspect that this count is going to be not as complete as we would like to in the Yakirna Valley or in the State of Washing- ton, the Columbia basin area, Walla Walla area. As stated before, about 6,000 to 7,000 migrants will be arriving in the Yakima Valley in the next 6 weeks and, again, it is a population that, if we don't pay attention to the census and the purpose of it, we're going to miscount many of them. I would like to pass the microphone now to Mr. Villanueva who will add to what I started to say. I would like to repeat that the community that we would like to see that needs to be counted is a very humble community and they want, they need more information. The public service announcements that are done by the Advertising Council are not sufficient. They're too commercial. They're very commercial. PAGENO="0029" 25 The address that we must give to the community is something that can relate to them. It has to be done slowly. We have to take our time to explain, and explaining the information can get through, and we experience that with the radio program. They called, they were in- terested, and they wanted to know more, and we promise to come back and we're going to continue doing it. Unfortunately, Radio Cardena is only one of two stations in the country who are totally in Spanish. Another one is in California, and our station is educational. Therefore, we have as much time as we want to to relay that information, but that information is going to be limited in the Yakima Valley. What about Texas, New York, Cali- fornia, New Mexico, Arizona? Another idea that came to us last night was how about the stations along the border of Mexico who are transmitting in Spanish. Why can't we give them enough information so that they too can transmit that information to people that are coming into the United States? Thank you for listening. STATEMENT OP TOMAS VILLENUEVA, RURAL DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISES Mr. VILLENTJEVA. Congressman Garcia and members of the com- inittee, I can't say that I thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here. I'd rather have to say that~ it's about time that some effort has been made to try to make sure that all minorities are accounted for in the 1980 census. Ricardo was mentioning that in about 6 weeks there will be thousands of migrant farmworkers coming, not only to the State of Washington, but States of Oregon, Idaho, California, we talk about Illinois, Ohio, and many other States. The schedule or calendar to carry out the census is from March 28, April 1, with some follow-up on April 16, and the follow-up is based on those people that did not return their 9uestionnaires. The farmworker usually leaves sometimes starting toward the end of March from the State of Texas, which means will be leaving per- haps 2 or 3 days before the questionnaire arrives and will arrive to the different Northern States after the census has already been taken, and I wonder what steps, if any, does the committee plan to take to address to that particular problem. The other one you mentioned, that if the test would be in Spanish, if that would help. I'd like to ask, could you tell me what "en casiado" means, Congressman? I was raised and born in Mexico and I'm still trying to figure out what it is. But this is the 1980 copy, a sample of the census. It doesn't say a thing about what the census is or why it's important to fill it. It doesn't even tell them to try to fill it out. Mr. GARCIA. On every one of those forms that are going to be mailed into the home, there will be a telephone number and an address written in Spanish so that the person. can either call, or go pick one up. Mr. VILLENUEVA. Yes; but it doesn't even say that, you know, to fill the questionnaire. It only says if you want one in Spanish- Mr. GARCIA. The reason for that is that there are some people who may not even know where to start, to answer or respond to the first PAGENO="0030" 26 question. So the purpose of that is just to make certain. and we're going to make this public on the Spanish stations as well, that they can just call that number or go to the address that's written on the front page in terms of getting a form that is totally and completely in Spanish. I realize it's not 100 percent perfect, but we're trying the best we can, and especially this subcommittee, to make sure that every- body is reached. There will be people, in spite of everything we're doing, that are not going to be able to be reached. Mr. VILLENUEVA. Well, the Census Bureau could consider through the committee, perhaps, in terms of actually reaching the people, rather have district officers perhaps contract with community organi- zations to carry out the census, such as Northwest Rural Opportunities which is a statewide organization and has a rapport with the com- munity. Mr. GARCIA. Well, we'll have them for you. We'll have them and everyone of your organizations, as much as you want. All of that will be available to you. Let me just interrupt your testimony if I may. Mr. VILLENUEVA. That's about all I have to say. Mr. GARCIA. Before the next person speaks, if I may, the main pur- pose of what we're trying to accomplish here is not so much what you're saying here. I mean the record will be very clear. The main purpose is that those who are community leaders like yourselves and myself as the chairperson of this subcommittee is, as we leave here, because once I leave here, you people stay, this is your home, but to try and get the message to you to go back into the communities to make sure that you touch as many people as you possibly can in terms of the importance and necessity of the census. I am not satisfied with many of the things the Bureau of the Census has put forth. I've only been chairman of this &ibcommittee 1 year. I've tried to highlight the importance of the census, especially as it pertains to poor people. The problem that I have is that I get caught as the chairman of this subcommittee in a dilemma, but my dilemma, as far as Pm concerned, at this moment is for total and com- plete cooperation with the Bureau of the Census. However, once the census is completed, there's no question in my mind that they need tremendous reform. We have to reform the Bureau of the Census. It needs a great deal of work. This is a bureaucracy that has been in existence from year 1 with no continuity in terms of people monitoring it. They've had a free hand. So what we're trying to accomplish here is just to get complete cooperation. It's not perfect. I have asked that that form be mailed into areas of this country where you have a large Hispanic population, both forms, English and Spanish, and I've ran into obstacles. The test that you are talking about is a very difficult test and now I'm starting to get it from Members of Congress who represent His- panic communities throughout America, that people are failing that test., that the test is not relevant to our community. I understand this. There is a test in Spanish that's given in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, if we can incorporate that in the last 2 or 3 months in terms of enumerators for those people who feel that they cannot pass the test that is in English. PAGENO="0031" There are many problems, but I would hope that those of you who sit here as a panel leave here with the message that what we'rc trying to accomplish is that you a's the leaders go back into your coqnmunities because this census is so important, I can't even begin to tell you the impact that it's going to have on poor people `across his country over the next 10 years. That's my mission. My next mission is to work with you to reform the Bureau of the Census so that when we have the mid-decade census, if we go back to counting people, which that has not been established, that we will then have an opportunity to reform it, and I pledge to you hat I will work to reform the Bureau of the Census, but right now I am hoping that you will take the messages back to. your respective communities as to where we are right now in 1980. Mr. VILLENtTEVA. Congressman Garcia, my concern is that all these changes or all these pressures, you know, are we going to have, for actual changes, are we going to ha:ve to wait to be accounted in 1990 rather than 1980, and yes, we are going `back to our communities and we are here because we are also very concerned about being counted, but we need the cooperation from the Bureau of Census, from the districts. Mr. GARCIA. Thank you. STATEMENT OP ROMAN REYNA, IDAHO MIGRANT COUNCIL Mr. REYNA. Gentlemen, my name is Roman Reyna. I come here on behalf of the Idaho Migrant Council of Boise, Idaho. It's a community-based organization representing the migrant and sea- sonal farmworkers throughout the State. I strongly endorse the testimony iy Alice Larson, by Manuel Olivas and the remainder of the comments made by Mr. Ricardo Garcia, Senor Villeneuva. I can say no more than what they have already said because even- tually in Idaho we are dealing with the same type of problems. This week we processed 48 persons that applied for jobs with the census. They are pretested. Out of the 48, we only had 24 of them that were able to complete the test in the time period that was given to them. The test was nowhere close to what they were pretested on, and we're anxiously waiting for the results as to how many of those people will be hired for those jobs of enumerators. We decided to come here in view of the fact that we felt the census count is already on, the major problem right now is that whatever we say here would just be another testimony being on record because I don't see how can major changes be made in the short period of time that we have to take on this count. I also have to address some of the things that Villenueva said, Mr. Olivas, in reference to media. It appears that a massive number of dol- lars were given out for media advertisement. We have not seen any of those dollars in any of the media throughout the Northwest, as I understand from what my colleagues had to say here. I think that we need to continue some more massive media immediately, right now and after the census is done., to assure the counting of the migrant and seasonal farmworkers. PAGENO="0032" 28 The testimony by Ms. Larson addressed the fact that March is the tune that migrant and seasona.l farmworkers start leaving their home- town. They're going to be caught in the middle of the road, and from there until September and late in November is when they get back home, and one wonders if the migrant and seasonal farmworker is again bemg victimized by the U.S. Government process of dealing with these problems throughout the century. In closing, I say that we hope that you being there and being from the Hispanic background, you'll be able to assure us that we will have the employment of those that are needed in the community and, not only for the period of the census, but beyond that to assure that we get to all the facts that we need to. Thank you, gentleman. Mr. GARCIA. Thank you. STATEMENT OP SANTIAGO JUAREZ, NORTHWEST INSTITUTE FOR HISPANIC DEVELOPMENT Mr. J~AREZ. My name is Santiago Juarez. I'm here to testify about some issues that I think have to be addressed. When I was first invited to testify, I must say that I, with reluc- tance, said that I would probably participate and had an opportunity to talk to some of my brothers and sisters at this table before I decided to testify, and the more I talked to them, the more my reluctance was vindicated and something, such as the transcriber being in Kansas City and can't speak Spanish, sort of justifies my reluctance and vindicates my reluctance, and my reluctance was based on the idea of the incon- sistencies that exist in the Bureau, and I use the word inconsistencies because it's more palatable than hypocrisy. The hypocrisy is really. Congressman Garcia, and we're not casting stones toward you, but maybe it's an opportunity for us to sit down and look at reality and not kid ourselves about what we're doing too late. The hypocrisy that I experience is that if we were to take a body count of the minorities that died in Vietnam, of the Hispanics that died in Vietnam, they would exceed the proportionate population of the United States in terms of what they represent. When it comes to the Federal Government providing services for Chicanos, Hispanics, they have to count us to make sure we don't get more than our fair share of the pie, but when we go out to serve the Federal Government, numbers become irrelevant, when we die in Vietnam. They become irrelevant in the Department of Census. Congressman Garcia, there is in the administrative staff of the Census Bureau in Washington, D.C., not one Hispanic administrator. Of the 12 regional directors for the Bureau of Census, there's not one Hispanic. For the twelve regional census managers, there is not one Hispanic. In the whole totality of the Census Bureau, there is one GS-14 Hispanic and then the esteemed Dr. Estrada, who was hired part time as a demogra.pher. That is a historical problem with the Census Bureau. We come here to testify. We talk about the problems that we have. We know we've got those problems. Look at the makeup of the Census Bureau. I think this committee has an obligation to turn its eyesight toward that structure. It's a historical process of neglect. PAGENO="0033" 29 If there are not Hispanics in those administrative positions who are sensitive to migrants, who are sensitive to Hispanics, who are going to put pressure on their staff to make the right decisions regard- ing Hispanics, it is never going to be done. The census is not a 10-year problem. It's an ongoing problem and that Bureau has to be monitored now until the day it dies, when it no longer exists. We have the statistics on what's been happening in this region. Of the district office managers, none are Hispanic. Of the operations office supervisors in this region, none are Hispanic. Of the assistant office supervisors in this area, one is Hispanic. That's for eight States. For 8 States of the field office supervisors, out of 24 for the 8 States, only 2 are Hispanic. For the special placement office supervisors, these are the people who are going to be out counting the people on the river- beds, these are the people who are directly responsible for the mi- grants, not one is Hispanic, Congressman Garcia, and that's the reality of the situation that we face. The entire structure is permeated with this hypocrisy, and it goes on and the Department seeps itself further, entrenches itself further in the hypocrisy that is now perpetuated, and it does it by using the 1970 census for allocation of resources. I am sure that by using the 1970 census, the Department has reached its affirmative action goals, because,~ as far as the .1970 census was con- cerned, Hispanics were basically nonexistent. That was challenged by the Mexican-American Legal Defense in California and we won and we settled. I would submit to the Congress- man that if we don't do it right this time, the cost of the lawsuit and the cost of the settlement to the Federal Government will be greater in 1981. In closing, I would like ~to state that the State of Washington has taken no affirmative steps to try to rectify this problem and get an accurate count. Why? I would submit to the Honorable Congressman that, in terms of services, in terms of this State when it comes to migrant farmworkers, the farmowners are more powerful than they are in terms of whose needs must be met. There is only one complete count committee in the whole State of Washington. That is in Seattle; Wash. The State of Washington was given the opportunity to waive employment with the Census Bureau for people who are on aid to dependent children. Did they choose to do so? No. We are here to live with the census, Congressman Garcia, but I would submit to the honorable committee that this is not a 10-year problem; as I stated, it's an ongoing problem that if we are going to have an accurate count, justice must be done at looking at this historical problem and the historical problem that exists within the Census Bureau. We do not have to be sensitized, the people who sit at this board. They are sensitive enough. Who has~ to be sensitized to the importance of the census and to the people who have died, if they choose to serve them as we have served them, is the Census Bureau, and that is the message that I was reluctant to give. Thank you. 66-270 0 - 80 - PAGENO="0034" 30 Mr. LOWRY. Excellent statement. I'd like to ask a few questions. I'm familiar with the field offices here in Seattle and both the north and south field office, whatever the correct. term is, and there's a specific difference between those and the field offices in central Washington, which moved more into the undocumented worker prob- lem on down the line. We do have, we concentrated very hard in our field offices here for more adequate racial minority supervisory positions. We have a significant number in the field office that the Seventh Congressional District happens to be in, over 50 percent are. In fact, off the top of my head, I think it's 60 or 70 percent. Mr. JUAREZ. I appreciate that, but I think what we're talking about if we're talking about a patronage system, you have to talk, you know, we are fortunate that we have you in the seventh district and I think we recognize that, but in Yakima, in other areas where we do not have the political strength, where we have been systematically excluded since day one, since Chicanos walked on the face of the Earth, in Yakima, how do we expect a political patronage system which system- atically excludes us to try to include us in field supervisory positions? Mr. LOWRY. Actually, that's the question I was going to get to. I just wanted to make sure that we at least knew that in this area, Asian, black, we've been trying to improve this historical problem. In the field offices that would serve the primary agricultural areas of central Washington, eastern Washington, what is the supervisory position count? Mr. JUAREz. I gave you that for the whole State. Field office super- visors, there are only two in the whole eight-State region, and those two, if I'm not mistaken, are here in Seattle. Mr. LOWRY. So, in other words, you're saying it's zero? Mr. JUAREz. It's zero. It's zero there. It's zero in Idaho. It's zero in Montana. It's zero in the eight States that we cover, and the eight States that we cover are Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, North Dakota., Montana., and Alaska. For those eight States there are only two, and they're here in Seattle. There's none in Yakima. There's none in Oregon. There's none in Idaho, and they all have migrants. Mr. LOWRY. That is of the field office supervisory positions, of which there are some five to eight major positions, as I recall. Mr. JUAREZ. No. Of the field office supervisory positions, there are 24 for the 8 States; 21 of those have been filled. Mr. LOWRY. You're talking about one of the five to eight positions in each field office.. When I said five to eight positions, I wasn't zeroing in on just that one position, I was talking- Mr. JuAiu~z. Yes; I'm talking about all of them. I'm talking about district office supervisor. I'm talking about special placements officer. I'm talking about assistant office operations supervisor. I'm talking about office ope.rations supervisor. I'm talking about all those positions. Of the whole eight-State region, in all those areas, there are only three Hispanics in the whole eight States. Mr. LOWRY. Obviously, we want to work on that specifically in the areas where there's a large population of minority people, and in many of these areas, that's what you're speaking to. Alice, would there be a way to handle this problem of the 7 months of the migratory farmworkers being here but being counted in Texas PAGENO="0035" 31 or another State? I mean, should that question be asked different? Should the question be asked, "What percentage of your employment do you spend where ?" I think that's where the big problem is because we're not going to get that money for those farmworkers. Ms. LARSON. I have talked to Census Bureau officials about this problem, and the ones I have mentiOned it to feel that we need a special survey designed specifically around the problems we have counting migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Nobody now collects accurate data on this group because we do not know how to do it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor specifically excludes farmworkers in their calculations for the same reasons the Census Bureau has problems collecting farm- worker data. Census Bureau officials do feel they can collect farmworker data, but they feel it would take a special survey, because you have to ask travel pattern information, and y,u have to survey throughout the farmworker season to get accurate information. Mr. GARCIA. If I may, to you, Alice, and to Manuel, we held a hear- ing in Austin, Tex., and we had the people from Little Rock, Ark., who handled the central computer dealing with migrant labor children education, and they seemed to have a very updated system, probably a system that is as updated as any in terms of the movement of mi- grant workers to where they go, what time of the year they're there, but their main function, obviously, is to deal with schoolchildren, and I found that fascinating that that computer should be located in Little Rock, Ark. I spent a couple of hours with the person who is in charge of that computer center who seemed to be extremely sensitive. This probably will not give us 100 percent in terms of migrant movement, but there must be some formula that we would be able to use as it relates to the movement of children of migrant laborers and where they're going to be, and the reason for that is a very obvious one. The States in which these children are going to be during that period of time have to be reimbursed to the point where they are at least getting the moneys that they need to take care of these children. Do you know anything about that, the migrant laborer and the computer in Little Rock, Ark., and as it relates to at least one system where there is accuracy as to the movement of migrant laborers? MS. LARSON. It is my feeling, from the research 1 have done, that this is the best farmworker data system that exists, basically because migrant education is funded according to the number of migrants identified. So they have extensive outreach programs, and Manuel is a representative of that program here in Washington. Mr. GARCIA. Right. Can't we draw from that? Mr. OLIvAs. There are a couple of problems. One is that we only deal with those particular States and districts that wish to implement a migrant educ.ation program. Not all districts wish to do so. There are migrant children in the State of Washington now that are not being served by school districts simply because the district does not want to, at that particular time, be burdened with an additional Federal program. The information that is housed in the computer in Little Rock, Ark., is of a national scope. Unfortunately, it only deals with those children that go into a school district academic program. It does not deal with PAGENO="0036" 32 pre-school children, oniy here in the State of Washington. It does not deal with dropouts. It does not deal with extended family. It does not deal with other adults. So, yes, you can get a feeling for the migration patterns of particular groups; however, the information that is garnished from this particu- lar system would not be appropriate or true. The other problem that you have is that you have the protection of the Privacy Act that is very, very strongly adhered to by the MSRTS system. They will not open the records to you. They will give on in- formation which may or may not be accurate. The other thing that must be considered is the fact that not all migrant programs in the Nation are a~s conscientious about identifying and documenting migrant children into that system. So you do have that problem. The other issue that I want to address before closing is the fact that you made a couple of statements. One is that we as leaders need to go out and cooperate. I think it's the other way around. We are ready to cooperate and there is documentation to that effect. The problem is that the census needs to cooperate with us. The other is that these migrant individuals are here in April. If the census does not take appropriate steps, these people are not going to be counted. The other thing that you need to consider is that there are about and I'm being very, very conservative, 30 to 40 percent of the migrant population that comes into our State that is illiterate in both English and Spanish. So, the sending out of a form is going to be irrelevant. They're not going to deal with it. If the recommendations that were made here today of communicat- ing with community-based organizations is adhered to, there's a very good possibility that we can get a large percentage of this population. Mr. GARCIA. Just a couple more questions, if I may. You mentioned, Mr. Reyna, about the number of people who have taken the test in Boise and you're awaiting a response on how many people passed. The Bureau of the Census is here with us today, and I'm going to ask them to respond to that and give us the statistics. Dr. Ferber, would you have those answers? Dr. FERBER. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I. confess, to some amazement, Boise has got to be one of the highest in office. As of the most recent statistics, which was 154,000 tested nationally, in the Boise office, 213 people were tested and 203 passed for a passing grade of 85.3 percent. 1~fr. GARCIA. So, in other words, if 24 people-did you say 24 people took the test? Mr. REYNA. There were 48. Mr. GARCIA. So, in other words, if you've 212 that have taken it and your 48 are included, then you can go back and give the word that the overwhelming majority of those people passed that test. `Would that be fair, Dr. Ferber? Dr. FERBER. It certainly would be. Mr. VILLENUEVA. That doesn't mean that they're going to be hired; rioht? ~V[r. GARCIA. Well, that's the next step. The next step is that we will ask the Bureau of Census when they-see, they're the last to testi- fy because it's important that they hear your testimony so that then I PAGENO="0037" 33 can ask them questions to respond to what it is that you people have testified before us today. I think that's good news for Boise, and I'm delighted that as many people passed as you have stated. Mr. JtJAREz. Congressman Garcia, do the statistics on testing of the Census Bureau indicate whether there were Hispanics that failed or not? Mr. GARCIA. Well, we're going to ask that question, but look, if 213 took the test and 203 passed and 48 of those were Chicanos or His- panic, that means that the overwhelming majority of those people passed the examination. Just a couple more questions. Let's see. Where are we? Just let me say to you, Mr. Santiago, more a statement as opposed to a question, the Bureau of the Census has never been monitored by the U.S. Congress, never. The Bureau of the Census and the Census Subcommittee has never been, and I always get a kick out of this when I say, the sexy subcommittee as subcommittees go in the U.S. Congress. Nobody has really cared about the census, and it doesn't matter whether you're from the minority community or the majority community. Nobody has ever cared because it's never been a subcom- mittee that has lent any prestige to any Member of Congress. One thing I can assure you, Mr. Santiago, is that there are two parts of this subcommittee, census and population, and both of them affect the minority communities very, very closely: population, as it pertains to people who are coming into the United States, and census, as it pertains to the ongoing process of counting Americans. I, if am reelected to the U.S. Congress, will maintain my chairman- ship of the Census Subcommittee and I will stay in this subcommittee as chairman of this subcommittee as long as it takes to reform the bu- reaucracy of the Bureau of the Census. But I will tell you, Mr. Santiago, it's very difficult to reform bu- reaucrats, very, very difficult. It's probably among the hardest proc- esses that I have ever gone through, and I have been in elective office now 15 years, as a State senator in my State and as the minority lead- er of the State senate, as well as being a Member of the U.S. Congress. We may make the laws, but the people who have to implement them are yet something else, and it takes a great deal to move, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I just wish I had an answer for you that I could say, I wish they would run for public office and get a sense and a feel of what it is, the constant pressures, so that we can move things faster. I'm not saying that all bureaucrats fall into that category, but many of them do. They're more concerned about the security of where they're coming from and everything else, and I have no quarrel or argument with that. I think there's a certain sensitivity that comes to people, you know, when you call an agency, whether it be at the city-and the city bureaucrats are as bad as the State bureaucrats and as bad as the Federal bureaucrats. Nobody has the franchise on it. I say that to you only because I just think it's important. Just to sum up, because there is another panel coming behind you, in 1960 and 1970, there was no place that said Hispanics, on the short form. This is the first year that we're really going to get a count as to who in this country is of Hispanic background, and I think that's PAGENO="0038" 34 got to make) a big difference for Hispanics across America as people view us, and so I woiild hope that this census of 1980 would be more reflective of giving a better picture of all Americans, of all Americans, as opposed to being something that we leave people out. In closing, with that statement., 1970 was a. difficult year because it wasn't just the Bureau of the Census fault.. We had the wa.r in Vietnam. There wa.s civil unrest in this country. Cities were burning and people just didn't give, a. damn about. Government. I'm not saying they give that much of a. damn today. but it was a very difficult period in 1970 for us, and so many people just turned their back a.nd sa.id: The hell with it. We don't want to participate. They just walked away. This year we've got to get on t.hat boat because if we don't get on, we're in deep trouble. I thank each of you very much for being with us. Mr. RICARDO GARCIA. Could I say just one last word, Congressman Garcia? Mr. ROBERT GARCIA. Please. Mr. RIOARDO GARCIA. In Texas many yea.rs ago there used to be the system of le scala. When somebody died, le sea.las were circulated and the whole community knew about the person that died. I think that the issue of dissemination of information, we would like to impress that we need some assistance. We're ready to dissemi- nate information and we're ready to go out with a system of le scala wherever the Chicanos live and not announce the death of something, of someone, but announce that there is something new, you know, and tha.t it is important that we all participate. We need that understanding from the Census Bureau, the dissemina- tion of information which is relevant, either to the pamphlets that we could deliver- Mr. ROBERT GARCIA. You have my total cooperation in terms of the statements that the six of you have made here. As to the future of the Bureau of the Census, you've got my cooperation. I would just ask you to have faith and trust in me. Let's work on this thing. Let's count everybody we can, for your good, as well as for the entire community. Mr. RICARDO GARCIA. We'll do it. Mr. OLIVAS. Congressman Garcia, one question. Maybe I'm ask- ing the wrong person, but are there any moneys above and beyond for the census that they might be able to use to develop an advei~tisement that would be addressing- Mr. ROBERT GARCIA. As of this moment, Manuel, I can tell you that I don't know of any, as of this moment. Thank you all very much. Mr. VILLENUEVA. Just one more question. There will be families that will be receiving more than two? I see that this only has for seven places. Mr. GARCIA. Well then, you ca.n get two forms and just continue, and if you need more than two, we'll give you three forms, or as many as you need. Mr. Lowny. Could we have our next pa.nel. For people, so they could figure their schedule, if it's all right with you, Mr. Chairman, I'm going to suggest tha.t we complete this panel and we come back at 1:15. That's a very short lunch hour. We will PAGENO="0039" 35 complete this panel and we will break for what will be about one-half hour and we will try to reconvene with the next panel at 1 :15. STATEMENT OP DIANE WONG, WASHINGTON STATE ADVISORY COMMISSION ON ASIAN-AMERICAN AFFAIRS Ms. WONG. Good afternoon. My name is Diane Wong and I'm the executive director of the Wash- ington State Commission on Asian-American Affairs. The commission was established by the State legislature in about 1973, and we were given the responsibility of enhancing the lives of Asian-Pacific-Americans in Washington. *Tn carrying out this responsibility, the commission has worked with many different Asian-Pacific-American communities through- out the State and we have also worked with different governmental agencies on all different levels. My purpose here today is to provide you with a short overview of the Asian-Pacific-American population in Washington State and the ef- fect of the census on that population. I'm going to concentrate primarily on the areas outside of Seattle- Tacoma, because there are people here who will either testify today or will provide written testimony about Seattle-Tacoma. I've heard from some of the Asian-Pacific-Americans in the Tacoma area. They are unable to make it today because of the snow. Pio Decano is the director of the Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center in Pierce County serving region 10. He was going to be speaking about bilingual education, the effect of the census on bilingual people. Bob Yama~hita is the director of the Tacoma Community House and lie will be providing testimony about the Indochinese refugees in Pierce County. Herman Vargas is with the Asian-American Alliance and he will provide testimony about wives of, 13.5. military and other Asian- Pacific-Americans in Pierce County. Generally, Asian-Pacific-Americans can be found throughout the State. It's estimated there are about 70,000 of us in Washington right now. The major concentration is in~ King County whinh, according to estimates based on 1970 census data, is about 42,200. The next largest concentration is in Pierce County, with an esti- mated population of 7,500. There are also large numbers in Spokane, 2,900; Kitsap-Bremerton, 2,500; Snohomish, 1,800; Yakima, 1,050; and Clark County-Vancouver area, 1,250. While the estimates in King County may be fairly accurate because there are people doing continuous collection of data, the figures rep- resenting the other counties are extremely inaccurate. For instance, current estimates from people worki~ng in the community in Pierce and Kitsap Counties have estimated that their population is at least twice the figures that are projected from the 1970 census data. Pierce County, for example, estimates that their population is at least 20,000. The esti- mate based on 1970 census data is 7,500. Although we have not seen specific figures for Spokane, Clark, and Thurston Counties, for instance, we feel that the situation is pretty much the same in those areas. PAGENO="0040" 36 The great disparity in estimates versus actual population can be traced back t.o severai problems. First,t.he 1970 ceiisus data did not. 1)rovicle a. mechanism by which to include data regarding non-English-speaking persons. You've already heard this morning how the census systematically excluded Spanish-speaking persons. Tha.t same census systematically excluded persons who spoke various Asian-Pacific languages, including Chinese, Japanese, all the various Filipino dialects, Indochinese, Korean, and the Pacific Islander community. The 1970 census did not have bilingual enumerators, did not have bilingual census assistance centers. and also did not do aggressive community outreach. The second reason for the disparity in estimates versus actual pop- ulation figures is that the census, in seeking out Hispanics through the 1970 Spanish surname approach, included many Filipinos whose surnames were Spanish but whose heritage was Asian-Pacific- American. Third, the prolections based on the 1970 data did not take into account the rapid population growth through immigration. In 1965, immigration laws, which had heretofore worked against the reunifi- cation of Asian families, were liberalized. Subsequently, large num- bers of Chinese and Filipinos began to enter the United States, and families were once again permitted to flourish. Following those two ethnic groups, there have also been large numbers of Koreans and Pacific Islanders who have immigrated into this country. Washington State now has about the fourth largest Asian-Pacific-American population in the country. In 1975, with the change in the Vietnamese Government, many Indochinese began to resettle in America, comprised of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, and others. The Indochinese have been enter- ing this State at about the rate of about 500 to 700 a month. This makes Washington the fourth largest resettlement State, also. These new immigrants are resettling throughout the State, and they're joining the already established Japanese and Chinese communities. The figures which do exist raise the questions about the size of the Asian-Pacific-American population; however, because of the way in which the information was collected and the type of information collected, the figures also show that the characteristics based on the 1970 census data are very skewed. The information that was collected in 1970 reflects only the infor- ma.tion gathered from people who could speak English, so we have a very strange and inaccurate picture of the Asian-Pacific-American population in terms of education levels, economic levels, job levels, and socia.l characteristics. For instance, it inaccurately depicts Asian-Pacific-Americans as having all made it, succeeded, or somehow assimilated into this cul- ture. It fails to isolate factors, such as limited English skills and lack of job training opportunities, and from the work that our commission has done throughout the State, we know tha t this picture, this success- ful Asian-Pacific-America.n population, it's not a real picture at all. I do have suggestions for improving the census. It includes aggres- sive community education by persons who know the community. It's PAGENO="0041" 37 too easy to hire someone who does not know the resources that are available, the people, the community leaders, and there's not enough time. Usually, the people who are hired to provide community educa- tion or some type of outreach are hired just a few months before the census actually takes place. That's much too late. We also need to establish bilingual and multilingual census assist- ance centers, especially in the community. Right now, many of the community groups that we work with are asking, is there going to be anybody available to provide answers to questions that their clients come up with, and right now we've been able to say no. We need to build into the census questionnaire more complete ques- tions regarding the ethnic origin of Asian-Pacific-Americans. I'd say about two to three times a week we receive questions from the various governmental agencies about the ethnic breakdown of Asian-Pacific- Americans and education and economics in employment. We don't have it. We even get questions from the State's own statistical infor- mation-gathering agency. Mr. GARCIA. Have you seen the form? S Ms. WONG. No, I'm not. Mr. GARCIA. And you're not satisfied with the breakdown? Mr. WONG. No, I'm not. Mr. GARCIA. Where is it, in terms of Asian-Americans, that you feel we may have left out? Ms. WONG. Well, I think that some of the categories are more com- plete now than they were in the 1970 census data; however- Mr. GARCIA. Can I read to you what we see here? Ms. WONG. Sure. Mr. GARCIA. You've got Japanese, you've got Chinese, you've got Filipino, you have Korean, Vietnamese, Asian-Indian, Hawaiian, Guamanian, Samoan, Eskimo, Aleut, and then at the bottom it says others. Of the form, the form that takes up the most space in terms of ethnicity is that area as it pertains to Asian people, for the most part. Ms. WONG. Right. Mr. GARCIA. Do you think that-I'm serious about this because I was in Thai not too long ago, up in some of the refugee camps, and I met with some of the Mongs and we had a chance to-how is it possible that we're going to be able to, in a census form, include, you know, just about Cambodians and Vietnamese and Mongs, the whole host of-I would love to have the information because I just think it's important to us, but from a practical sense-~and then you take the long form which deals specifically with the whole question of what is a person's ancestry, and then you deal here, Diane, and you go into a whole series and you can put anything you want, obviously. This goes to one out of six families, the long form, it's really cumbersome. When they say a long form, they mean just that. In this area, it seemed to me that that was one of the areas that we covered pretty well. While not complete, it was probably as complete as any other classification in terms of Asian-Americans. Ms. WONG. I think that you're right. The classification in this par- ticular census form is much more complete than the prior one; how- ever, because of the relative small numbers in each of the various ethnic groups, it might be better to do a complete type of census count as opposed to a random sample. S PAGENO="0042" 38 My primary problem with many of these forms is that they're only in English, and right now there is no number that a non-English- speaking person who speaks Ohinese, Tagalog, or Korean can call for information on how to fill out the census. I don't know how true it is, but I've heard that in the 1970 census, because there were no bilingual enumerators, if the.y came across a family that did not speak English, oftentimes they would just leave, and I don't want to see that happen again. Mr. GARCIA. No. I agree. Ms. WONG. I think that it's very important, also, that we do hire multilingual enumerators. I have been discussing the test and the em- ployment of enumerators with some of the people involved in the hir- ing for the census. The test seems to be doing a terrific job of keeping minorities out, especially bilingual minorities. For instance, the passing score for enumerators is about 21. In order to get a higher level position, such as a clerk, you have to have a score of 26. Mr. GARCIA. What makes you say that the testing is keeping bilin- gual minorities out? Ms. WONG. I have some statistics here for you. The white applicants who are over 60 years of age, about 40 percent are gaining scores of over 26. That enables them to be not only enumerators, but also clerks. For white applicants under 60, almost 90 percent are getting scores of over 26. For minority applicants, however, those over 60, only 25 percent are getting scores over ~26. That's compared to the white population of 40 percent who are passing. For minorities under 60, this is even worse; less than 40 percent are gaining scores over 26, and for white applicants under the age of 60, that's 90 percent gaining scores over 26. Mr. GARCIA. Those are very interesting statistics. Ms. WONG. I will provide them to you. It's very, very disturbing, especially when there's a lot of press right now about how the census is trying- Mr. GARCIA. Diane, excuse me. Where did you get those figures? Ms. WONG. I got them from some of the people who work in the census office, and I don't feel free right now to say their name. Mr. GARCIA. That's fine. Ms. W0NG. But it is from within the census office. Mr. GARCIA. Well, I'm sure the Bureau of Census wouldn't want to hide anything like that. Ms. WONG. I have been assured by the persons that I talked, with that in evaluating the applicants, they are supposed to include not only the test scores, but also whether or not that person is indigenous to the area and whether or not that person is familiar with the various cultures within that area. The test scores are only the third factor to count, and I think that it's very important that persons who are doing the hiring of enumerators, they must know that support for this type of priority, familiarity of the culture and whatever, comes from the top. As long as they dont' feel that there's support for this type of evaluation, they're not going to do it. Mr. Lowny. Diane, within our field offices, is it the field office super- visors that are doing the hiring? In other words, if we can get right PAGENO="0043" 39 down to identification of who is really doing the hiring, we might be able to have some positive effects on~this question. Ms. WONG. I think that the people doing the hiring in your district are doing all right, but they're really stymied by the test. Mr. LOWRY. This is the supervisory people in the field offices that are doing the hiring? Ms. WONG. Right. I think the test is the thing that we really need to get to. It's provided only in English and it doesn't give enough weight to people who are bilingual. In closing, I'd just like to say that it's more important now than ever to recognize the diversity of people in this country. A more complete and accurate census will give us documentary proof of this, and it also makes the job of our commission a lot easier. Thank you very much. Mr. GARCIA. Diane, I want to thank you very much. I thought your testimony was right on target. That's what we've been preaching, and I'm glad you got the figures. We're going to get the figures from every testing across the country in the next couple of weeks. We're going to ask for them. Ms. WONG. Thank you very much. Mr. GARCIA. Thank you. [The statement follows:] PAGENO="0044" 40 Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Census and Population February 15, 1980 Mt. Zion Baptist Church Seattle, Icashington By: Diane Yen-Mei Kong, Executive Director Commission on Asian American Affairs Good morning, My name is Diane Yen-Mci Kong, and I am the Executive Director of the Washington State Commission on Asian American Affairs. The Commission was established by the State Legislature in 1973, and given the charge of enhancing the lives of Asian Pacific Americans in Washington. In carrying out this responsibility, the Commission has advised department directors, the Governor's Office and various other government officials. The Commission has also worked with many different Asian Pacific American CAPA) communities throughout the state, My purpose here today is to provide you with a short overview of the state's APA population, especially in the counties outside of the Seattle/Tacoma areas. Persons from both of those areas will be submitting testimony about their problems and concerns. Because of the snow today, the three people from Pierce County will not be able to attend this hearing. Dr. Pie Dc Cano, Director of the Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Center, Region X, will submit testimony about the bilingual issues of the Census and will also focus on the effect of the Census on Bilingual Education. Robert Yamashita, Director of the Tacoma Community House will discuss the resettlement of Indochinese refugees in the Pierce County area, with a particular focus on the problems of obtaining information from this segment of the APA community. The last speaker from Pierce County was to be Elizabeth Dunbar, Director of the Asian American Alliance. Her testimony will include discussion of the APAs in that county, the large increase in the immigrant population and also on wives of U.S. military men. Generally, APAs reside throughout the state of Washington. According to the official state projections, based on 1970 Census data, there are about 70,000 APAs in Washington. The major concentration is in King County, which according to the state's own estimates, has a population of about 42,200 APAs. The next largest concentration is in Pierce County, which has an official estimated APA population of 7,500. There are also large numbers in Spokane County C2,900); Kitsap County (2,500); Snohomish County (1,800); Clark County (1,250); Yakima County Cl,05D); and Thurston County (970). These numbers are quite deceptive, however. While the figures for King County may be more or less valid, those for the other counties are extremely inaccurate. Community groups in Pierce and Kitsap Counties, for example, estimate that the actual population in those areas is at least twice the state's official 1970 Census projections. PAGENO="0045" 41 Although the Commission has not had the opportunity to discuss with community leaders the question of the APA populations in their respective counties, it is fairly certain that the situation is likely to be similar: actual figures greatly exceed any official projections. Several problems have contributed to the great disparity between official and unofficial population estimates. First, the 1970 Census did not provide a mechani-sm by which to collect and incorporate data regarding non-English speaking persons, including APAs. More specifically, there were no bilingual enumerators. Neither were there any bilingual census assistance centers. Not all persons who are to be counted in the Census can speak or understand English. Second, the 1970 Census, in its quest to determine the numbers of Hispanics in the c6untry, developed an approach which counted all persons with Spanish surnames as Hispanics. This approach resulted in inclusion of many Filipinos whose surnames were of Spanish origin, but whose heritage and community ties were Asian Pacific American. There has been no way to distinguish these Filipinos from Hispanics. Third, projections based on 1970 data do not adequately take into account the rapid population growth through immigration. In 1965, immigration laws which had heretofore worked against the reunification of APA families were finally liberalized. Subsequently, large numbers of Chinese and Filipinos began to enter the U.S. and families were once again allowed to flourish. Following those two ethnic groups, there have been large numbers of Koreans and Pacific Islanders who have settled here -in this country. In 1975, with the change in the government of Vietnam, many Indochinese began to resettle in America. Comprised of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, 1-Imong and others, the Indochinese have been entering this state at a rate of about 500 - 700 a month. With this immigration rate, Washington has become the fourth largest resettlement state in the nation. Fourth, many APAs are immigrants. Regardless of whether they are in compliance with immigration laws regarding their status, they fear that any information which they give to the federal government will somehow be turned and used against them. The fact that the Bureau of the Census has not had any breaches of confidentiality is of no avail to a community which has not received adequate, comprehensible information about the Census and the unavailability of the Census information to other departments of the federal governmental institutions. Those population figures which do exist not only raise questions of the size of the APA population. In addition, because of the way in which informotion is collected, only those respondents with sufficient English skills to answer the survey were included in the Census data. This has resulted in PAGENO="0046" 42 imcomplete and inaccurate information which has skewed, and continues to skew, the picture of the APA population in terms of education level, income level, employment and other social characteristics. One of the very damaging images which has arisen from the incomplete data depicts the APA population as having made it, as having succeeded, as having assimilated. The image fails to consider factors such as limited English skills, lack of job training and opportunities, and limited access to social and health services at all levels. From our Commission's work with APA communities and with local social service agencies, it is exceedingly clear that this image is wrong: we have not all succeeded. Rather, the APA community faces severe problems which are increasing due to the neglect that stems from the resistance of funding sources to accept the reality of the problems. The Commission has several suggestions for improving the 1980 Census in the APA community. First, the Bureau must make community education a high priority. Because of the common fear that poor people and people of color have of the government, the entry of official census takers, or even the receipt of a census survey, will likely cause a large portion of the non-English speaking population to refuse to cooperate. To overcome this, the Bureau must conduct aggressive and continuous education of the community. The person responsible for this task should be someone who is familiar with the community and those individuals and groups that can facilitate the census. Such an effort requires the expenditure of a great deal of time and energy. It should begin very early on in the Census process. Second, in order to provide back-up support for the community education, the Bureau should establish temporary Census assistance centers which have a multilingual capacity, and which are easily accessible to the community. Training for persons who staff these centers should include time set aside to deal with cultural differences in values and behaviours. Third, unlike the Hispanic community, there are several different ethnic groups within the APA community which do not speak common languages. Because of the relatively few numbers of persons within each of these ethnic groups, the Bureau should conduct a complete count of the APA community, rather than just a random sample. Only with more detailed information can there ever be a true picture of the APAs in this country. Fourth, the Census Bureau must hire multilingual personnel, especially enumerators and others who will be working with the public. This should include redesigning the test so that it is more culturally valid, restructuring the evaluation system for selection so that It reflects a higher value for those jiersons who speak and understand a language, other than English, which is used b~ a significant segment of the population of the area. Other factors PAGENO="0047" 43 to build into the screez~lng process include famIliarIty with the ethnic cultures of persons wfthin the area, and indigenousness to the area. Support for inclusion an,47consideration of these factors must come from the top levels and then impressed upon the persons who are conducting the hiring. At this point, I would like to cite a very concrete example of the need for change in this area. From discussion with persons who are involved in the hiring process for the Seattle area, one conclusion Is clear: the employnent test is doing a terrific job of keeping minorities, especially those whose second language is English, out of the hiring system. The passing score for an enumerator is 21; for a clerk or field supervisor, passing is 26. The following figures are based on information collected at the South District Office of the Census. This area includes all of Seattle south of Yesler Street, which includes the International District, Beacon Hill and the Rainier Valley; it also includes Southeast King County, All of these areas house large numbers of people of color and low-income people. At the South Office, applicants were given the opportunity to indicate their racial/ethnic background on a voluntary basis for affirmative action purposes, The age of the applicants was derived from the "Date of Birth" question on the application form. (Figures are approximate.) For white applicants over 60 years of age, 40% received scores of 26 or above. For minorities over 60, the corresponding figure was only 25%. For white applicants under the age of 60, almost 90% received scores of 26 or better. For minorities in that age bracket, less than 40% received scores of 26 or better. If the Bureau is actually serious about improving the data in the 1980 Census, if it is actually serious about including APAs this time around, then it must take a good look at what it is, and is not, doing. Statistics such as the ones above, while not complete, are sufficiently disturbing to raise concern in the Commission and in the communities with which we work. In closing, I would like to say that it is more important now than ever before to recognize the diversity of peoples in this country. I and the community for which I work, know that we are diverse and that we have not been included in any meaningful way in any of the prior Census-takings, This has not always been by choice. We want and need official documentary proof of our existence in this country. Without such evidence, we know that we will continue to work at a disadvantage in securing adequate funds to meet our communities' needs. Thank you for your consideration. PAGENO="0048" .44 STATEMENT OP BOB SA~NTOS, INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION Mr. SANTOS. My name is Bob Santos. I'm director of the Interna- tional District Improvement Association and we thank you for com- ing and visiting us in our State, Congressman Garcia, and for the record, we'd also like to thank Mike Lowry for the grea.t job that lie's done for us back there. A lot of the things that I was going to say, Diane Juts already said, but we are very concerned that till now the Asians have never gotten a true count. `We know that there has been a great undercount and that has been a disservice to our community, and until we receive the proper attention and recognition, we will continue to be left out of prograths set up to eliminate substandard housing conditions, inadeq,uate health care, and social services, juvenile and not-so-juvenile crime, poor edu- cation and educational opportunities, unemployiiient and under- employment. One of the things that we share with the Hispanics, I think, is what we also have a migrant population and they're called Alescaros and these are mainly Filipino, young and elderly, who migrate to the can- neries in Alaska, and we would hope that the State of Alaska does not assume that these people are counted here in the, States because the Alaska population migrates during the same months as the Hispanic population, from April through September. I am also concerned about the employment test and does that test take. into account bilingual applicants. The area thtvt I work, most of the people live in elevated housing or hotels and apartments, and many of the 1)eople, of course, do not speak English. `We have. Chinese, Japa- nese, Filipino, mostly elderly residents. It would be very hard, very difficult for any enumerator to even get into the door of many of the elderly because of the lack of trust and the normal things that elderly people are concerned with, but particularly those people who do not speak English. So we would hope that those persons who are hired, we hope that the community has some kind of a priority in the luring of enumera- tors that work in our communities. We are also concerned and would like to know whether the staff members have any cultural sensitivity training. That's very important in approaching some of our elderly non-English-speaking Asians. Lastly, I think we're concerned, very concerned about what the de- partment's confidentiality safeguards are. Mr. GARCIA. Bob, just let me interrupt. `With all the criticism of the Bureau of the Census, the one area that they have been absolute cham- pions on is the question of confidentiality. I have absolute trust in all that they have done to this point, and I am certain that that is one area that we must-I will go to bat for the Bureau of the Census. They've been super in terms of keeping the forms and all the data ab- solutely confidential. There is no agency, not even the President can get that information from the Bureau of Census. Mr. SANTO5. OK. Thank you. Mr. GARCIA. You also have a good case in point with what Diane said before. Your name, if I were to read it- Mr. SANTOS. Yes; it's a Hispanic name. PAGENO="0049" 45 Mr. GARCIA. As far as I was concerned, I'd count you as one of us, only because of the surname. Mr. SANTOS. And in the Filipino, population, we need every count. Mr. GARCIA. We'll make sure you get it. STATEMENT OP ION NAKAGAWARA, INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER Mr. NAKAGAWARA. I'm Jon Nakagawara, director of the Interna- tional District Community Health Center. `We're a community health clinic~ located in Seattle's international district, Chinatown neighborhood, serving the low-income residents of that immediate neighborhood, in addition to the Asian-Pacific Is- lander community in the greater Seattle area. I'd just like to give a brief description of our organization and cite examples of how the inadequacies of the census have affected our pro- gram. The IDCHC is a community-based nonprofit health clinic which was organized in 1975. Since that time, we have expanded our target pa- tient population to include underserved individuals from throughout the greater Seattle area, with primary emphasis on low-income, lim- ited, and non-English-speaking Asians and Pacific Islanders. I think we're very unique in that we have a bilingual capable of speaking 12 different Asian languages and dialects. Presently, 92 per- cent of our patients are Asian and Pacific Islanders and greater than 60 percent of them do not speak English as a primary language. We've got some unique experience in dealing with this community and recognize some of the cultural and linguistic factors that will limit them from participating in the 1980 census. As I said, in response to the communication and cultural needs of our target patient population, we have developed a staff with a ca- pability of speaking 12 different Asian languages and dialects. Most recently, we've had to hire new staff to respond to the health service needs of a new group of Asians, those being the Indochinese refugees. For the past year, Indochinese refugees have constituted greater than 42 percent of our visits. The undercounting of Asians in the 1970 census and the likelihood of this occurring again in 1980 have serious implications for our agency. Regarding Federal resource allocations, funding appropria- tions to Washington State have been directly related to population figures, and presently 70 percent of our agency's revenue is from the Federal Government in the form of grants from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, as well as the community develop- inent block grant program. For planning purposes, our organization has had to utilize 1970 census figures, which were 5jgfljfi~~fl~~y understated, and we found for some recent immigrant Asian groups, nonexistent. We're talking, for example, of recent immigrants and especially the Indochinese refugees. We've developed our program based on the 1970 population figures of the Asian-Pacific Islander communities and have discovered that these estimate~s were far too conservative. 66-270 0 - 80 - PAGENO="0050" 46 For 1978, we had 6,000 patient visits and projected for 1979 that we would see 7,500 visits, a 25-percent increase in patient visits. We felt that that would be a fairly optimistic planning projection, whereas in actuality, in 1979, we experienced greater than 9,200 patient visits, a 52-percent increase over 1978 levels. `What has occurred is that our staff and facility resources have become extremely strained as more and more individuals than origi- nally projected are coming to our clinic seeking health care services, and many people who need services are finding it extremely difficult to obtain care that they need. For example, our appointment schedule is now completely booked for several days in advance, leaving insuffi- cient flexibility for emergency visits or necessary followup appointments. We're also finding it difficult that residents of the immediate neigh- borhood for whom our clinic was originally intended are finding it difficult to even obtain visits because of the additional workload our clinic is experiencing. Also, currently, there's a 5-week waiting period for a physical examination, and that's causing quite a backlog. In addition, other~ health agencies in the community have not ade- quately responded to the increased Asian-Pacific Islander population, partially because of the inaccuracy of the 1970 census. This, too, has impacted our own particular clinic because of the fact that we have a bilingual staff and this staff is constantly being requested to intervene and provide interpretation assistance for non-English- speaking agents at local hospitals and private physician offices. As I stated, many of these requests are for services to Indochinese refugees. With increases in immigration of Asian-Pacific Islanders, particu- larly among the refugees, the 1980 census will, in all probability, result in another serious undercount. The language and cultural bar- riers are the most significant reasons why Asian and Pacific people will not be able to effectively participate and respond. Hopefully, what I have told you today has given you a little bit of information on the. immediately adverse impacts of the situation and will enable the Bureau of the Census to develop better methods to more accurately count Asians and Pacific Islanders in this year's census. Thank you. Mr. LowRy. I think we just missed, the city of Seattle just missed having a community services office by about 10,000 people. I mean it can easily add up, just the numbers you just talked about, and we've got more than 10,000 in the city of Seattle. Your point, we need to have a bilingual, at least a phone number and an advertising system of some sort by which people can call and com- municate and get answers from people that can handle the questions correctly, back to the census. Ms. WONG. And it's going to have to be multilingual. Mr. LowRy. You're right.. multilingual. Mr. GARCIA. Have all of you been contacted by the community service representatives? INo response.] Mr. GARCIA. You haven't. I have found, overall, the community serv- ice reps has really been one of the most important functions of the PAGENO="0051" 47 Bureau of the Census, and I'm really going to encourage expansion of that program because that's probably one of the most positive things that has come out, the ongoing dialog that doesn't start the day before, but it started quite some time ago, tO start to alert community groups. You have a smile, Diane. Why is that? Ms. WONG. I think it was supposed to have started a long time ago, but I think in many instances it did not start a long time ago. Mr. GARCIA. Oh, I understand. I don't mean a long time; about 1 year ago they kicked off. Ms. WONG. Well, I think even 1 month ago it probably, in many cases, did not start. Mr. SANTO5. I think that one of the problems we're going to face is that there are several agencies, John's agency and Diane's and Interim and ACRS, and most of the people, when they get material in the mail and they don't understand it, they're going to be running to our office and we're going to be caught up doing the census. Mr. GARCIA. Terrific. The more you fill out, the more I'm going to appreciate your efforts, Bob. Mr. SANTOS. Yes, but is there anyway that we could get compen- sated, because we have a lot of other work to do, too. Mr. GARCIA. You'll get compensated. Mr. SANTOS. I think there should be a little flexibility, because in hotels there are lobby areas and there are agencies that have space, and if some of the testing or if the enumerators could be in one spot and persons brought down in some kind of an order, that might help. Mr. GARCIA. Just let me say one other point, if I may. One of the last trial, the last trial census was taken in the city of New York in the area of Manhattan called south of Houston Street, spelled the same as the city of Houston, and that's where our Chinatown is. What we found very interesting about that was that there were people there who were noncitizens, Chinese noncitizens, who eventually got to work for the Bureau of the Census because they found that they needed them. I just use that and leave that with you in terms of Asian-Americans here on the west coast, that, you knbw, it has been done in New York. It was done during a trial census. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you. The subcommittee will recess until 1 :30. [Whereupon the subcommitte recessed at 12 :30 p.m., to reconvene at 1 :30 p.m.] AFTERNOON SESSION Mr. GARCIA. The next panel will be special issues. Katherine Rickey, past chairperson of the Planning Council on Aging; Gundjorg Sand- vick, League of Women Voters; John Gilden, Displaced Homemakers Network; Paul Dziedzic, Governor's Commission on the Handicapped Dan Haley, independent living evaluation project, University of Washington; and Anne Waltz, Washington Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities. Mr. LowRY. Thank you very much for coming. Katherine, wi'1 you lead off? PAGENO="0052" 48 STATEMENT OF KATHERINE RICKEY, SEATTLE-KING COUNTY COUNCIL, DIVISION OF AGING Ms. RIOKEY. I was introduced as Katherine Rickey, the vice chair- man of the Seattle-King County Council Division on Aging. This group is an advisory group to the area agency on aging for the Seattle- King County area, and I am really speaking on their behalf rather than the council at this moment. We have a real concern about the aging, how to reach them, how to bring services to them, and we are very anxious that this census be a great success, because what the census is able to accomplish will enable us to do better work in our community. I want to discuss some of our ideas relative to how to reach these elderly and the role that the Seattle-King County Division on Aging will offer to play in this effort. The census should target in its outreach effort about four special groups of people: the minority elderly; the household elderly; the single-resident occupant-those are the people who are living in hotel rooms downtown or maybe even in the cardboard boxes under the bridges here in Seattle; and, of course, there are the elderly who are geographically isolated. The minority populations have never been adequately counted here in the Seattle-King County area. We knew that during World War II when we discovered that there were many uncounted people of Jap- anese origin in the community, whose families were taking care of them, who were not receiving any public services of any description, and they were exposed to the situation and some plans had to be made for them. Currently, apparently the same sort of a situation exists among the new-coming people in this community. They don't want to make waves, for one thing. For another, they look on government efforts as being some interference in their private lives, and some of them are really fearful of creating waves in the community. We think that there are a couple of angles that you could use. The Bureau of the Census should really work very closely with the mi- nority elderly service providers and organizations to tap into this in- formal communication network that we have in the community, and it is also imperative that the Bureau of Census employ people who are bilingual and bicultural so that the message can be carried to these organizations and to the individuals who may have some contact. We know that there is a growing Asian elderly population in the Seattle-King County area. You may have addressed these problems earlier today. I don't know. There are some 14 to 16 different cultural and language groups here in our community. This is a little different, I think, than it has been in the years past. Now, the Seattle-King County Division on Aging is willing to assist the Bureau by facilitating meetings with key minority elderly service providers and organizations in Seattle and King County. It's one thing that we can do to be of some help. Then there are the elderly who are homebound. Of the l80,000-plus persons who are 60 and older in the Seattle-King County area, it's esti- mated that some 6 to 8 percent, that is 10,000 to 14,000, are permanently homebound, and another 6 to 8 percent are partially homebound. As a PAGENO="0053" 49 matter of fact, about one-half of all he disabled individuals in King Couny are 60 or over. I think what I have to say may apply to other disabled individuals who have not reached age 60 as yet. Many of these homebound individuals are also socially isolated and are fearful of opening the door to strangers. Where to gain their con- fidence, how to make it possible for them to make a good contribution- to the census effort, I think, is a real problem. The Seattle-King County's Division on Aging outreach program specializes in dealing with this homebound aging group and would be willing to provide technical assistance and training to identify and relate effectively with the homeboun4 elderly. I spoke of the single-room occupants. We don't know how many of them there are. We just see them occasionally, but we do have some contact. It's hard to have a contact wiih them because they're transients, because of their very unusual lifestyles and some alcoholic and mental health related problems. Efforts to reach them must rely very heavily on cooperation with the central city service provideis and informal gatekeepers, you might call them, the hotel operators, for instance, emergency shelters, mis- sions, food distribution centers, taverns, pool hall proprietors, and so on. This is the best way we know of to get in touch with them. Again, the area's Division on Aging's outreach program has devel- oped some special expertise in serving this population and would be willing to provide technical assistance and training to census takers. I keep coming back to these offers but- Mr. GARCIA. Has anybody ever taken you up on them ? Ms. IRICKEY. Not yet, but maybe. We're still hoping. You see, the area agency and the Council on Aging, for that matter, are pretty self- serving about this, because if you can help us find out how many peo- pie need our services, we can then get the support to provide them for the community. Mr. GARCIA. Well, we'll make sure, before you leave today, that you're in touch with the people from the Bureau of the Census, and I'm certain that they'll be only too willing to cooperate and send whomever they have to send into your organization to give you a hand. Ms. RICKEY. Thank you very much. I want to go on and talk about the geographically isolated people. King County has better than 2,000 square miles. We need to develop a special way to meet some of these isolated people. We rely on the informal support groups, such as churches, volunteer fire departments, evergreen clubs, granges, and so on and again are offering through our outreach program to assist the Bureau in making these appprO- priate contacts. I can mention our senior centers for the seniors who are able to get out. They can be reached through that mechanism, and we have the contact there to facilitate such meetings between the Bureau of Census and the senior centers and service providers in the community. In c1osing, I would like to encourage very strongly the Bureau of Census to employ as many older workers as possible to be paid to con- duct the census. This is an opportunity to positively fight age dis- criminatiom which is so pervasive in our society. Thank you for this opportunity. Mr. Lowi~~. Katherine, thank you very much. [The complete written statement of Ms. Rickey follows:] PAGENO="0054" 50 Seattle-King County Planning Council on Aging 400 YESLER BUILDING * SEATTLE, WA 98104 * (206) 625-4711 February 15, 1980 TO: Congressional Oversight Committee on the United States Census FROM: Katherine Rickey, Vice-Chair of the Seattle-King County Division on Aging's Planning Council The purpose of my testimony today is to stress the importance of a vig- orous outreach effort to ascertain the actual number of older persons here in Seattle/King County and in communities throughout this county. In the remainder of my testimony, I will discuss some ideas on how to reach the elderly and the role that the Seattle/King County Division on Aging is willing to play in assisting the U.S. Census Bureau's efforts to contact older persons residing in this area. I believe that the Census Bureau should target the outreach effort toward minority elderly, the housebound elderly, single resident occu- pants (SROs), and elderly who are geographically isolated. 1. Minority Elderly Minority populations have never been adequately counted in the census. Cultural and language barriers, coupled with a suspicion of government, make this a particularly difficult population to contact. The concept of census is also an entirely new experience for many Asian people recently immigrated to this country. These factors are often more acute within the minority elderly population. Mailed census questionnaires are fraught with difficulties due to literacy problems. Questionnaires and instructions should be trans- lated into other major languages, such as Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean, Laotian, and so forth. What is needed is an extensive door-to-door canvassing effort. For this outreach to be effective, it is critical that the Bureau of Census work closely with minority elderly service providers and organizations to tap into the informal communication networks in order to reach this population. It is also imperative that the Bureau of Census have bilingual and bicultural staff to reach and assist the minority elderly populations. For instance, there is a growing Asian elderly population in the Seattle/King County area representing 14 to 16 different cultural and language backgrounds. The Seattle/King County Division on Aging is willing to assist the Bureau by facilitating meetings with key minority elderly service providers and orcianizations in Seattle and King County. 2. Homebound Elde~]y Of the 180,000 or more persons 60+ in Seattle/King County, it is estimated that 6 to 8% (10,800 to 14,400) are permanently homebound and another 6 to 8% are partially homebound. Many of the homebound elderly are isolated from the community and are suspicious of persons coming to their homes and apartments. PAGENO="0055" 51 The Seattle-King County Division on Aging's Outreach Program spec- ializes in dealing with the homebound population and would be will- ing to provide technical assistance and training to identify and to relate effectively with the homebound elderly. 3. Single Room Occupants (SROsJ Single room occupants generally r~efer to persons living alone in hotels in downtown areas. A large percentage of this population is elderly. This is also a difficult population to contact because of transience, unusual lifestyles, and alchoholic and mental health related problems. Efforts to contact the SRO population must rely heavily on cooper- ation with central city service providers and informal gatekeepers such as hotel managers, emergency shelters, missions, food distribu- tion centers, tavern and pool hall proprietors, etc. Again, the Division on Aging's oujreach program has developed special expertise in serving this population and would be willing to provide technical assistance and training, to census takers. 4. Geographically Isolated Elder]y King County has vast rural areas covering approximately 2,134 square miles. The census needs to develop special strategies to contact geographically isolated elderly relying on strong informal support and communication systems found in churches, volunteer fire depart- ments, granges, Evergreen Clubs for the elderly, and so forth. The Seattle-King County Division on Aging, especially through the Outreach Program, is familiar with these informal structures and would be willing to assist the Bureau of Census in making appropriate contacts. 5. General Elderly Population In addition to mass media strategies, it is critical to work with existing elderly service providers and organizations to seek their assistance in identifying and cOmpleting census information for the rest of the elderly population. The senior centers provide an ideal community network with 32 centers located throughout Seattle/King County to assist in the census effort. Since the funding levels for senior centers, as well as services, are tied to population-based formulae, there is positive self-interest built into employing this strategy. The centers also have the ability to recruit volunteers who might assist in contacting the harder to reach elderly and in helping them complete census forms. The Seattle-King County Division on Aging is willing to facilitate meetings between the Bureau of Census and the senior centers and service providers it funds in Seattle/King County. I would also strongly encourage the Bureau of Census to employ as many older workers as possible to be paid to conduct the census. This is an opportunity to positively fight age ~Iiscrimination which is so pervasive in our society. Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony. PAGENO="0056" 52 STATEMENT OP GUNDFORG SAND VICK, LEAGUE OP WOMEN VOTERS OP SEATTLE Ms. SANDVICK. I'm Gundjorg Sandvick, representing the League of Women \Tote~ of Seattle. While the league is represented on the complete count committee, we believe that as a community organization, it is important to us to come today to share with you both our compliment and our concerns. We commend you for having these hearings in cities across the country and providing direct communication, rather than filtering letters or telephone calls through layers of bureaucracy. They are a vital first step in meeting special regional need. The league lauds the creation of the complete count committees throughout the States, as well as the development of the National Advisory Committee. We are pleased with another first implemented this year, the use of a second language in the census questionnaire. The league encour- ages continued responsiveness to our cultural plurality. The development of carefully planned strategies to meet the special- ized needs of the transient portion of our society shows the creativity that can come from our government. League supports this responsive- ness to special needs. The League of Women Voters was founded 60 years ago with a commitment to equal representation and opportunity for all. Because of our continuing commitment, we have the following concerns: First: Every effort must be made to count all, including minori- ties. The census is not just a count; it is a reflection of our people and our needs. If the count is inaccurate, it affects the distribution of re- sources to the local areas as well as representation in government. Second: Human needs must be identified clearly before they can be met by local or national institutions; therefore, we recommend that the needs of the handicapped be identified by the census tabulation, even if that. means an addendum. We believe that this hearing process is a positive indication of the Government's intent to make the 1980 census a true reflection of our Nation's population. Our commitment to equal representation and equal opportunity for all provides support for this process. Thank you very much. STATEMENT OP MN GILDEN, REGION 10 DISPLACED HOMEMAKER NETWORK Ms. GILDEX. My name is Jan Gilden and I'm a housing resources co- ordinator for the Region in 10 Displaced Homemaker Network. Pm sure you're all wondering what a displaced homemaker is. They're mostly women about, 95 percent, and the definition of a dis- placed homemaker is a divorced, widowed, or abandoned person who has not worked in the labor force for a substantial number of years, but has, during those years, worked in the home providing unpaid serv- ices for family members, and the purpose of the Region 10 Network is to increase employment opportunities for these low-income female heads of household, to monitor Federal and State legislation involving PAGENO="0057" 53 displaced homemaker programs and to develop local, regional, and national leadership utilizing displaced homemakers. In order to obtain necessary funding for projects, to research infor- mation and to document the needs of the displaced homemaker, it is very essential that an accurate census count be taken of female-headed households under the category of displaced homemaker. Because of the high cost of housing, many displaced homemakers are forced to live in shared housing arrangements with other unrelated persons. For this reason, they may not be accurately counted in the U.S. census. A category entitled single female head of household would also be very much in order to clarify the eligibility of that person for low- income disadvantaged programs, such as CETA or HUD section 8. Low-income female heads of household, both minority and nonmi- nority, have traditionally been unrepresented in the planning docu- ments by metropolitan cities. For example, in the city of Seattle, the 1980 housing assistance plan, there is no category for female-headed households. Because cities do not have this category of female-headed households, it is extremely important that the U.S. census data have an accurate representation of this constituency, so that those of us working in advocacy positions for low-income households can docu- ment their needs for assistance. Thank you very much. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you, Jan. Mr. Ferber, on the female-head-of-household question, I notice, do we have an inaccuracy? Dr. FERBER. It's not really an inaccuracy, Congressman. There's a great deal of concern expressed from a wide variety of people. We dropped any head of household. There is no longer male or female or any. The form can be filled out by any adult within the household and anyone else listed in that family merely links in relationship to the person filing it out, be it he or she or senior child in the household. I certainly can appreciate the problem, but in an effort to address what we heard from other groups was a majority notion of "head of household" dropped that category entirely. I don't know if that will work to your disadvantage or not.. Family relationships can be clearly worked out from the form. WTe don't have, anything about anybody being "head of household" for 1984. Ms. RICKEY. Mr. Chairman, I have been oiven a question to ask. Retired Federal employees, Federal Postal ~ervice, and military are barred from census employment. Why? Mr. GARCIA. I believe that not to be true, but again, I refer to the distinguished congressional liaison for Bureau of the Census, Mr. Mark Ferber. Dr. FERBER. As a result of law, the military retired can, in fact, participate in the census at no detriment to themself. Federal civil service, under legislature concerned about so-called double dipping, prevents a civilian Federal employee retiree from drawing any money from a Federal source without having a conse- quent reduction in the amount of their annuity, and we were simply not able to work that out. Mr. GARCIA. Can I ask the three of you a question? The three of you represent organizations that have long histories. Has the Bureau of PAGENO="0058" 54 Census been in touch with you, the community advisors been in touch with you as to how you could help and participate and work with this, the census of 1980 ? The League of Women Voters? Ms. SANDVICK. We have received information on how to apply but no direct contact, other than the fact- Mr. G~cM. Well, before you leave here today, would you be kind enough to be in touch with the Bureau who work in this area, because I believe that the three of you represent groups that we really need very, very much, and if they haven't been in touch, I'm sure from this point on, they will be. Mr. Lowny. Jan, I'm very concerned about the question that you raised in addition to the other question. On our displaced homemaker programs, are Federal program funds related to a census count on "displaced homemakers"? ]\is. GILDEN. Yes; they are. CETA title 3 is a displaced homemaker program, and there is legislation that involves displaced homemakers, and in order to get more Federal programs going and more services for displaced homemakers, it's important to be able to document how many in the community are in the same region. We're having a very, very hard time with this. Mr. Lowny. I wonder if that information is available from "length of time from which paid for work." I mean, is there another category on the form, I'm not familiar with the form, that may provide that information? As you know, we're talking about a person who hasn't been paid for work for a period of time. Is there anyway that can be extracted? Mr. MARTIN. The long form has the work history. The short form does not. Mr. LowRI'-. So if you had the long form, you would have, there would be an identification on the long form. If there was some way to process that in some way. Mr. FERRELL. Do you code homemaker? Mr. MARTIN. No. Mr. FERRELL. So you would not get- Mr. MARTIN. Work history. Mr. FERRELL. That's what I mean, you would not code homemaker as an occupation, so they would not get the information if someone wrote in "Homemaker for the past 10 years," you would not get the information that this woma*n is testifying. Mr. LowRy. But you would have the information that they hadn't been paid by some employer or something for that period of time. 1~fr. FERBER. You would get a category with work history showing no pay and now this relationship of a woman filling out the house as the adult of the household from which you could extract it, but I agree, I think it would `be hard. Ms. GILDEN. There's also, I think, many welfare recipients, female single head of household, under 40, can also be claimed to `be displaced homemakers. So it's a very large amount of the population. Mr. LowRy. Thank you. Katherine, one additional comment or question. I believe our State receives $6.7 million in the Elder Americans Act which is based totally upon the over age 60 income individuals, which was what you were coming to in your testimony. PAGENO="0059" 55~ Do you think that through the area agency and related organiza- tions that you could help us promote getting a better census count on this? Ms. RIcIEY. Yes; I believe so, through these means that I have suggested, which don't really reqUire too much, except some coordination. Mr. LOWRY. If we fail to get record of those individuals, it's frankly going to be very costly to us. Ms. RICKEY. That's true. Our aging population is increasing so rapidly here in the State of Washington, that we want to try to keep up with it if we can. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you. May we have the next panel. I'm not sure who was able to make it here on the next panel. Al, would you like to lead off. STATEMENT OF ALAN SUGIYAMA, CENTER FOR CAREER ALTERNATIVES Mr. SUGIYAMA. Thank you very mach. I hope you don't mind but I am kind of running a little bit late, so after I talk I will have to leave, but I will take your advice and summarize everything that I've written down. My name is Alan Sugiyama and I'm director for the Center for Career Alternatives. One of the things that I always like to do when I come to groups is explain that I've been born and raised in Seattle so I am an American. So no one has come up and ask me, "Which country are you from?" it's one of these things I have a little bit of problem with. Every time I go somewhere people say, "I know you're not American, so where, come on, tell me." So I want to make~sure that people here realize that there are Asians that live in this country. Mr. LOWRY. There were over 106,000 in internment camps in 1942, Americans. Mr. S1~GIYAMA. That's true. I app~eciate all the work you're doing on redress. Mr. LOWRY. Well, that was the point. A little commercial here. Mr. SiJGIYAMA. One of the things that we're really worried about is that the social service needs and employment needs of Asian-Amer- icans, both locally and nationally, have really been affected by the misleading and inaccurate statistics that have been compiled by the Census Bureau. I guess really when we start highlighting things, we really want to, we're really worried about some of the stereotypes that exist when we take a look at statistics and we see that there's many times individuals that are recording or responding back to the form so forth, highly educated people. Consequently, many times when we talk about educational pro- grams, you say, "Well, why do you need educational programs when Asian-Americans have the highest number of years of formal train- ing?" But then its' really kind of funny when you take a look at other statistics and you see like at the University of Washington Asian- Americans have a 60-percent noncompletion rate, compared to 45 per- cent overall. PAGENO="0060" 56 So we really start worrying about programs and how they fund them, based on some of the statistics that are shown by the census. One of the other things that we're really kind of worried about also is the individuals that are actually coming out and taking the census. We're really concerned that these individuals are from those com- munities, because I know that myself, my own family, even though there was seven of us, we have never filled out the census forms, and I think one of the problems is I don't blame people for not coming in the neighborhood we grew up in. I think it probably pretty consistent throughout the country that if you don't get the individuals that are familiar with that neighbor- hood, you're not going to get an accurate count.. We had people living in back of houses, in the basements, and so forth, never being counted. So we're really concerned that the individuals that are hired are from the community and represent the individuals within that com- munity, whether they're elderly, minority or what. Also, I'm kind of concerned about maybe some of the tests that actually are given at the-to be a census taker. I'm kind of worried and concerned that may be there are individuals that are kind of scared of tests, that don't take tests very good, and are we missing individuals that can be very, well, potentially very, very good employees or census takers. Are we missing those people by, let's say, not giving pretests or any other kind of assistance with the testing that goes on. I'm kind of worried about that. Also, I'm kind of worried about some of the things, as you know, things that are coming out on Federal spying, FBI spying and so forth, about the accuracy and the confidentiality of the censuses, where the concern is once you have all that material, where is it going, be- cause it's really kind of funny that I myself was able to get some infor- mation relief by the FBI concerning myself. It looked like a whole, long resume of information they had, and I'm really kind of wonder- ing where they got the information. One of the mistakes they had was that I was foreign correspondent or somethino, even though I had never left this country-excuse me, foreign intelligence. I think it was based on my nationality. But I'm really kind of worried about that confidentiality. So the safeguarding, I hope they're really wondering who actually does the safeguarding and who enforces it and monitors it. In closing, I hope that the Census Bureau will provide really some accurate training, sensitivity for people that are actually taking the census, so we can assure that there are some safeguards at that level and, also, that tl1ere be an accurate number counted. Thank you very much. STATEMENT OF MARIA BATAYOLA, ASIAN-PACIFIC WOMEN'S CAUCUS Ms. BATATOLA. My name is Maria Batayola and I represent the Asian-Pacific Women's Caucus. Our group is very concerned with the economic, political, and social issues that affect Asian-Pacific women. PAGENO="0061" 57 I think we are in agreement as to the significance of the census and the fact that it will affect program planning, affirmative action, and social service delivery to the different groups that are in need. There are two target areas of criticism with regard to the 1980 census, and they are the printed material, the survey questions, the format, the content, and so on, and the procedure of implementing the said survey. I would like to address the latter. There are immediate improvements that can be made to allay the charge of undercounting minorities for this 1980 census, and I'd like to make two suggestions. The first one is to assign appropriate bilin- gual enumerators to community bilingual assistance centers with significant numbers of concentration of non-English-speaking and bilingual residents. That's possible to do and we still have the time to do it. The other is to practice affirmative action within the census staff itself, particularly at the enumerator level. At this point I have two questions to ask you. The first is, have the exams been validated to assure that they are related to the job; and the second half is, have the exams been validated to insure that they are not culturally biased? Mr. GARCIA. I think in both cases, I am finding more and more every day that there is a certain discriminatory factor involved with that examination. I have issued a statement to that effect. It's becoming very clear to me that the people who we had hoped would come out of the communities of this country would be the ones who count this com- munity. It's turning out that the statistics are very clear that the peo- ple who are passing the test are coming from the majority of America, and the people who are failing the test are coming from the minorities of America. Between now and the day of the census, March 28, which is the first mailing, I'm hopeful that we can get some adjustments into that exam. I'll be honest with you. As the chairman of this subcommittee, I am finding that that is an area that this subcommittee should have looked into at least 6 months ago, and I'm going to accept the blame. I have preached that the people who come from certain localities should count those communities because it's easier for you to deal with Asian- Americans than it is for me. You know the community better. You're a spokesperson for them. I am going to try and make it hopefully possible that we will let the people from the community count the community. As it stands right now, we are not getting the numbers that we need to cover. It is, again, part of the bureaucracy of the èensus which doesn't really know your community or my community or communities like ours. They don't have the people there who really understand it. Ms. BATAYOLA. OK. I feel that I understand the intent of what you are saying, but I still don't feel like my question has been answered. Mr. GARCIA. I couldn't be any clearer than that. Ms. BATAYOLA. Yes, I understand. I was wondering perhaps if it was the way I phrased the question. Mr. GARCIA. No. The test, I will say to you, is discriminatory. The test is not based or aimed at the people whom you are looking for to pass the test, to count the community, you are looking to count. So the test, as far as I am concerned, is discriminatory toward your commu- PAGENO="0062" 58 nity. I am accepting the blame. Six months ago I should have exam- ined that area much more carefully, and I did not and I assumed, I took the word, and it is turning out that people-I have preached that the people from the community should count the community and it is not working out that way at all. Ms. BATAYOLA. Would you like to hear the other half of my question? Mr. GARCIA. Go ahead. Ms. BATAYOLA. What actions will you be taking to be able to help that situation along? Mr. GARCIA. I must be frank with you. I don't know where we are right now. I issued a statement 2 weeks ago, `based `upon complaints I received from many members of the U.S. Congress, and no action has been taken so far. I don't anticipate that any action is going to be taken in the next week or two. I will tell you this. I am very angry, very, very angry and very annoyed as to what has been taking place with those exams. Those exams are aimed' and geared to a whole dif- ferent type of mentality than the mentalities we need to count our community in the hope of getting an accurate count. Ms. BATAYOLA. I would like to suggest an interim or a.n alternative mechanism of hiring be used. The process of test validation is indeed a long one. It entails sample testing, and so on. At the same time, that also says that we are not hiring the people we need to be able to improve on our ability to count accurately. Mr. LOWRY. Mr. Chairman, I was wondering on this question; the test, I think somebody testified to earlier, is the third of three criteria, maybe there are three criteria, for enumerators. It seems like there must be a way in which to correctly factor the tests into the overall evalua- tion. That is not really unusual in the other problems we have across the country in which we correctly factor a written exam as to other needs and criteria and perhaps we have a way in which to compensate for this structural problem by doing that and still end up with the goal of having people that are qualified to get to our objectives, which are multilingual, et cetera, to get to them. Dr. Ferber was kind of nodding agreement, too, I was glad to see. Dr. FERBER. I think it should be pointed out in terms of job related validity there has been an extraordinary program at the Bureau. I am not an expert in the language of psychological testing, but I think we can have for Congressman Garcia experts testifying that it is job value to the extent of cultural and numistic bias; I would be the last in the world to defend it as perfect, a perfect instrument. I was nodding because the other two parts of the criteria. Minority members are passing the test and the cutoff, 21 out of 54, is the floor which one goes to. They are not ranked after that, so if 54 does better than 21 precisely because of the reasons you said. If we are successful, a person living in an enumeration district-which is the smallest district we have; I am talking about 200, 300 houses-will (aJ live in that neighbor- hood, (b) be culturally familiar with that area. You pass or you are not in it. I grant that: I stipulate that. Once in, however, that passing group is cut by, first of all, indigenousness, second, cultural familiarity, and you pick out of the group that is left. Only when we are through there do you start looking elsewhere, and if the number is inappro- priate to the affirmative action goal for that number, we will test further in that area to meet the requisite number as a minimum. PAGENO="0063" .59~ Ms. BATAYOLA. I understand the intellectual explanation. Two threads are running through my mind. One is, how soon can those tests be weighted so they can be adjusted accordingly, and the other is, as far as affirmative action goals, we are basing those goals on the 1970 cen- sus, which is supposed to be an undercount. Mr. GARCIA. WTe have got to move on. We have about three or four other panels that are to come on after you. Ms. BATAYOLA. I understand. Mr. GARCIA. The question has been heard by the members of the Bureau of the Census. They will be testifying before this panel. I would hope that the panel will resppnd to that question when it comes before the subcommittee. STATEMENT OP DAVE OKIMOTO Mi'. OKIMOTO. Good afternoon. My name is Dave Okimoto. I am the executive director of the Asian Counseling Referral Service, which is a multilingual, multicultural mental health and social services agency serving the Asian community of King County. I am here today to talk about the importance of an accurate census count and its effect on the mental health problems of the Asian community. As I am sure you are all well aware~ the census is used by numerous groups to determine funding allocations. One of the programs funded on this basis is the mental health program of Washington State. How- ever, typically, Asians have been excluded from receiving services in the community mental health center network because of language and cultural barriers. Further, Asian mental health programs have been provided only minimal funds to provide the appropriate bilingual bi- cultural services. A lack of mental health services to the Asian com- munity has largely been due to an insensitivity on the part of midlevel and top-level bureaucrats to respond to these needs. In other words, despite the fact that we have a fair amount of legislation to correct this problem, somehow that does not become implemented. Problems such as severe depression, suicide, marital, family dysfunc- tion are but a few of the difficulties faced by the Asians in the mental health area. These problems, coupled with language barriers, as well as cultural differences, result in a very serious and complicated mental health problem. Additionally, as I stated before, the community mental health cen- ters are unable or unwilling to provide the appropriate service. However, when an accurate census count can be made, then the count of the number of Asians represented in the population will show, will hopefully show the magnitude of the problem. It is ex- tremely important that provisions be made to insure equal access by all to participate in the census. If there is a lack of bilingual enumerators, which there a.ppears to be at this time, as well as a lack of translated materials in the cen- sus, then the same mistake will have been made once again. This will effectively prevent a significant portion of the Asian community from being counted, and also from mental services being provided. This has the magnifying effect of not giving us a base from which to advocate our needs and concerns. PAGENO="0064" 60 On a. more down-home level, at the Asian Counseling and Referral Service we have 20 bilingual staff who provide rnenta.l health and social services. I know that on March 29, after those questionnaires are received in various households, we are going to be enundated by request.s from our clients to help them fill this out. It is my hope that somehow the Bureau of the Census will be able to respond to these needs in terms of insuring that all of our non-Eng- lish-speaking clients will be able to participate fully in the census. My one last remark that I would like to make is that I think there is a serious omission in terms of ethnicity on the Bureau of the Cen- sus form, and that is in regard to the Laos and Cambodian corn- munity, which seems to me rather ironic in that the current policy of the Federal Government is to take in approximately 14,000 addi- tional refugees per month into this country, and yet on the census form excludes two of the major ethnic groups that are coming in. Thank you. Mr. GARCIA. Ms. Cordova? STATEMENT O~' DOROTHY CORDOVA Ms. ConDovA. My name is Dorothy Cordova. I am director of the Demonstration Project for Asian-Americans, a community-based re- search group. I am an American with a Spanish surname and I am told I am in the Asian category, but I specifically call myself Filipino. I represent a group which includes Cambodians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, Laotians, Sarnoans, and Vietnamese for a start. The only reason I say for a sta.rt is that these are the people that we should get some kind of information on. The Asian-American population in Washington State has in- creased over 160 percent during the past 10 years. That is conserva- ative. This information was acquired by using the 1970 U.S. census as a data base, then adding the annual immigration figures put out by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The U.S. census is but one of the working tools of my office, which collects, documents, and disperses demographic and socioeconomic information about Asian Americans in the Seattle, King County, and Washingbon State area. Such information is vital to those Asian- American agencies who must compete in an underdog position for the limited funds froni the Federal, State, and city agencies who de- mand and expect full documentation of needs and numbers. Because most understaffed Asian-American agencies cannot fund a full-time proposal writer, oftentimes other staff persons are pressed to double shift in that position. They, in turn, will seek assistance from agencies such as mine for quick, accurate, and sensitive sources of specific Asian-American information. Perhaps it was because DPAA had also conducted a number of re- search projects that in March 1975 we, along with a number of other community-based agencies, were invited to express to a delega- tion of U.S. census staff from Washington, D.C., our concerns about past census counts. I distinctly remember stressing the rapidly ac- celerated rate of immigrants from Asia, South and Central America, PAGENO="0065" 61 md even Africa. At that time, the huge influx of Indochinese refugees ~vas not really yet a reality. ~\Te told the group of experts that most of the new immigrants were ~elatively young people and that most came from populations that lid not believe in zero population concepts. `We pointed out that many iewly arrived people would share housing, either on a temporary or ;emipermanent basis, with relatives or friends, and that these peo- ?le who were now part of an extended family were likely to be over- ooked in census counts. Studies in the Filipino communities on the vest coast and Hawaii proved that tlWusands and thousands of el- lerly Filipinos living in the Chinatowns or agricultural camps were )verlooked in 1970, and we feared this oversight would be repeated n 1980. `We stressed the point that monolingual interviewers would not be thle to retrieve vital information from reticent or shy immigrants with Limited English skills. We urged the census people to begin gearing ~ip then in 1975 to hire people with bilingual capabilities in many of :he languages of Third World people. It was with deep frustration :hat I found out that many of our cautions went unheeded or were Jealt with in a cursory manner. Although superficially committed to iffirmative action, we are fearful that adequate numbers of bilingual Lnterviewers will not be hired to collect important data from these people of their own kind. We have been telling district census staff that blie pie in the sky mailout/return methOd of collecting valuable census information will not work with many groups of immigrants because the questionaire is written in English and Spanish. We know that most immigrants can't read English. `We are afraid that the cast-in-iron rules and regulations that stipulate that interviewers work only in their residential areas may not work in certain areas in our city, which boasts sometimes as many different ethnic groups in a neighbohood as there may be homes. Although it may `be too late to secure trans- lated questionnaires, which would have been a very easy way to work out the different language requirements, we request that your com- mittee see that a' sufficient number of bilingual people be hired before the census is completed. Thank you. Mr. GARCIA. Thank you. STATEMENT OP ~UN VAN DO Mr. VAN Do. Good afternoon. My name is Sun Van Do, a refugee from Vietnam. I am speaking today on behalf of our Indochinese refugees who have settled in the Seattle-King County area. I am also a member of the city of Seattle county committee for the. 1980 census. I have attended several committee meetings since Decem- ber 1979. These experiences have raised for me a number of concerns regarding the problems of refugees which must be addressed in order to insure a fair and complete account. You and your committee have the ability and the power to help us to solve some of our problems. Presently there are over 6,000 Vietnam- ese, 1,800 Laotians, and 1,500 Cambodians residing in the Seattle- 66-270 0 - 80 - PAGENO="0066" 62 King County area. Most of them have serious language barriers, due to the lack of skills in English among the Indochinese refugees. I am, therefore, making the following recommendations. One: That a census form, posters, flyers, and proclamation be translated into Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian languages. Two: That the aid of the Indochinese community organizations be enlisted to distribute flyers and put up posters. Three: That arrangements be made for Indochinese community leaders to make short presentations about the census on television, radio broadcasting stations. The census touches everyone, and public appearances of any sort will help bring the census closer to the people of the community and in doing so, will make it more important to all. Four: That every effort be made to assist the Indochinese refugee community in providing their people with complete information about the upcoming 1980 census. To accomplish this, the Census Bu- reau should recruit Indochinese refugees from their respective com- munities as enumerators or temporary appointees with the Bureau of the Census. It is felt tha.t this would help to insure a more com- plete and accurate count, which, after all, is the stated goal of the 1980 census. This concludes my testimony. I would like to thank you again for this opportunity to present a refugee perspective on the 1980 census. Thank you. Mr. GARCIA. Thank you. As to what Sun just said, and, frankly, what everybody has just said, would it really be a form in the correct language that would work, or would it be enumerators that went into the area? Listening to you, I would still question the form even if written in the correct language, when mailed out would be of limited value. Ms. CORDOVA. As a research writer, I do know that when you mail out questionnaires-and I don't understand the rationale that went. out-the rule of thumb is that if about a third of them come back, that is supposed t.o be good. Now, you figure that those are forms where the majority of the people understand the language. If you get a questionnaire that is in English, these people don't even know what it says. They may just tend to overlook it. We have already been warned by the census people that they are going to have to hire enumerators with bilingual skills. They are telling us that there are certain rules and regulations and that these rules and regulations were already set. When I said cast iron, I meant it. They said that there were already rules that people had set forth in Washington, D.C., a long time ago, and they would not change the rules and regulations. We are saying that you are going to have to hire part-time people because we know that if some of the information is not adequately filled out, they are going to have to go out and retrieve the infor- mation. Can you imagine the thousands and thousands and thousands of interviewers you are going to have to hire because somebody wasn't smart enough in the District of Columbia to figure out tha.t they should have done it in different languages? Mr. GARCIA. Just let me say this. In terms of the enumerators, we are hoping that we will have the cooperation. Take my city, for example, New York City. We have a large Greek community. We have a large PAGENO="0067" 63 Chinese community in Chinatown. There is also a large Italian coin- inunity. We are going out of our way to try and make sure that we have the enumerators who are going to be back out in that community of the same ethnic background as those persons who live in that community and can speak the language. I think in terms of printing the forms, and I am not going to quar- rel with you, it just seems to me, to be able to print them in every pos- sible language that exists presently ~ithin the continental United States, I think it may be really an administrative impossibility. It may be. If we have the enumerators who ha.~e the background and who have the knowledge to speak the language, 1 think it has got to go a long way. Thai:. is why, in terms of those o~f you who were here before us today, and all those people who have testified, it is just so very impor- tant that you as leaders of this community take the message back to your respective communities and make certain that we have people working on the census as enumerators who are going to be able to deal v~ith just the problems we are talking about. Ms. CoiwovA. If they pass the test. Mr. GAI~cIA. If they pass the test; that is true. Dorothy, I must be absolutely frank with you; that is the common denominator in terms of everything we are trying to accomplish. If the numerators are not sensitive to the needs of the community because we can't get enough of them to pass the test, we are in dee~, deep trouble. You are right; I can't quarrel with that at all. Ms. BATAYOLA. What about the sugg~stion of Mr. T)o as far as trans- lation of proclamations, brochures, media blitz in different languages? Mi'. GARCIA. Well, I have tried to get the Bureau of the Census in terms of the foreign language stations to put up the money to be able to do that. They have really beaten me back in terms of that. I don't know if you saw the McNeil-Lehr report, which I was on with the Director of the Bureau of the Census, but I spoke specifically about the question of the media and what it means. There is a large and vis- ible community out there that may listen to the radio and constantly know what is going on just by means of the electronic media. Wte are not going to reach them through Ogilvie Mathe, which is the public relations outfit that has been hired through the ad agency or the ad council. It is a serious problem. I have~ fought this right down the line. As I get closer to the census, I realize in so many areas that I have just been knocked back and back and back. I am going to accept a lot of that responsibility, but it is not going to happen again. Ms. BATAYOLA. You are leaving me with the impression that the only multilingual promotions that might be done are through those partic- ular specialized ethnic radio stations and newspapers and so on. I would like to stress the fact that the general media are accessible to everybody, particularly as an aid in learning how to speak the lan- guage. Perhaps that general approach should be taken to really do a massive blitz. The TV stations and radio stations do provide free time on the air. Ms. CORDOVA. Yes, we will be doing that. The complete census count recognizes-there is a committee that we have and we recognize that we will have to hit all the major radio stations and everything because that has to be done. We will be doing it so the people will understand. Mr. LOWRY. I think there are things that we can definitely do to PAGENO="0068" 64 improve on all of this, even within this census, so that we can do a somewhat better job. Ms. CORDOvA. One last question. Couldn't one of the top priorities, or the top priority, later on if you find out you don't have enough enumer- ators, be not that you pass the test, but that you be able to speak the language and be able to communicate. Mr. GARCIA. They say no to everything. The Bureau of the Census says no to everything. We have found in Chinatown even after they said no, no, no, they had no choice but to go and hire Chinese persons who were noncitizens, but that was after they found that they had no alternative. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you very much. We will now hear from Ms. Vivian Caver, director of city of Seattle's Department of Human Rights. STATEMENT OP VIVIAN CAVER Ms. CAVER. My name is Vivian Caver. I am the director of the city of Seattle's Department of Human Rights, the local civil rights enforcement agency. The 1980 census is significant to many people for a wide variety of reasons. Obviously, the impact of census data for purposes of deter- mining eligibilty for revenue sharing money and other Federal fund- ing is a paramount concern for all of us. No less important is the im- pact the census will have on equal opportunity and affirmative action over the next decade. I think that should be understood. Census data on the racial composition of the population constitutes the core of almost every civil rights enforcement function. I think that is what you have heard from previous panels of ethnic minorities. Equality in terms of participation in employment, housing, and government contracting is measured against the touchstone of population figures. The history of gross undercounting of ethnic minorities has already threatened many volunteer affirmative action programs. Legal precedents require that when population parity is reached, affirmative action must end. Thus, goals for the employment of ethnic minorities rely heavily upon the population figures. These goals apply to all government contractors, the government as an employer, and those businesses voluntarily attempting to overcome the effects of racial discrimination and past discrimination. Of equal significance is the role such data plays in the enforcement of laws prohibiting discrimination. The enforcement of antidiscrimina- tion laws has become a sophisticated business. Direct evidence of inten- tional discrimination is becoming increasingly scarce. Statistical dis- parity between the racial composition of an employer's w9rk force and population figures is one legally recognized source of pi~oof of dis- crimination. The Supreme Court has consistently emphasized the im- portance of these statistical disparities in proving discrimination. Further, institutional patterns of discrimination frequently can be uncovered only through statistical comparison. In an attempt to decrease the undercount of minorities in the 1980 census, I am urging this subcommittee to consider the following. One: Are those who will be taking the census sufficiently trained to deal with the factors which have contributed to the undercount of minorities? Countless reasons for the undercount of minorities have PAGENO="0069" 65 been established, ranging from the social embarrassment which the questions may cause, to the negative experience of minorities with government institutions, to the fact that minorities are more likely to be renters than homeowners. Many of these reasons still prevail to- day. The most effective way to minimize their effect on the count of minorities is to insure, through adequate training and recruitment pro- grams, that census enumerators are educated about, and sensitive to, these problems and are able to work effectively with persons of diverse ethnic backgrounds. On this same point, it is also important that every effort be made to remove the barriers between census takers and the minority popula- tion. They must be accessible to, and perceived as part of, the com- munities in which they are working. Locating their offices as close as possible to these communities is critical. I wonder if the Congress has really realized comparable worth and equal pay. It appears that the range of salaries to employ the people working on the census was not really considered in terms of getting the caliber of people and people whO can deal with their ethnic com- munities a fair share of the dollar. I think that should be looked at by this subcommittee. I have looked at the salary range, and I am appaled at the kind of work you are expecting out of the people who would have to do this work, and the Equal Pay Act and comparable worth were not considered. Two: Will the so-called affirmative action data which is being gathered fully meet the needs of those engaging in affirmative action programs? That is my question. As affirmative action becomes more refined and complex, so the required supportive data becomes more complex. The need to identify with more accuracy and distinction particular ethnic groups and subgroups is pressing. I hope this subcommittee makes a .conscious effort to survey the entire range of governmental affirmative action requirements to insure that census data is complete and responsh!=e to affirmative action needs. In conclusion, I can only reemphasize the special significance of the census to those who have been the historical victims of racial dis- crimination. Only when we discover ~as a nation who we really are, can we begin to insure equitable distribution of the benefits of our society to all persons. Thank you. Mr. LOWRY. Dr. Spratlen? STATEMENT OP THADDEUS H. SPRATLEN Dr. SPRATLEN. I would just like to say, before I begin my presenta- tion, that while many in the audience, I am sure, realize the importance of this forum, I think it is especially important to say that for Seattle, one of the lesser large cities in terms of absolute size, but with a quite ethnically diverse population, it is certainly an important opportunity to air some views and to express some concerns. We appreciate this opportunity. I would like to basically dispense with some or the testimony and make some comments and a summary based on it. I would hope to enter into the record the several pages of testimony, just in the interest 66-270 0 - 80 - PAGENO="0070" 66 of saving time for the other members of the panel and others to follow us. The main point that I guess I would want to stress is that in the 1970's, throughout the 1970's, we blacks have been about 92 percent represented. Officially the 8- to 10-percent range of undercount-and that, of course, is even larger than that if you consider the young black males between, let's say, 18 to 35. What I would say is that in addition to doing all of the things that various individuals presenting testi- mony have suggested, I think that ultimately we really need to start thinking of responses beyond the marketing and promotion, beyond all of the training and improved supervision and management, beyond the grassroots interests and concerns. It seems to me that we have to begin to recognize that for a variety of reasons, in a sense, the under- count is going to be with us. I say that realistically mainly along the lines of some of the points that Ms. Caver made. There are simply built-in limitations that we may not find that the 98-percent count or the 99-percent count that would be true for the larger majority population is likely to be developed despite our efforts, whatever they are. The statisticians would have a hard time coming up with what is the maximum feasible count, given consid- erations of cost and mailout and so on. So it seems to me that we need to begin to look at two major categories of responses beyond the management, the marketing, the promotion, and all of these other things. That is a provision whereby adjustments and statistical pro- cedures which are internally established in the census are really applied. Maybe what is more politically feasible is the development of allo- cation formulas which would then take into account the statistical, that is, the best information as to what is the actual count that is out there. When public policy decisions are made, they should reflect that methodology in those decisions. I say that simply because the under- count, while it takes place in 1 year, is cumulative. So throughout the 1970's, whatever alloactions, whatever entitlements, those are multi- plied 10 times over. So it just seems if we are ever going to get out of the pattern, that some kind of adjustment must be made. It is risky, it is controversial, it is going to need a lot of political leader- ship and political advocacy. But somewhere along the line we need to do as much as we can in these areas and to realize we have reached our maximum in response. If there is still a shortfall, then we need to make some other kind of response. Thank you very much. Mr. Lowny. Doctor, do you think that historically we have that sort of an estimate capability of making an adjustment or projection of what the true count would be? Dr. Srn~&mEx. Oh, yes, even though, professionally, statisticians disagree because of differences regarding how small a unit you could adjust for. It is one thing if you are going to adjust on an SMSA level, quite another if you are going to try and go all the way down to an enumeration district. The error in potential count, you could compound the error if you carry that too far. That is one of the rea- sons that we don't get much support for it. Surely there are technical limitations t*o it, but we just simply need to use what is available as PAGENO="0071" technology and, at least at the city level and possibly in some in- stances, it may be cert~ainly a more accurate estimating procedure at the tract level. But, you know, the smaller the unit, the more technical difficulties will be involved in estthlishing error limits and so on. It is just that we simply need at some level of piThlic policymaking to begin to face up to what we can correct for and what we can't and do the best we can to balance off across the board these considerations. Mr. GARCIA. Doctor, before you turn over the mike, I couldn't agree with you more. I as recently as last week had a conversation, several conversations, with the Director of the Bureau of the Census. We dis- cussed the entire question of adjustments. Adjustments have been made before, and whether they have been made in the State of Florida or the State of Oklahoma, they have been made. We met, in our testimony in chicago, a professor from the TJni- versity of Chicago and interestingly enough, the story made the front page of the Chicago Tribune. I don't remember if he was a demogra- pher or not, but he said there were many instances where we don't even have to take a census. In many instances the Bureau of the Census can almost to a point of absolute accuracy come up with the statisti- cal data in each one of the communities. I agree, and especially those of us who come out of urban centers, they are not going to undercount the rural areas and they are not going to undercount the suburban areas, but they sure as hell are going to undercount the urban centers, and in the urban centers is where the action is, as far as I am concerned. So your statement is really on target. It is something that we have been fighting for. As I get closer and closer to census day, I will tell you that I become more and more frustrated because I see so many things that the Bureau of the Census has just not complied with. I am glad that we are having these hearings. I am glad that these points are being made. They will be part of the record. That record will be there to determine and make sure what we are going through in 1980 and we don't go through again. [The complete statement of Dr. Spratlen follows:] PAGENO="0072" 68 THE CENSUS UNDERCOUNT OF THE BLACK POPULATION-- UNDERSTANDING AND REDUCING NONCOOPERATIONk Thaddeus H. Spratlen Professor of Narketing and Associate Director, Black Studies Program University of Washington In 1970 the U.S. Census count of the black population was 22.6 million. If all blacks had been counted the number would have been at least 2 million higher. Thus, the numbers used throughout the 1970's to allocate funds, redistrict legislative boundaries, and otherwise make population-based decisions affect- ing blacks included only about 92% of the actual number of black Americans. Similar levels of undercount have existed for quite sometime. As a local example, assume that the percentage of the undercount in Seattle was the same as the national average, the city's black population should have been about 41,120 instead of the 37,828 that appears in the official records. Nationally, an estimated 1 out of every 12 or 13 blacks ~eaoe missed in 1970. An even higher proportion of young black males was missed in the census taking process of 1970 and in earlier years as well. For the total U.S. population the ratio was only about 1 out of 30 (or about 3% of the population. A major challenge for 1980 is clearly to greatly reduce the undercount of the black population. * Testimony presented to the Subcommittee on Census and Popula- tion of the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, U.S. House of Representatives; Robert Garcia, Chairman; at Seattle, Washington, First Baptist Church Auditorium, February 15, 1980. PAGENO="0073" 69 The Census Undercount of the Black Population, Spratlen Page 2 THE POPULATION UNDERCOUNT AS A NATIONAL PROBLEM ~hen the undercount is as large as it is for blacks and other ethnic minority groups it clearly represents a serious national problem. It is large with respect tO absolute numbers and even larger in terms of the public policy losses or other consequences involving the use of Census numbers. Asaresult of the under count, substantial portions of the black population, particularly those living in large inner city areds are not properly repre- sented in legislative bodies which are apportioned on the basis of Census data. In numerous governm~ent programs, budget alloca- tions cannot be made accurately. Reports on public television (McNeil-Lehrer Report) and public statements in the mass media have estimated that for every indivi~dual not counted, a city loses $100 or more in federal entitlement. In the aggregate, dollar amounts are quite large. A figure of $50 billion is used for the amount of Federal funds dist~ributed to state and local governments which are based principally on Census population data. For even large cities as much as five percent or more of the total budget may be from such sources. State governments, school dis- tricts, and other public agencies make additional billions of dollars available on the basis of Census data. Private industry marketing plans and innumerable academic and public policy research projects rely primarily or heavily on Census data. These examples suggest that the stakes are quite high regard- ing the undercount problem. Moreover, the problem is also sub- stantially ethnic/racial and socio-economic in nature. The pre- dominant groups which are grossly undercounted are racial/ethnic PAGENO="0074" 70 The Census Undercount of the Black Population, Spratlen Page 3 minorities. The poor, those whose primary language is not English (especially recent immigrants, aliens and refugees), and those who are transient are the additional groups which are likely to be missed through Census enumeration efforts. Yet it is precisely these groups which rely heavily on public service or public sector programs for a significant part of their economic and social well- being. Some are public-sector dependent for a variety of services and income transfers as well as for other resources from all levels of government. By being grossly undercounted, the cities in which they live will get less in the way of resources to meet their needs. MAJOR CAUSES OF THE CENSUS UNDERCOUNT OF BLACKS Any discussion of the causes of the undercount of blacks re- lies heavily on speculation and reasoning from general survey re- search in the inner city. Fundamentally, the causes reflect diffi- culties of obtaining cooperation or compliance from adult household members. Although the Census is mandatory, presentations and re- quests made for participation must be conducted much like any other voluntary request for information. Unlike the Internal Revenue Service and filing of income taxes, there is simply no feasible way of enforcing the mandatory aspects of the Census. Moreover, there is no external verifying source as is the case with income. Generally, the major causes of the undercount can be placed under three broad headings: technical/statistical causes; social/ - eCo~lomjt causes; and situational/environmental causes. Included PAGENO="0075" 71 The Census Undercount of the Black Population, Spratlen Page 4 under the first category are all aspects of identifying house- holds or living units correctly, errors in clerical or other areas of data processing as well as related administrative pro- cedures, particularly regarding mailing list errors. However, such technical/statistical sources of undercount are rather small in comparison to the other two categories of nonresponse. Social/economic causes and situational/environmental causes have a much greater impact on noncooperation. They are summarized in Exhibit 1. Based on the factors outlined in Exhibit 1 it seems clear that there are very diverse and complex reasons for noncoopera- tion in census-taking. Some are assumed. Others are transferred from one context to another. Many relate to simple disbelief that the process is truly objective, confidential and positive. Thus, even though there has never been a proven case of a census employee misusing the information obtained in census-taking, in- dividuals may still not trust enumerators. In view of the magnitude and complexity of the problem, several types of policy responses are appropriate. Major cate- gories of responses are discussed briefly below. RESPONSES TO NONCOOPERATION The U.S. Census Bureau has long been involved in a massive, coordinated effort to reduce the level of undercount among all groups in the nation. It has devoted resources to building grass- roots support for a more accurate count in 1980. It has enlisted the support of the Advertising Coui~icil, the most influential PAGENO="0076" 72 The Census Undercount of the Black Population, Spratlen Page 5 EXHIPIT 1 CAUSES OF NONCOOPERATION: SOCIAL/ECONOMIC AND SITUATIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL Social and Economic Causes 1. Social Perceptions Lack of awareness or acceptance of promised confidentiality; Preference for with- holding personal and sensitive information. 2. Social Embarrassment Requested information may represent departure from prevailing norms as in re- lationships of household members, employment status last week, etc. Language proficiency and resentment of going through an hour long pencil and paper exercise (for the long form). 3. Home Ownership/Change of Residence Higher proportion of renters; renting involves more frequent change of residence. 4. ~ppersonal Nature of Census Taking Difficulty of establish- ing rapport, trust and confidence with enumerator. Environmental/Situational Causes 1. Encounters with Public Sector Transfer of negative encounters with public authority figures to Census data gathering; Surfacing of latent resentment of public intrusion to obtain personal information. 2. Lack of Visible Benefits Disbelief that more accurate data will increase the availability of funds for the benefit of the black community; Belief that allocations would not be made to benefit the black commu- nity. Reactions to past patterns when in- tended benefits did not accrue to the black community. 3. Demands and Stresses of Daily Living Coping with daily demands may in- volve more reflection on inadequate plumbing, too few rooms, hassles over insurance than an individual would care to do. 4. Life Style Variations Irregular work schedules and ab- sence from home in connection with personal problems may interfere with census-taking process. PAGENO="0077" 73 The Census Undercount of the Black Population, Spratlen Page 6 public service organization in the industry, obtained the endorse- ments of professional athletes as well as other highly visible and credible individuals in efforts to promote acceptance and cooperation. As represented by extensive public testimony there is a broad base of community concern which has been generated in response to the undercount problem. In summary form basic re- sponses can be described along the lines presented in Exhibit 2. Only broad outlines are possible in such an overview of the problems surrounding Census population undercounts. The major policy questions are at least identified. Workable responses regarding various adjustments are probably not ready for imple- mentation. Also the lead times for publishing the data may not permit such adjustments of the 1980 results. Yet underfunding and underrepresentation do need to be corrected. Unless and until they are those traditionally disadvantaged and discriminated against in most other areas of life will continue to be less well-off as a result of the undercount. CONCLUSIONS All feasible means of reducing the undercount of the black population deserve the interest and~ support of elected officials and community leaders in all segments of society. The issues to be resolved are political as well as technical; social as well as economic. Leadership combined with~ the commitment to and invest- ment in reducing the undercount can provide solutions to one of the nation's most serious undercount problems. Blacks deserve more than 92% of the government funding and political representation which we now receive. PAGENO="0078" 74 The Census Undercount of the Black Population, Spratlen Page 7 EXHIBIT 2 BASIC RESPONSES TO THE UNDERCOUNT PROBLEM ~~it ion P~py Considerations 1. Recognition 1. Generally re- 1. Mainly and Understand- flected in efforts requires admin- istrative ing of the of the Census and commit- ment of Causes of the Undercount Bureau, elected officials, mass resources for commu- nications, cooperation and related Problem media, and commu- nity leadership. organizational activities. 2. Marketing and Promotion 2. Census Bureau staff support for 2. Essentially the same as in #1 above. of the Census public information and community re- lations. Work of the Advertising Council and media sources. 3. Increased Effectiveness 3. Direct and per- sonal representa- 3. Relatively expensive but essential for in the Selec- tion of the Census successful field tion, Training Bureau at the management the undercount and Supervision point of data of Enumerators collection. 4. Intensive Follow-Up 4. Enumerator callbacks for 4. Essentially the same as in //3 above. Procedures achieving co- operation, veri- fication, etc. 5. Adjust Data to Reflect 5. Public policy application of Census Bureau 5. Technically complex, highly controversial and subject to wide disagreement Undercount estimating pro- among pro- fessional Levels cedures to measure probable undercount. statisticians; needs public debate on its advantages and disadvantages. 6. Develop 6. Combines 6. Controversial, but addresses Compensatory Census population underfunding and underrepresen- Atlocation methodology with tation issues; needs Formula for funding and re- political advocacy and at all Population- districting pro- support levels in the Based Policies gram goals. PAGENO="0079" 75 STATEMENT OP MICHAEL ROSS Mr. Ross. Well, again, I would like to echo Dr. Spratlen's comments. I, as a citizen of Seattle, appreciate Congressman Garcia's bringmg these hearings to Seattle and giving our community an opportunity to have some input. I would also like to thank Congressman Lowry for, I assume, being of some persuasion in encouraging you to come. Also, for the sake of brevity, I have a very short statement that I would just like included in the record, and I would just like to make a couple of observations beyond my written statement. I, too, see the futility in achieving 100 percent count in the minority community, and in particular, the black community. At least in Seattle we have the ability without the count to deal with the existing data that is fairly accurate, and to come up with something that is fairly close. It is not taken by enumerators or mail-ins, but I do think we can do this by even a greater effort in the community service end for the 1990 census. For the first time in my memory, I have seen minorities hired by the Census Bureau in the Community Service Division who have gone out and done outreach with minority communities to the extent that probably more people are involved in making sure that there is the most accurate count possible in the respective communities. I don't think that is enough of an outreach effort. I think that the Bu- reau must the next go-round add some more people and do a better job. Frankly the efforts to involve àommunity groups, civic groups and organizations that are based in minority communities, that effect should have begun strenuously 6 months ago, rather than getting this close to the census, actual census count, to involve organizations such as mine. Finally, a couple of comments. 1 am concerned about minority busi- ness and its viability as a means of solving some of the problems in this country, both economically and in terms of employment. The cen- sus data becomes very important in terms of getting a fix on where mi- nority business is at. Also it provides data in which to establish some reasonable goals that State and local government are required under their various Federal grants to have MBE program. We are wrestling with that now for the city of Seattle's City Council, an ordinance that says in effect that we shall establish some goals to make sure that the MBE dollar amounts get out. Finally, I am concerned about political representation. Again lo- cally our State legislature uses the census as a means of redistricting. On a local level, our county council is required by county charter every 10 years to reshape the districts based upon the census. The one man one vote Supreme Court decision has been further amplified by case law saying that minorities cannot be gerrymandered out, they are en- titled to one man, one vote. That is why I think it is very important that we do get as accurate a count as possible. If you have any questions, I would be glad to address them. Mr. LowRY. Mike, thank you. We met this morning on one of those business enterprises. What I am concerned with, and you mentioned it, is the supervisory positions. We have at long last come to a recognition of the minority problem. I think 70 percent of our supervisory posi- tions in our two Seattle District offices are minority at this point, but what we have to go further on is how we get the enumerators, how we PAGENO="0080" 76 get the people hired that are really going to do the job and carry that off We are going to need everybody's help on it. Mr. Ross. That is where there needs to be a beefed-up effort with outreach. Mr. White from the Urban League and myself and other people want community-based organizations. Mr. Baraba came out and visited us. That was the first time that all of us had gotten together in one room and attempted to work out some coordination amongst ourselves and some dialog to make sure that the conmuimty was in- formed of employment opportunities, encouraging them to become enumerators. I would say this, though, Congressman Lowry, I was a little disap- pointed that the manager of the south district office was not a minority, which is where the biggest concentration of minorities are. The next go-around, if you are still in Congress or in the Senate, I would hope that you might do something about it. Again, I think the solution to that is a.n earlier beefed-up outreach effort so that people like myself can begin to say here are the positions, these are important, this is where you go, the tests you have to take, et cetera. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you. STATEMENT OP SPRUIELL WHITE Mr. Wiirru. Chairman Garcia, Congressman Lowry, committee staff members, my name is Spruiell White and I have recently begun to work in this area as president of the Seattle Urban League. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to make this presenta- tion before you today. As has been the case with other speakers that you have heard, my interest and the interest of t.he Seattle Urban League Board of Direc- tors and staff and constituents is to let you know of our keen interest in supporting the efforts of the Congress and the Census Bureau in achieving a complete 1980 census count. To that end, our local Urban League affiliate is participating with the Mayor's Complete County Committee in Seattle, our agency offices are being used as census employment testing centers, and we do act as an advocate of the census process with our participants, staff and volunteers. * You, of course, are aware of the National Urban League interest and participation in assisting the Census Bureau in resolving many of the issues that have come before you today. Before addressing the issue of specific concern to the Seattle Urban League, I would like to indicate that we do support and align our- selves with comments made by previous speakers today. Our concern about the census process follows closely on the com- ments made by Dr. Spratlen and take the form of a request. That request, quite simply, is to ask your committee to do two things. First, to encourage development of a Census Bureau procedure that would derive local undercount estimates, and, second, to use those estimates as a basis for allocation of public monies to localities. Currently our understanding is that the Census Bureau does have a procedure that yields data about undercount rates for specific age, sex, and race categories on a nationwide basis, but that these data PAGENO="0081" 77 are not used in determining the amount of moneys awarded to a particular locality. Since 1970, the Census Bureau has argued that use of this national procedure would not be appropriate for individual localities since the estimate of the undercount would not be equitable to every jurisdiction throughout the country. Our feeling is that until a better and more sophisticated method of determining local undercount is reached, it is possible to take an interim step that would provide some fiscal relief to localities where an undercount is known to exist. \Ve believe that a local estimate of the undercount could be derived from the existing Census Bureau formula if it were treated in a way similar to the poverty index. As you know, the current poverty index does not adjust for the different costs of living in every local juris- diction. However, it is still used as a national standard for the allo- cation of funds to localities. Further, it is used at the same time research is being conducted to develop a more accurate way of determining local levels of poverty. We would request that census undercount estimates be applied in the same way. In closing, I would like to say that we do appreciate and under- stand how difficult it will be to implement a recommendation such as this one. But we feel at this time that it is more important to make some adjustments for the underc9unt as soon as possible rather than to engage in prolonged debates and research about how those adjust- ments should be made and at what level. Thank you. Mr. LOWRY. I was just informed, Mr. White, that the National Urban League, I believe, had utilized this type of an estimate pro- gram on revenue sharing in 1976. Were you familiar with and worked with that program? Mr. WHITE. Since 1975 Rober~t Hill, who works in our national offices, has attempted to work very closely with the Census Bureau in getting them to adopt what the National Urban League describes as its synthetic method. That method employs the Census Bureau formula for the undercount and applies it to localities and certain assumptions are made in its use. One of the assumptions is that it won't be equitable in every jurjsdiction, but we feel that enough commonsense can be used in the application of the formula that we know there are areas that are more undercount prone than others. In fact, we estimate undercount to be at 8 percent for blacks na- tionwide. That is a useful way tO apply it. In Seattle you might not have as great a percentage but in Chicago you certainly might reach a level of 20 to 35 percent more. It is really the use of one's best judg- ment and also the available formula that is tested. It certainly won't be accurate in terms of reaching the full level of undercount, but it won't miss anybody and it is certain not to provide adjustments that aren't needed and cannot be documented to exist. STATEMENT OP TOM ELKMANN Mr. ELKMANN. My name is Tom Elkmann. I am a senior planner for Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center and I too would like to reinforce the comments that were made earlier as regards PAGENO="0082" 78 the acknowledgment of undercount and some system of dealing with that aside from simply making greater efforts to do outreach. Albeit that those programs that encourage better marketing, en- courage more public education are necessary and important, there has to be something in the interim that deals with the allocation of public funds based on an acknowledgment of undercount. Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center, SOIC, is 70 per- cent funded through CETA program funds. Subsequently under current statutes 50 percent of our funding is dependent upon demo- graphic data. A census undercount is a very, very sensitive issue with us. Mr. GARCIA. In 1970 when we took the last census, CETA was non- existent. Between 110W and 1990 we don't know what other programs are going to be developed. When we failed to participate in the 1970 census, we really failed not only in terms of the politics of the 1970 census and what it was meant to be, but what it has meant since that point when right after 1971 with the advent of revenue sharing and every other fiscal formula tied into this so that not only do we know what we have now, we know what we have now, but we don't know what is going to happen during the decade of the 1980's as far as the U.S. Congress is concerned. I think the fiscal formulas are going to escalate, not deescalate, but escalate. That is why it is really important when you talk about the CETA programs to know they were non- existent in 1970. Mr. ELKMANN. Absolutely. Because of the allocation problems in. that and CETA being directed as it is to the low income and to the minorities and to those long-term unemployed, those are the people that are undercounted. Subsequently the program that is aimed at them is most dependent upon them and directed to them is not allocated on the basis of where they really are. It is a very important thing that the census data takes that into account and that the Federal Govern- ment take that into account in allocating funds based and targeted to people who are prone to being undercounted. The recommendations have been made about allocating, providing an allocation based on the estimate of the undercount to be seconded by our organization. In the interim that is the best solution that we can conceive of. Taking a look past that point and dealing with the prob- lem of marketing the census per se and the problem of not hiring people from the jurisdictions that are actually involved in the undercounting, we, as a training organization, feel that one of the primary reasons that that is the case is there hasn't been adequate preemployment train- ing of census takers to deal with that problem. We would be interested in seeing a national program prior to the census, even if it is short-term, implemented that would occur like a CETA program and would train census takers to meet either the test, like we do with adult education, the C-ED, or to pass the census test, if that is what it requires to reach the people that we are not now reaching, then let's implement some- thing that does that and does it in a systematic way. Mr. GARCIA. We recently had a hearing in the city of Baltimore. The city of Baltimore in the summer of 1979 took CETA workers. Do you know what they were doing, Tom? They were going in and out of the buildings in the. inner city checking as to who lived where, these are young people now, checking as to whether the apartment was vacant or PAGENO="0083" 79 whether there were tenants, how many people were living there, and all done by children and all under the CETA guidelines. The city of Baltimore is probably the most advanced in terms of looking toward the 1980 census. They were working on it in 1979. It is all related exactly to what you are saying. I think the mayor of that city was obviously so far ahead of everybody else. You can bet that Baltimore will get a fair count based on what you are talking about. Mr. ELKMANN. I think particular with CETA programs aimed at youth who live in the neighborhoods and who know who lives where in the neighborhoods, those are the kinds of programs that certainly can be used. What those individuals need is adequate training so that they can fill out the forms and so that they are filled out accurately and so that they are reported accurately. It is not a problem of their familiarity with the neighborhood or the ethnics or minorities that are there or the language or the people that are there, it is a matter of providing them with adequate training to do the job that is of the caliber that the Census Bureau requires and we all want. When you are talking about millions and millions of dollars allocated based on that, it is imperative that some program similar to that be initiated. I will reserve the rest of my comments. If you have any questions, I will be glad to entertain them. Mr. GARCIA. Just about all of you spoke of the question of the ad- justment. It is interesting that the black advisory group that has been working with the Bureau over the last several years, that their big complaint has been the question of an adjustment. The Asian group has had the question of what categories to break the Asians down into, very specific individual categories. The Hispanic advisory group was fighting for the question of bilingualism as it was related to the census, but one of the things this subcommittee is doing in preparing their report, one of the reforms that we are going to be pushing for over the next decade is that the various advisory groups, the three principal ones being black, Hispanic, and Asian-Americans, that they be formed as a committee and that they be funded appropriately so that they can function over the next decade and that it not be just window-dressing, they walk them in and walk them out, but that they actually have staff and be in a position to really make some meaningful changes at the Bureau of the Census over the next decade. I cannot respond right now tO what is going to happen in 1985 ~t the mid-decade census. I really don't know. We haven't formulated exactly what is going to go into~ that. It would be premature for me to say anything. I can assure you that this past year has been a tremen- dous experience for me personally in terms of how it relates to us as a community. Any way that you feel I can be of some help, I am ready, willing, and able to cooperate, as well as the Subcommittee on the Census and Population. I would hope that you would go back to your respective communities, and the big push has to be now to count every- body and that everybody understands the importance of the census as it is going to affect us over the next decade. Dr. SPRATLEN. If I may, just to put on another hat before leaving, in response to communications with one of your staff persons, I was in touch with the local president `of the NAACP, who sends regrets that he was unable to actually present testimony. But in our conversations, their organization is very intimately involved in outreach through a PAGENO="0084" 80 variety of communications, bulletins, workers, and certainly I am sure if he were here, would speak in support of many of the concerns that have been expressed. Thank you very much. Mr. Lowny. Thank you. STATEMENT OF DR. JOE GALLEGOS Dr. GALLEGOs. My name is Joe Ga.llegos. I am a professor of social policy at the University of `Washington, School of Social `Work. I am here on behalf of the State chapter of the National Association of Social `Workers, which includes among its members in the State, 1,500 professionals employed in hundreds of public and private health and welfare organiza.tions serving the people of the State. Minority issues are a priority for this association in the State of `Washington and more broadly in the Pacific Northwest. These concerns of the association are for all minority groups. However, my testimony is focused upon social policy implications of the census for the Nation's Northwest Hispanic population. Much of what is presented is applica- ble to other minority groups as well. The link between population count and dollar appropriations for social services and mental health services is obvious. `What is less obvi- ous is the critical importance of the changing and unchanging circum- stances of the Northwest Hispanic.s. As a Chicano resident of the Northwest since 1943, and being one of the earlier settled migrant fam- ilies, I haye seen a number of changes in the past 10 years. I have seen the esta.blisthment of the Nation's only private Chicano college in the Northwest, the establishment of a number of Hispanic social serv- ices, and more recently the establishment of the Northwest's first and only Hispanic mental health agency. Bilingual education programs have been successfully implemented in the Northwest. Yet in spite of these developments, the expanding Hispanic populations create needs `w~hich exceed these meager resources. Of critical importance in the unchanging situation of the North- west Hispanic is that in spite of the progressive civil rights legislation and affirmative action, et cetera, the Hispanics remain dispropor- tionately represented among the Nation's poor, unemployed, under- employed, undereducated, and underserved. The Northwest Hispanic situation is not different than the national situation in this respect. Recent research demonstrates that Hispanics underutilize tradi- tional mental health and social services. The cause of this situation has been attributed to such factors a.s lack of accessibility and inappropri- ateness of intervention modalities. Crucial to the documentation and further research to develop solu- tions to these problems is the appropriate count of population. In the words of one of my students, How can we answer the question of need if we can't identify the victims? Hispanic services and agencies are constantly engaged in the proc- ess of legitimizing population counts for funding purposes, but also need adequate demographic data to evaluate the effectiveness of our own interests. One exa~mple of the direct and germane linkage of the population count to the formulation and implementation of social policies and services lies in the current portion of the national His- PAGENO="0085" 81 panic initiatives which address bilingual service delivery. The notion stems from the constitutional guarantee for equal opportunity which established the Bilingual Education Act. This notion is being applied to social services and mental health delivery, the notion that would compel areas with 5 percent non-English-speaking or limited English- speaking populations to provide bilingual staff and services. Clearly the importance of the census count and Hispanic social policy cannot be overestimated. A final point must, however, be made with regard to the inadequacy of current demographic methodology in the count of migrant and sea- sonal farmworkers, as well as urban Hispanics. The limitations can in large measure be attributed to institutional racism, that is, the lack of applied interest in this population perpetuates lack of investment of national resources toward the development of appropriate and effective approaches. Until 1-lispanics are invested in their commu- nities' needs and welfare and are included in the census process, the priority of interest will remain secondary and/or superficial. In summary, then, I have heard Congressman Garcia address ini- tiatives that are being taken to address these issues, but my concern and probably my own statement is that I still see it as a perpetuation of institutional racism that this Nation certainly has the resources- I am not a demographer, I don't pretend to know the answers to how we address the problem, but I do think that our Nation has the resources, if the interest is there, to put behind dealing with these issues. Thank you. STATEMENT OP ROBERTO MAESTAS Mr. MAB5TA5. We want to thank you for your patience and your attention to what is becoming a very crucial question in our commu- nity, the question of finding out who we are, where we are, and where we are at. By way of starting, I would like to ask you if you could let me know how I can collect the $17,632 that the Census Bureau owes me, be- cause in the past 8 years we have had inquiries that have taken up something like 14 months of my working time to answer. The time it has taken for us to justify the proposals, the incredible needs that we face in our community every day of hunger, unemployment, we have had to in the last 8 years be a very visible community center and we have had a total of $3,200 to try to do a job that the 1~70 census didn't oet done. HEW gave us, and very reluctantly, gave us a little over `~3,000 to try and find out where were we, who were we, what were we doing, and the necessary data to justify CETA allocations, other human services, including the Department of Agriculture. The incredible contradiction that we are facing right now is that in spite of 8 years of having been the most visible place where people conie in desperation to look for relief, we are getting cut back re- peatedly. This morning we had our final negotiations with some CETA officials and we are on the brink of losing the only bilingual clay-care center in the region. Mr. Lown~. Is that because CETA is taking the workers out of the center? 66-270 0 - 80 - PAGENO="0086" 82 Mr. MAESTAS. Yes; definitely. We waged an intense struggle to try and get an extension while we looked for additional moneys. It is just one example of the critical nature of what we are doing here today. There is a very positive element in this whole process. Congressman Garcia is going to be influential in trying to remedy some of the crises around the miscounting or undercounting of our people. On the other hand, it looks like the money targeted in the past decade for our communities is diminishing very rapidly and we are going to have to take to the streets throughout the entire 1980's, even more so than we did in the 1970's. Maybe some people saw the 1970's as apa- thetic, and I am not sure who is saying that, but for us there was no apathy whatsoever. We have been out in the streets since 1970 and before, and we are going to have to intensify that process in the 1980's. The census is crucial because when we go out into the streets, we want to be able to slap bureaucrats on the head with some meaningful statis- tics. We will do what we can to insure that the racist policies of some of the brothers and sisters have been pointed out. We need to make this a priority for the Hispanic community because the 1980's are going to be a crisis for us undoubtedly. Thank you very much. STATEMENT OF ~EPF CASEY GASPAIt Mr. GASPAR. Congressman and concerned public, I have a prepared statement which I was planning to read, but I have told this story often enough and I think I can vary from that and it probably will be a little more effective if I just complain about the major problem which I see and which I really doubt has been addressed up to this point. I don't know of any other area where it has been mentioned. The Census Bureau tells us tl1at they are making a real effort to count the Hispanic population of this country. At least in some mini- mal aspect, and I know in large part because of the efforts of your committee in going against the bureaucrats that sit in the Bureau of the Census as permanent employees, some apparatus has been set up to achieve a full count or semifull count, let's say, of the Hispanic population. There is another problem which I have come in contact with, and this is kind of the other half of the Nation's data gathering mecha- nism, which is the Registry of Vital, Statistics. In just a moment I will suggest what this committee may be able to do to help us remedy the problem, but, first of all, let me explain the problem. In this State, and if my investigations are correct, in many other States as well, there is no information gathered on Hispa.nic birth and death rates. The information that we have from the Census Bu- reau provides us with static data. It gives us a cross section of the population at a determined moment. We do not have any information on the dynamic behavior of Hispanic population. We first became aware of this problem at the C~ncilio when we were attempting to calculate some general statistics on Hispanics in the State of `Washington. We requested that the Washington State Office of Management and Budget, Fiscal Management and Budget, give us a summary of how it is that they calculate yearly growth in the PAGENO="0087" 83 Hispanic population in the State because they do provide us with some yearly estimates. `We were told that they `base their estimates according to the black birth and death rates. `We think this is unacceptable. The Hispanic population has particular problems because of occupa- tional risks associated with agriculture and the generally unskilled positions in the agribusiness. These~ factors are further compounded by the general conditions associated with poverty. They have a partic- ularly adverse effect on the health status of Hispanics in this State in any area that does have a heavily rural migrant-type population, and I am sure in the major urban centers of this country. `Without these vital statistics, we are totally unable to measure, and therefore attempt to prevent, these associated problems. Let me just take two brief examples. The United Nations considers infant mortality rates to be the best general indication of the socio- economic status of a country. In order to calculate an infant mortality rate you have to know, one, the total population that we can get from the census. `We can get an estimate, of the total population of His- panics. Two, you have to know the number of children dying before 1 year of age that corresponds to that group. We cannot find that out. One of the most elementary, the most simple, and the most basic measures of health status of a population, and we cannot even figure out that. I think that is totally unacceptable. Mr. Lowny. Do we have that information on Caucasians? Mr. GASPAR. Yes. I will explain right now what that information is kept on. We asked the SHS about how we could go about changing this, and we were told to go talk to the World Health Organization and see if you can get them to ch~ange their category. The World 1-Iealth Organization for some reason does have in their categories several different Asian groups, Filipinos, black, white, American na- tives, Alaskan Natives, et cetera, and unfortunately Hispanics are classified with Caucasians. I frankly do not know anybody in the `World Organization. I can't talk to them. I would like to request the help of this committee to go talk to those people and see if we can do something about changing this. I don't really expect the Census Bureau to be able to do it. The Census Bureau is obviously operating in a situation of crisis right at this moment. There is a lot of resistence at the top. There is a lot of pressure at the bottom. What I would suggest is that this committee, since it is the Subcom- mittee on the Census and Population, look into the forms and explore the different means in which this data-gathering system, which I think is a statistical atrocity, can be remedied. Thank you very much. STATEMENT OP ADAN JUAREZ, NORTHWEST CHICANO HEALTH PROGRAM Mr. JUAREZ. Good afternoon. My~ name is Adan Juarez and I am here on behalf of an organization known as Northwest Chicano Health. Our principal concern is with the provision of health care to migrant and seasonal agricultural workers. PAGENO="0088" 84 At times it seems that it is a cynical system which we must confront and question the sincerity of those who say that they are interested in actually counting minorities within the general population. The Congressman mentioned a short time ago that the committee has been rebuffed by insensitive procedurally petrified bureaucrats and, unfortunately, we find this to be very true. Minorities in this area are not being hired in sufficient numbers. The targeted goal, I understand, is about 15 percent, whereas if you look at the school statistics, we rep- resent about 40 percent of the population in the Seattle school system. There is an immediate need to expand the testing mechanisms so that we might be able to assess cultural and bilingual abilities, and I believe this can be done. I think that one of the unfortunate parts of the test is that it addresses issues which are not requisite for sepa- rate portions of t.he job. The numerators do not have to be excellent clerks nor do clerks have to be excellent enumerators, but enumerators must be culturally symphonic with the people that they are attempt- ing to enumerate. The cynical attitude seems to me to be that the gen- eral testing pattern is meant to test out, and not test in, people who have the capacity to deal with specific cultural, ethnic groups. Seattle needs a community assisted center, and areas of high migrant and seasonal farmworker density populations need the same type of centers. Unfortunately, we seem to believe in America that everybody lives in cities of 500,000 or more and that those are the only ones worthy of being counted. The unfortunate aspect of that is that many of my Chicano brothers happen to be migrant, seasonal farmworkers who live in communities of 5,000 or 3,000, but the thing about it is, those are the ones who put the food on your table. They are the ones who harvest those crops and they are the most underserved because they are the least counted. I would ask that in consideration of that, you begin to review your attitude in terms of the rural versus the urban count. There are certainly not only Chicanos, but migrant and seasonal agricultura.l workers who yearly are underestimated, undercounted, underserved, and who will never achieve any type of services for which they pay so dearly with their sweat and with their tax dollars. The Bureau must begin to look at the whole process of the citizens review committees and to begin to require that these committees be representative of the communities in which the count is being taken; that we have cultural and ethnic balance in terms of reviewing the data that comes out after the statistics are developed, and I think that this is of great importance to us in terms of being able to look at where we're a.t today and what we a.re planning for. It is unfortunate, tremendously unfortunate that if you look at the vital statistics area~, as Jeff was suggesting, we don't keep separate statistics and cannot identify what's happening with some of our ethnic minorities, because I would like to indicate to you, for example, that in the Yakima Valley, fully 50 percent of the children who are tested for enteric disease have one type of intestinal parasite or an- other, identified at the State level as an intestinal parasite. It's un- fortunate that in any other context, this would have been dealt with as a fate of epedemic proportions, but because we do not keep statistics like that separate and apart, we are now condemned to looking at the PAGENO="0089" 85 general statistics for the whole population, and nothing will be de- veloped to address that problem specifically until we spend mor~ money doing specific studies which should have been covered in terms of general demographic and vital statistics data. This is one of the ways in which we are wasting money continually. That and the re- peated losses that are going to occur from the 1980 census, unless it's more accurate, are the ways in which we are going to waste money. I would suggest to you Congressmen that it is time to look analyti- cally. at the almost systematic racism that exists within the screening process and make sure that what we target is what we actually require; not 50 percent in Seattle, but 40 percent of the people being from mi- nority groups; not CAC's designated specifically or exclusively for cities of more than 500,000, but also for Yakima and for the other com- munities for which you should be vitally concerned as representative of these areas. I would suggest that it is time that we begin to make the census re- sponsible to the humans that t.hey are supposed to be counting. Thank you very much. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you very much. A very good statement. STATEMENT OP JUAN BOCANEGRA, NORTHWEST RURAL OPPORTUNITIES Mr. BOCANEGRA. Congressman Lowry and Congressman Garcia, I have a statement from the people from Moses Lake. Unfortunately, they were unable to be here. I am the regional manager for Northwest Rural Opportunities in the area of Seattle. The letter is very brief and I would like to read it. I understand there are some groups here that haven't been heard, so i~ot to say any other statements that have al- ready been said before. My testimony is in regard to the upcoming 1980 U.S. census and our concern over its ability to accurately~count all minorities as well as mi- grant and seasonal farmworkers. TO better demonstrate the need for improvement in minority population counts, I would like to share a personal experience in working with the past U.S. census. In an effort to improve mental health services to the Spanish speak- ing in Grant County, we are currently writing a grant for funding of bilingual, bicultural therapist position at the Mental Health Center. However, in the course of our research, we found that the 1970 census population statistics by race were deficient in accurately assessing total minority numbers. The data underestimated the actual size of our American-Mexican population for the following reasons. One, minorities in unincorporated areas of the county were not sur- veyed due to language barriers and lack of cultural understanding. Two, migrant and seasonal farmworkers, the majority of which are Mexican-American, were not included in the census figures, and the unincorporated rural areas of the county were not surveyed very thu- roughly. Other services, in additional mental health, have remained in- adequate in meeting the needs of the minority in the Columbia basin. Low income medical clinics are scar~ce and more day care centers for many working mothers are needed. If the census counted minorities correctly, we would see better housing in the Moses Lake, Ephrata, and Quincy region, and yet the housing conditions for many Mexican- PAGENO="0090" 86 Americans and blacks are still substandard. Even in our rural cities, councils do not abide by affirmative action policies which state that local governing bodies be reflective of the community. Not one Mexican- American or black is represented in the Moses Lake city council, de- spite the fact that these ethnic groups constitute 30 percent and 10 percent of the cities' population, respectively. Hence, as social service providers, we cannot adequately meet the needs of the minority clientele unless we have sufficient background information with which to work. We, therefore, appeal for your con- sideration of the following recommendations: One: A more thorough count of the minorities in the unincorporated areas of the Columbia Basin. Two: The census surveyor should be trained, giving all census takers a full, clear explanation as to what the census is about and how it is administered for the people's benefit. This would reduce the suspicion that some people hold that the census is an invasion of their privacy by the Government. Three: A clear definition of the migrant and seasonal farmworkers which allows the census to take a more accurate account of those who change residences frequently. Four: A better observance of the 235 home loan grant discounts for minorities, including senior and the handicapped. Many times, people who are eligible for those housing discounts are not made aware of them. Finally: We feel that the census count of minorities would help the representation of local city councils to better reflect all groups of the population. We would appreciate receiving your response to our concern on these issues. Thank you. Mr. GARCIA. Thank you all very much. Just let me say this to you, if I may. Unfortunately, I have a plane that I have to catch. I have to get back to New York, but I appreciate very much that you have come before us, and I appreciate very much last night; you people were very kind in having me over and I appre- ciate all that you were able to do. I just want to assure you, as I go back to Washington, that my office is your office, and you should feel totally and completely free to call me or to spend time there or whatever the case might be. Mr. LowRY. Chairman Garcia, I know you have to catch a 6 o'clock plane, but we want you to know how much we appreciate your flying out here yesterday and turning around and flying back. It has bee.n a sacrifice on your part and we appreciate it. Mr. GARCIA. As long as we are throwing flowers, every time I have asked him for a vote on any issue that affected poor people, minorities, Congressman Lowry has always been there. You know, politicians al- ways say that about each other; we are always patting each other on the back and we sometimes break our arm patting each other so hard. The fact is that Mike has always been there and that's why I am here, because he was always there and I just think that this is one part of the world, in this country, that we have not touched base with in terms of the Census Subcommittee. It's just like any other city; it's a conglomeration made up of many different people, and the next 10 PAGENO="0091" 87 years are going to be very important in~ Seattle, Mike, and. I want to thank all of you. Mr. Lowny. Thank you. I would like to ask one thing. I want to get to kind of a tough question here; it. seems to me that it is. You know, there are employers that take extensive advantage of undocumented workers, period. The correct way to say it is slave trade, but now, I have been thinking, ever since we had, a panel this morning that had a lot to do with farmworkers. This panel, again, is primarily Chicano. Do you feel that there is resistance by employers, in most cases, in this case it would be farmers, that don't want a count? I mean, how do we get a count when they are trying to tell us they don't have undocumented workers that they are taking advantage of? It seems to me some way we've got to get a handle on that to get to the importance of this question. Mr. JUAREZ. I beleive that the cause of distrust goes more to the general attitude of what the purpose~of the census is, and the informa- tion of our community and its willingness to participate in that process. I think what we have to do is use culturally appropriate channels of communication to tell the people that being counted does not mean being identified, or isolated for the purposes of deportation. As a matter of fact, one of the re~commendations that I was going to make to the committee was that a moratorium on deportations be instituted for 1 year after every census, that there be no deportation of migrant or seasonal farmworkers who are here under questionable legal circumstances, because what we are faced with is, we have the problem in reality, and we are not dealing with it effectively because we are obviating the truth. If we lie 1~o ourselves, how can we efficiently provide services for a population that we refuse to acknowledge exists. I don't know if anybody has anything else. Mr. LOWRY. I know, if I were going to lose my job, I wouldn't fill one out. Mr.. JUAREZ. Your job, your position, your livelihood, and be de- ported; in addition, of course, you're not going to fill out the form. Mr. MAESTAS. The question of undocumented workers is not a rural phenomenon. As a matter of fact, the factories, most usually the most menial jobs and the ones where there is little or no union activity, that is primarily where they are at. So it's an urban crisis. Mr. JUAREz. We referred to the uestion of undocumented work- ers. I always like to remind people that those can very well be Mex- ican farmworkers, but they can also be Iranian students and also, you know, other people from other countries. I think we place an unfair burden on the agricultural industry when we say that they are the exclusive promoters of this process. That's certainly not true. We don't find it true in social service agencies, working in the innercities where we have a much greater population than was ever told, that we were ever told that we were supposed to serve. Mr. LOWRY. The previous Secretary of the Treasury- Mr. MAESTAS. Without people who are acting in the community being in the process of the census thking, the undercount is going to be vast this year. They are not going to trust somebody they have not seen. They are a very small, tightly knit community; small in the sense of overall community, but we are getting bigger all the time. PAGENO="0092" 88 Mr. JUAREZ. Trust is the oniy thing that the community agencies have going for them, and unless we look at that whole rule about 500,000 for a community assistance center and begin to look at it in terms of really honestly being dedicated, counting people appro- priately and adequately, and unless we start assigning roles to com- munity agencies in that function, we are never going to get an accurate count. Mr. Lowny. Thank you very much. Bob Saunders is next. STATEMENT OP BOB SAUNDERS, SOUTH PUGET SOUND TRIBAL PLANNING AGENCY Mr. SAtJNDERS. I am Bob Saunders, the director of South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency, which is a consortium of four Indian tribes in the Olympia area. The major concern of the four tribes that I work for is that the procedures of the 1980 census will not and cannot result in an ac- curate count of the tribal service populations, because those procedures will be unable to account for the off-reservation population. The situation for these four tribes, like most of the other tribes in western Washington, is that a significant number of the popula- tion live off the reservation, due to lack of either low-income housing, land, General Allotment Act many years ago, and just the plain prox- imity of town. One of the tribes I work with is the Squaxon Island Tribe. It's an extreme case because they are an island in the Sound. There is no ferry, there is no bridge, there is no fresh water, and there is no popu- lation on the reservation. The point is that out of these four tribes, at the most, 50 percent of the population live on the reservation, yet the other people come to the reservation for services. Facilities, staff, and programs are needed to serve two to five times the amount of people that actually reside on the reservation. Indian Health Service has long dealt with this situation and rec- ognizes the concept called the service area, and that concept is essen- tial for Puget Sound tribes. I understand that the census will eventually result in identifying native Americans, to some extent a.t least, in the off-reservation areas. Unfortunately, that data is not going to be added, will not be able to be added to the reservation population in order to come up with some kind of a service area.. For example, a family living in Mason County, off the reservation, may have a Skykomish parent, a Yakima parent, Ya.kima children, and a Squaxon grandparent in the same household. That family will show up in three different columns or rows in a census report. Like Humpty Dumpty, it will be impossible to put them together again to determine which of the two tribes in Mason County they actually utilize for services. The significance of this is that if, after 1980, many Federal agen- cies refuse to use anything but the official census data for a funding program, there will be a great inequity for the Northwest tribes. The funding allocations will not reflect the true service populations and, PAGENO="0093" 89 furthermore, tribes with relatively small populations, like Squaxon Island or Nisqually, will be hurt even more. It is clearly ironic that after the BIA policies of the 1950's and early 1960's of encouraging Indians to leave the reservation, the census is now making a special effort to count those Indians that remain. I would like to point out that I am not really talking to the urban Indian situation, but to the county-small town Indian situation, if you would; that population that is, let's say, within 25 miles of the reservation. One way it might have been solved is that a question might have been included to ask native Americans what tribe they utilized for services as well as which t.ribe they are members of. That wasn't done, either in the long form or the short form or on the special Indian supplement. So I think for these tribes, at least in Puget Sound,. it's going to be a problem. I think it is really imperative that the Federal agencies in region X be advised officially that this situation exists and they will have to, for some time, accept BIA or tribal data in order to accurately judge tribal needs, because the on-reservation population is no measure for most of the Puget Sound tribes. Mr. LOWERY. Would BIA have a more accurate count? I mean, would they have the off-reservation count? Mr. SAUNDERS. Yes, the tribes know who the off-reservation people are. They come to the tribe, they receive medical services. They come to meetings. They generally participate in what happens on the res- ervation. The only real list, I believe, is probably the mailing list, and that's probably difficult for the census to deal with, but that is the situation in the area. So the tribes know, and that information is sort of filtered through the Bureau, more or less accurately, over the years. Dr. FERBER. I was going to say, there was an instance I think, follow- ing the 1970 census, in which the tribal registers were used in lieu of revenue shering figures, at one point. They were generated from the Bureau, the actual registers. Mr. SAUNDERS. Again, membership, a tribal roll or a register is probably membership and again, because of the intermarriage situa- tion, you might have one Skykomish Indian in a family that lives near the Skykomish Reservation, `but four other family members who are enrolled in another tribe. It is difficult to get to, I recognize, but I think the point needs to be made here. Mr. LOWRY. Are there off-reservation services utilized by the off- reservation, but certain things, like schools, for example, or whatever, reservation? In other words, do they utilize services someplace else, downtown? Mr. SAUNDERS. I think to a large extent they utilize services on the reservation, but certain things, like schools for example, or whatever, they are part of the general populatiOn, but a lot of specialized services do come through the reservation. ` Mr. LOWRY. That's what I thought. Thank you very much, Bob. Sharon Carrol is next. PAGENO="0094" 90 STATEMENT OP SHARON CARROL, BLUE MOUNTAIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL Ms. CARROL. My name is Sharon Carrol and I represent Blue Moun- tain Economic Development Council. We are a community action agency located in northeastern Oregon, primarily rural. We began attempts to coordinate with the Census Bureau last May. We wrote to them, offered assistance as far as recruitment. `We would give them space for testing, helping them locate low-income people in particular, and we never received a response. It took a trip to Seattle today to get in touch, to find out whom to contact in Oregon as far as coordinating with the census. That's a lot of unreturned phone calls and letters, on and off. One of the reasons that our board, in particular, was very interested in setting up a working relationship is because we are basically grant funded, and recently in our area the jurisdictions have had three dif- ferent sources come in, and they have come up with three different views as far as how many minorities, how large a population, those types of things. They were very concerned that it be accurate. This is all despite the fact that the Department of Commerce and the Community Services Administration have developed a letter of under- standing that they will coordinate together. So we are kind of caught in a bind there, all the way around. One thing that I would strongly encourage is that the census does use community action programs and other community based organiza- tions in finding the people out there. They have the built-in network and it would certainly ease everyone, all the way around. Mr. LoWRY. Sharon, thank you. I assume you have now talked with Ricker Dan and gotten the communication problem straightened out? Ms. CARROL. No. Actually, the way I got connected up was someone who isn't directly related to the census, and they gave me the contacts of the names of the people, all the way down. Mr. LoWRY. I am sure that they will work on that. Thank you. STATEMENT OP RICHARD BROWN, CITY OP SEATTLE COMPLETE COUNT COMMITTEE Mr. BROWN. My name is Richard Brown. I am the director of com- munity organizing at the central area motivation program. I am also the chairperson for the media subcommittee of the mayor's complete count committee. I would like to ask specifically that you Congressmen ask of Con- gressman Garcia to please listen to the tape of this testimony, inas- much as I feel that it is very important. It's a statement from the mayor's complete count committee to the Congressional Subcommit- tee on Census and Population. I am speaking today on behalf of our 21-member complete count committee representing 13 minority organizations, as well as a num- ber of community organizations and businesses. Meeting since Decem- ber, we have amassed a number of concerns of unmet needs which must be promptly addressed in order to insure a fair and complete count. PAGENO="0095" 91 You are our last hope, for at this point we are beginning to question the sincerity of the Federal Government. Does the Government really want all minorities counted? Some of the planning or lack of planning leads us to think otherwise. Your prompt attention to these matters will not only reassure u~, but more importantly, will increase the likeli- hood of a more accurate census count. Your efforts will correct some of the planning errors, errors which we hope are not malicious, but just represent errors in judgment. Seattle, rather than subscribing to the melting pot theory of the east coast, sees itself more as a salad bowl. Unlike a melting pot, which carries the assumption that everyone is the same, we feel it is necessary to recognize the inherent differences of the various ethnic cultures contained within this region. Each different ingredient in our salad is essentially recognizable, excuse me, is easily recognizable, yet when tossed together, each lends its own particular taste to the overall flavor of our fair city. You and your commitee have the ability and power to bring about the following needed changes, and we urge you to do so. One: The census forms need to be printed and readily available in the following languages: Vietnamese; we have over 6,000 Vietnamese in the Seattle, King County area. Most speak little English, let alone reading or writing it. Laotian; over 1,800 refugees from Laos are here, again, with great language barriers. Cambodians; we have over 1,500 Indochinese refugees from this country in Seattle, King County. Almost all are non-English-speaking.~ Samoan; over 3,000 Polynesians have come here in the last decade alone. Korean; we have over 6,000 among this area's population. Chinese; we have many thousands of non-English-speaking ethnic Chinese in the Northwest. We should point out that while we have many Japanese and Filipino people in. this area, they, for the most part, have been here for several genera- tions and it is our understanding that they do not have as great a need as do the previously mentioned nationalities. So we would suggest that the six languages previously mentioned will effectively complement the already printed English and Spanish forms. Again, they are Viet- namese, Laotians, Cambodians, Samoans, Koreans, and Chinese. Two: We feel that a multilingual census hotline needs to be made available across the country to answer census-related questions and to assist people in the completion of their forms. Suggested numbers would be TJSA-1980 or perhaps 1-808-Census. This would be most helpful and would substantially aid illegal aliens by providing ano- nymity. Three: We feel a compelling need for assistance centers here. We suggest utilizing already established social service centers where the functionally illiterate, the frightened, non-English speaking and others can come for help. It would b,e ideal if the enumerators avail- able were made up of their own people, their own community leaders and activitists, et cetera. Also, they could receive assurances of the necessity for and the confidentiality of the census, from the people they trust. After all, confidentiality really comes into play after the submission of the census questionnaire, and not necessarily during its preparation. Another reason is that the current employment payment plan is far too low. It encourages skipping people, at best, or curbstoning and PAGENO="0096" 92 cheating, at worst. Assistant centers could greatly help to minimize these negative possibilities. Four: Enumerators are required to deal with people in their own geographic areas, but in this part of the country an enumerator may have to deal with people speaking a number of unfamiliar languages in a single block. Because of this we suggest that when an enumerator encounters a non-English speaking individual that he or she would, then, direct them to an assistance center or hotline operator. That enumerator should be compensated with extra money for providing these additional services, if the efforts are successful. This small bonus would be far better than a falsified document or no document at all. Five : We understand that the Federal Government is allowing social security recipients to become temporary census takers without being penalized by counting these meager earnings as income. However, in a recent conversation with social security personnel we were informed that all income is declared as income and that census income is no ex- ception. Therefore, we respectfully submit that the social security per- sonnel, as well as recipients, are not completely aware of the exemption policy. Perhaps fuFther communication is needed. Six : The Federal Government must not only permit, but also encóur- age States to allow public assistance recipients to earn census money without being, without it being deducted from their checks. We have a particular concern in that our own State chose to ignore this per- mission. The encouragement offered to the State of Washington ob- viously was not sufficient. Therefore, we would request that the Federal Government give Washington State a stronger nudge. The short range savings is also shortsighted, for these temporary census jobs may well be many people's first tentative steps toward full employment, a step that we should all encourage. Seven: Currently the hiring of minorities in Seattle is being done by making a visual judgment of the individual's race or etimicity. This makes it very difficult to hire the needed minorities without asking their race. When our hiring subcommittee asked, we found that only a lump sum of minorities is known. We suggest that specific job descrip- tions be developed to hire bilingual enumerators, that is, to hire six people with the ability to speak Laotian and English, along with the basics necessary to do the job. This would insure the right proportions of bilingual enumerators being hired. This is an important point, for Washington ranks fourth among the 50 States in Indochinese popula- tion and it continues to grow at a rate of 500 per month, with addi- tional refugees coming from other States where they had initially settled. Seattle needs to hire many minorities for the census in order to have the correct proportion to do the job well. Eight: The Bureau Census should also make part-time enumerator positions available to bilingual people on evenings and weekends. Most of these people already have full time employment, but may want to lend their skills to the census. In addition, in order to reach all people we need to have enumerators working evenings and week- ends. As a corollary to this the Census Bureau should have testing sites and testers available for evening and weekend testing of applicants. We have already identified potential sites for this purpose. Nine, the handicapped have been short sheeted again. They should have been enumerated by the 1980 census. We have national policies to PAGENO="0097" 93 better serve the handicapped and yet we have forgotten them again or deleted them for reasons of so called sensitivity. Ten, it is our understanding that a supplementary questionnaire will be provided to native Americans. We further understand that this questionnaire will only be administe~red on the reservations. It is im- portant to have a complete count of Indians ofF the reservations, as well as on the reservations, in order that they may also benefit from the assistance granted to those residing on the reservation. The fact is, Seattle has one of the largest urban Indian populations in the United States with a large variation of tribes. Considering the number of urbanized Indians we need this social economic data and it will be missed if Indians in urban areas are not given the supplementary questionnaire. As you may be aware, people who are one-fourth Indian or more are generally registered with the tribal centers or the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribal centers on each reservation have listings of names and addresses of all native American residents which can be utilized in reaching the urban Indians by mail. Another peculiarity is having Indian individuals hand write their tribal affiliations on the form. This information does not get picked up by the computer, plus many native Americans have more than one tribal affiliation. Only the first tribe listed is used for coding purposes. Perhaps the ques- tionnaire can be hand coded for the computer. Eleven, the same way that many Indians have more than one tribal affiliation, many Americans are interracial. The notion of filling one circle on the census form is inadequate. For example, which circle would an individual whose mother is Japanese and whose father is native American fill? This is especially important in Seattle where so many marriages cross racial lines. In summation, we feel that the National Advisory Committee should have included all minorities. Seemingly left out were native Americans, blacks and in particular recent immigrant groups who need special attention in this, their first census. As the mayor's complete count committee we are trying to grapple with the very problems of a com- plete count. We have found what ~e consider to be serious problem areas, yet when we have attempted to make corrective suggestions we have repeatedly been given the same response from the Census Bureau, "No changes now, procedures are set, it's too late." We would like to point out to you that many of our suggestions are not new. They were made sometime ago. Some as long as 4 years ago, at regional meetings. We make these same suggestions to you in the committee now. We are indeed pleased to have you here, to be able to share our concerns with you, face to face, and we leave you with the same ques- tion as which we began. Does the Government really want all minorities counted? Thank you. Mr. LOWRY. Excellent statement, Richard. We hope that again within the selection within the field offices of the enumerators and the emphasis put on by our field offices that we can, in this census, have some effect, on these problems. Then, as Chairman Garcia had said earlier, we also have some long range things that we hope we will correct by next time, but if we do a good job in our field offices we can, at least, address some of these problems this year. PAGENO="0098" 94 Mr. BROWN. Again, we would urge you to implement as many of the suggestions as you possibly can. For those that you are not able to implement on this decennial census, we hope that they could be brought forth in the quinquennial census and naturally in 1990. Mr. Lowar. Thank you very much for your statement. STATEMENT OP LOLA ROMERO, UNITED INDIANS OP ALL TRIBES Ms. ROMERO. My name is Lola Romero and I am here on behalf of Bernie White Bear and the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation and many of the Indians that are living here in Seattle. I have talked to many of our leaders and asked them what they would like to be said here. First of all, we feel that we are going to be kind of looked over, kind of pushed aside. After reading and researching all the material that we have from the census, every time the question or a question was raised, we have some minutes from large meetings that were held in Sacramento, Los Angeles and Oklahoma, regarding Indians and some- how they went around answering the question, that there was no an- swer, how can you count urban Indians. It seems if you are not living on a reservation and you choose to live in the city, then, somehow you have lost your native American status. Some people say, you know, I feel a lot of Indians don't really, when they get the census forms and things they are just going to push them aside. Why care if you're not really going to be counted right. You a.re not marked as a.n Indian. We have over probably 60, 70 tribes in Seattle. We find that your Indians in Seattle, you know, we are helping, we are the first Ameri- cans as far as I know my history. We are willing, we can see this need to help all the people that are here, the Vietnamese, the Chinese, we are working together, yet there isn't too much said about the first Americans. We can check the BIA rolls and everything like that, but not every Indian, who is an Indian, keeps up current residence with any reserva- tion. Some Indians are landless, they refuse to sign a treaty, they re- fuse to sell their land, they are marked as landless Indians. You are not within a reservation, yet you have Indian blood. Mr. Lownr. Isn't it also true that in the past the Government has abrogated rights and paid for those,. so that all that was left was cash which the.n meant they lost their resource and it's gone? That is true, incidentally, that's just on another issue. * Ms. R.OMERO. Also with the people that's true, but also with the people who I have found working here in the census, many of the informations that we have come up with, we find that they are ignor- ant. They don't know anything about the native American history. If we come up with something new and we tell them, no, that's not true, we can't get a hold of everyone off the tribal rolls in the BIA office, because they are not there, they are not listed. I have asked some people that work with the census, what's the definition of an Indian. Definition of an Indian, a.s the census, if you say you are an Indian, then, you are an Indian. Mr. FERRELL. Have you seen the census forms? In the question, on a 100 percent basis, allows for an individual to identify themselves as PAGENO="0099" 95, an Indian and to mark the tribe. You don~t think that that's ade- quate, is that what I am getting? I mean, are you trying to make a distinction between urban Indians and those that perhaps live else- where and why, if the form is going to 100 percent- Ms. ROMERO. It is not going to be 100 percent, as far as I have found out so far. I understand that the long form or the supplemental, sup- plementary questionnaire is just kind of chosen out of the 20 percent, at random kind of thing and they are going to get this count which is supposed to be a social economic data account and they say that they can get this information from only the 20 percent. Mr. FERRELL. Let's ask the Bureau to clarify that. The question is that the form, the supplemental form or the regular census form, will not necessarily contain what we would consider the race question on the census form. Mr. SCHWEITZER. Question No. 4, the race question asks, are you and asks you to fill in and circle. If you circle American Indian you are asked to fill in your tribal affiliation. This will be hand coded. Mr. FERRELL. Will that appear on all forms? Mr. SCHWEITZER. It appears on every form, the long forms and short forms. Consequently, everybody that receives a census question- naire will have the opportunity to fill in their race, American Indian and their tribal affiliation. Mr. FERRELL. The supplemental questions are only given on the reservations; is that correct? Mr. SCHWEITZER. Yes, and that's in addition to the basic informa- tion in the short form which includes the tribal affiliation plus the race of the individual. Mr. FERRELL. Does that answer yoUr question? I just want to under- stand exactly. Ms. ROMERO. No, not really. As for myself I really understand none of it, but from what I have been talking to other people, they would like that, just because you are not living on the reservation you are still an Indian. You are living here. The same question should be asked from those people, you have the same blood. Like your sister on brother may be on the reservation, they get this form. The correct data, from what they need, if they are separating us, urban Indian, reservation Indian, if you want these benefits that you can get from living on a reservation, if you move to a city you are losing those benefits. Mr. FERRELL. You are suggesting, then, that the supplemental questionnaire should be included in- Ms. ROMERO. That was the recommendation. If you are an Indian, then, perhaps-I understand if you need the Spanish form, you. can check a box and it comes back. If you are a native American and you would like to have this information on yourself, maybe you can have that noted and send them the supplementary questionnaire, if you are in the city. Mr. FERRELL. The issue, as far as you are concerned, is the supple- mental questionnaire being more widely circulated? Ms. ROMERO. Maybe also the tribal affiliation, like you said. You are more than one tribe. You've got to, they've separated them that way also. I don't know how to solve the problem. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you. PAGENO="0100" 96 Richard, did you have something? Mr. BROWN. I just had a couple of points to add. One is, I and most of my coworkers are very glad that you are con- centrating on people of Spanish extraction in this census, inasmuch as it is guesstimated that 14 percent were overlooked. I would like to also state that we would urge all census people to encourage all minorities, and especially black people, being one of those, I think I would be remiss in not mentioning that, atleast, 7 per- cent were overlooked in 1970. To expound on Lola's statement. I have a coworker whose father is half black and half Indian and her mother is half Jewish, I think it's half Aleut, something like that. The point is, she is in a quandary as to what in the world she would check. She has a choice to make about checking one box and she doesn't know what to check. I can sympathize with her. There are many people that I have run across that very simply just don't know what to check. If a native American is of two tribes and he puts down both tribes, as we understand it, only that first tribe is entered. It is beautiful that you are going to hand code things, that's nice, in order to get it on the computer, but it may be good to make an effort to hand code, say, at least two, if a person has more than one ethnicity. Thank you. Mr. LOWRY. Thank you very much. We appreciate your testimony. It has been very important. Dr. Wiegman is next. STATEMENT OF EUGENE WIEGMAN, WASHINGTON STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY Dr. 1Vi~GMAx. Thank you, Mike. My name is Eugene Wiegman, the commissioner of employment security. Governor Ray wants to thank you and your committee also, and she is very pleased and she wanted me to especially say that. I was with her at noon and she especially knew that I would be here and wanted you to be apprised of the fact that she knows that you and your colleagues, of course, were here and to thank you for that. You have heard so much today and I just simply am going to tell you our concern, very quickly, and unfortunately I have to be right out of here to do something else, if you don't mind. Our interest primarily is, of course, how the census will address it- self to the employment in the State of Washington. As you well know, many of the congressional programs are targeted and you probably heard that today. Looking at your distinguished list of those who have testified, I am sure you have talked about that. But also, I simply want to point out that since my office administers the balance of State for CETA, among other kinds of programs, how important it is for us to have a fairly accurate count as we prepare our employment esti- mates for counties and subcounty areas and that the kinds of areas, and people, and nationalities, and others that you address yourself to are very important, the CETA programs, employment, and the like. There are, however, three areas that we specifically would like to draw your attention to. I am sure once again you have heard a great PAGENO="0101" 97 deal about it, but the first one is the handicapped group and I do have the responsibility to chair and finance the Governor's committee on the hiring of the handicapped and their concern, as expressed to me, has been that the census does not do an adequate job, especially in what they call the followup questions on the category of the handicapped, in that they believe you are not going to have the kind of adequate infor- mation dealing with the categories of mental, physical, and sensory disabilities, and that by Governor Ra.y's recent executive order which includes the handicapped as an affirmative action plan, we are afraid that we are not going to be able tO do a good job because we are not getting the kind of information that is necessary. The Governor and I would especially like to draw your attention to that. The other one that I am sure you heard a great deal about, and that's the Hispanics, especially the magrant workers. That, once again, falls within my area of responsibility for the State of Washington. Agricul- tural housing and seasonal farm workers and I am sure you have had adequate testimony on that. We want to reinforce that testimony. Another group that you heard adequately defined and very nicely presented just a few minutes ago and that's the Indochinese popula- tion in `the State and that's a growing concern. We are interested in that. I don't know whether or not, Mike, you have heard about the con- cern we have had for the Gypsy population in this State. This is the first time, and let me bring this to your attention, there is a large number of Gypsy population and as you well know they have a lan- guage, and it's a language that's not written down. And Gypsies tra- ditionally are very hesitant to volunteer information. The nearest estimate that we have is that there are probably maybe as many as 2 million in the United States. I have talked to a Mr. Dean Morgan about it. We are talking about some kind of special program right now. The king of the Gypsies of the United States lives in Tacoma, Miller Stevens, and he and I have:been in touch with the Census Bu- reau. Ron Priddy, my assistant, went back to Washington for a couple of things in December, met with the high ranking officials in the Cen- sus Bureau, we did not get very far. Two weeks ago Governer Ray personally wrote a letter to President Carter, expressing her concern that the Gypsies especially be noted in the census. That letter, as I just mentioned to you, was just mailed and we have not gotten a re- sponse back from the President. We feel very keenly about that, be- cause they are a population, a target of population oftentime over- looked. By and large, that's what we want to talk about. We think it is very important for the employment data, for the State and that these groups, especially the handicapped, the Hispanics, the Indochinese, and the Gypsies, be expressly considered. We are very concerned, obviously, about the black population, too, but I am sure that others have expressed that more eloquently and more knowledgeably than I can. Jobs are the important thing and we believe that many good programs of the Federal Government address themselves to groups and we want to be able to identify them and have good counts. Otherwise, we are very complimentary of what you are doing and thank you for the time and, at least, to let you know we are interested in what you are doing. 66-270 0 - 80 - 8 PAGENO="0102" 98 Mr. LOWRY. Thank you very much. [The prepared statement foflows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF ETJGENE WIEGMAN, Co~rMIssIoNER, WASHINGTON STATE SECURITY DEPARTMENT Congressman Garcia, Congressman Lowry, and members of the Subcommittee on Census, I wish to extend my compliments to you for your high level of con- cern about the critical issues relating to conducting the U.S. census. Governor Ray has asked me to express her appreciation to you for taking the time to come here to learn first hand about the unique concerns of our State. My basic message to you today is that the 1980 census is of critical importance to the State of Washington and that it is extremely important to us: (1) That every person be counted. (2) That we have as much information about the number and location of the various population groups within our State as possible. I. NEW CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT POSSIBLE The results of the 1980 Census will shape the destiny of the people of the State of Washington more so than any census in recent decades. This will be the case because of a number of social and political changes that are taking place here. These include: (1) A rapidly growing population. (2) Increasing ethnic heterogeneity. (3) Availability of a wide variety of Governmental programs to serve public needs. (4) Growing public mood of reducing public spending. Fundamental political rights of the citizens of the State of Washington are at stake in this census. The broadest impact of the Census may be the oppor- tunity for the people of this State to be eligible for additional representation in Congress. This of course would be due to increased population that is resulting from the favorable economic conditions that prevail. Because of the fundamental importance to our governmental system of the right of representation, it is incumbent upon those who are conducting the Census to do it with the same level of care as would be accorded an election process. These rights are interrelated and equal in degree of importance to one another. I therefore urge this committee to keep this fundamental purpose in mind as you exercise your oversight responsibilities. II. PUBLIC EXPENDITURES FOR TARGETED POPULATION GROUPS An equally important impact of the census on the State of Washington, as well as in all other States, will be its effect on governmental decision-making at all levels-Federal, State and local. There are few single activities of the Federal Government that will affect domestic programs in the U.S. and in the State of Washington in the decade of the eighties as much as will the results of this Census. The U.S. Census has been and will continue to be the most com- prehensive and basic source of data on the number, location and characteristics of our population. Not only is it used by Federal decision-makers, but State and local officials are also dependent upon its information. This data will be relied on probably for the next 10 years. (Unless, of course, there is a mid- decade census.) In our era of governmental belt tightening, decision-makers at all levels are looking more and more to "hard data" on which to base priorities and funding decisions. Therefore, those population groups for which there is good Census data will be far more likely to find a responsive ear among decision-makers. Those for which rata are not available will likely lose out, through no fault of their own, and perhaps irrespective of their needs. We must assure that our basic data tool is the best it can possibly be and that it treats all population groups equitably. There are many in our State who are concerned that some population groups might be undercounted or not counted at all in the curent census. I share these concerns. As commissioners of employment security, responsible for decision- making on hundreds of millions of dollars annually for employment programs that serve many of the people of our State, I need to have the best information PAGENO="0103" ~99 possible in order to assure that the programs accomplish their goals to the great- est extent possible. I know that the Governor and other cabinet members share this concern. The need for population data affects many programs in addition to employment. Also affected are a wide variety of health, social service, educa- tional, housing and economic assistance programs. Revenue sharing is also likely to be affected. Many of these programs are based on targeting various population groups in specific geographic areas. Basically, everyone has a stake in what the census results are, with some having more of the stake than others. I urge you to consider carefully what you are hearing from many of these groups appearing before you today. There are a number of population groups concerned they might be under- represented in census results, I share these concerns: A. Handicapped-The high level of public concern about the handicapped has been well demonstrated. I regret the decision by the administration not to fund the follow-up question on the category of the handicapped that is being addressed in this 1980 census. Information in the 1980 census is meaningless and will not break down into the categories of mental, physical or sensory disabiilties. This could have a devastating effect in the number of areas such as planning pro- grams. To serve the handicapped is impossible and grants are meaningless with- out statistics or numbers to support the grant and program. Furthermore, the State of Washington is impacted by Governor Ray's executive order to include handicapped as an affirmative action plan for all State agencies with goals and timetables. Without an accurate population base it is impossible to address con- cerns equally of all handicapped groups. B. Diverse ethnic groups.-Washington is a State that is experiencing increas- ing ethnic diversity. The Hispanic communities of our State are a good example. Hispanics are a large and growing population group in the State of Washington. Agriculture is our number one industry in the State and is continuing to grow, as more and more acres are continuing to be irrigated and planted. Each year a large number of migrant farmworkers, many of whom are of Hispanic descent, come to the State for agricultural employment. There is a serious concern that this significant population group may `be undercounted. This could occur due to the fact that they move from location to location, often tend to be located in somewhat remote areas, have language problems and lack experience in complet- ing forms. Good data on this population group has been very difficult to obtain in the past. We look forward to good data from the census. It would be particularly valuable to the efforts being made by Federal, State and local governments and private non-profit organizations to attempt to meet some of the critical housing needs of this group, as well as other related needs. As a second example we have a growing Indo-Chinese population in the State. This is a result both of the disruptionS taking place in Asia and the Puget Sound area being the nation's principal gateway to the orient. Many programs are attempting to reach this population group. Further, we have large black popula- tions in several urban areas of the State about which we have had continuing needs for up-to-date data. Many employment and other programs attempt to target each of these groups. Finally, a little recognized group are the Gypsies. Since the first census in 1790 there has been confusion and lack of~ information about Gypsies in the U.S. It has been estimated that up to one million live in the country and we believe a substantial number live in this State. Certain of their unique characteristics, including the fact the Gypsy language is only spoken and not written, may have contributed to their never having been counted. With respect to these and other population groups, I encourage the oversight committee to pay careful attention that they are accurately counted. To success- fully administer programs in the best interests of the groups they are intended to serve, the best data possible is needed. I recommend that where possible the Bureau of the Census employ members of the respective population groups in- volved to assist with the count. Consideration should also be given to consulta- tion with those community agencies who work daily with these target groups as a method of reaching such populations. These actions should minimize inadvertent omissions in the count. III. EMPLOYMENT DATA The condition of our State and national economies, of course, under- lies all our activities and aspirations. Our economy and our ability to pro- vide jobs to meet the needs of our population always have been and always will be one of our Nation's and State's top priorities. There is seemingly no end of debate on how economic goals should be achieved or what the implications might PAGENO="0104" 100 be of various policy alternatives. We clearly need as much good data as possible to assist in our national and State decisionmaking on these issues. Accurate census data are essential to the preparation of reliable estimates of employment and unemployment, as well as for developing data needed for other program purposes as I outlined earlier. In developing employment estimates for the State of Washington, we use census data to establish the base, or benchmark, for subsequent estimates of: (1) Nonfarm wage and salary employment by place of residence. (2) Nonagricultural self-employment. (3) Agricultural employment. We rely on census data in preparing employment estimates for county and sub- county areas. We also use census data in preparing unemployment estimates below the labor market area level. The unemployment rates and levels estimated by the employment security Department for the State, counties and cities are used in turn by the Federal Government in making revenue sharing allocations and in determining the eligi- bility of areas for participation in many other Federal assistance programs. We must prepare a wide variety of socioeconomic and demographic estimates for program planning purposes for the many complex programs we administer. In their preparation, we rely heavily on census data. The census data we use most frequently include: (1) Employment and unemployment data by sex and ethnic group. (2) Occupational distribution. (3) Income distribution. (4) Age distribution. (5) Data on handicapped individuals. Census information on handicapped individuals, including handicapped vet- erans, would be especially useful in developing affirmative action data for use by employers in the preparation of their affirmative action goals. Lacking census data on the handicapped, we must rely on administrative data which is far from complete because not all handicapped individuals utilize the services of the em- ployment security department. CONCLUSION Again, in conclusion, my basic message is that the 1980 census is of critical importance to the State of Washington and that it is extremely important to us: (1) That every person be counted. (2) That we have as much information about the number and location of the various population groups within our State as possible. If I can be of any assistance to this committee please contact me. Thank you again for coming to the State of Washington. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. Mr. Lownr. I just was going to mention that we would hope that the State could p~rticipate in the effort to get t.he information out, the pub- licity effort, to get the information out to get the participation of indi- viduals, because as you say, it's very important to State government, just like it is to every other unit. Dr. WIEGMAN. We would be happy to. Will somebody be in touch with us to help us do that? Mr. LowRY. I would hope the census people will work with you. Thank you and our best to the Governor. Rudy Cruz is next. STATEMENT OF RUDY CRUZ, HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE-REGION X Mr. CRUZ. Congressman, my name is Rudy Cruz and I am on the staff of the regional office of HEW. I am making a statement today on behalf of Bernard Kelly, who is presently on special assignment to Washington with the Office of Refugee Affairs. He asked me to give this testimony for him, because he could not make the hearing. I would like to focus on two groups also, that have `been very well addressed here today. I am sorry that we couldn't have gone before PAGENO="0105" iloi those groups. We would have looked much better. We look like an echo chamber at this point. I refer specifically to migrant seasonal farmworkcrs and to the Indochinese refugees. These two groups have been and continue to be of great concern to HEW, and to~ other human services agencies. In the fall of 1976 HEW region X contracted to conduct a rather exhaustive 15-month evaluation study of the accessibility of 14 human resource service programs to migrant seasonal farmworkers in three agricultural valleys in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Among its major conclusions the evaluation report found that there was virtually no accurate, current, and useful demographic data on migrant and sea- sonal farm workers. Some, although not all of this problem, can be attributed to the nature of the work performed and to the consequent mobility of migrant farmworkers. State and local government service providers interviewed in the study, and there were well over 100 people interviewed, school administrators, welfare, and health officials, were generally in agreement that useful data was nonexistent. In the absence of an accurate count and some basic information regarding the charac- ter and needs of this population it is, of course, impossible to plan serv- ice programs or to assess the extent to which they are meeting the health and social service needs of migrant seasonal farmworkers. The evaluation study also found that 75 percent of the 450 migrants interviewed for the study preferred to communicate in Spanish and only 55 percent felt they could communicate effectively in English. The mean educational level of those interviewed was sixth grade. According to both the local service providers and migrants, them- selves, housing was the most critical need of this group. I am sure you have heard that today, time and time again. While no one has an accurate èount it is estimated that each year the Northwest experiences an influx of tens of thousands of migrant seasonal farmworkers. Each year they can be found living in cars and campers along river banks and in~ low-cost trailer parks, because ade- quate affordable housing is not available. We in HEW are concerned or convinced that an accurate count of migrant seasonal farmworkers is crucial to establishing and delivering services that they so badly need. The 1980 census must be sensitive to the unique and special charac- teristics of this important segment of ~hr society. Enumerators assigned to the agricultural areas of the Northwest must be able to communicate in Spanish and must be knowledgeable about the migrant farmworkers lifestyle. They must also be creative enough to seek out migrant farmworkers in very unconventional loca- tion: farms and ranches, river banks, asparagus fields, worker camps, trailer parks, what have you. I would now like to turn your attention to another important and growing subpopulation in the Northwest, Indochinese refugees. HEW has recently completed a service delivery assessment of domes- tic resettlement services which arc provided to Indochinese refugees. That study, incidentally, I would like to give some credit to the re- gional office which was led by Mr. Kelly's staff and recently received substantial publicity in the Washington Post. I am sure you read about it. Mr. LOWRY. Frankly, that was very important while we were con- sidering the appropriation for that within the last 3 weeks before the House of Representatives. PAGENO="0106" 102 Mr. CRUZ. This informal review was conducted to provide better in- formation upon which the Department can base future program decisions. As you know, HEW's Indochinese refugee assistance program be- gan as a response to the urgent need to resettle thousands of people displaced by war in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Since 1975 over 200,000 Indochinese refugees have come to the United States. In the summer of 1979 President Carter committed this country to acceptance of 14,000 refugees per month or about 168,000 per year. This is the larg- est resettlement program every attempted. Indochinese refugees are found to be a highly mobile group. In re- cent conversations with 350 families, HEW found that 43 percent of them had moved from their first resettlement site, 60 percent of those out of the State they first settled in. To date there has been no way of determining with any accuracy their frequency or number refugees throughout the country making these secondary moves, nor where they are moving. However, this secondary migration is party respon- sible for the large concentrations of refugees in certain localities, which is straining the local service delivery mechanism. Indochinese refugees, due to both their ethnic background and their experience as refugees have especially urgent need for some social, edu- cational, and health services provided mainly through local programs. Accurate census data on refugees in 1980, compared to State Depart- ment records of first settlement locations would help us toanJ~zethe reasons for and the impact of this secondary migra7ti~ii. O~ course, a great number of refugees are not yet able to communicate in Eng- lish, so it will be necessary for this group, too, to assure that we have translation services or bilingual enumerators available in areas where large numbers of Indochinese are known to have settled. Additionally, I understand that the 1980 census questionnaire does have a racial category for Vietnamese and you have heard that today, for sure, but none for the other Indochinese categories. For example, Cambodia and Laos, and we would recommend that the category be made more inclusive so that all Southeast Asians are counted to- gether. My comments to this point have dealt with the necessity to assure a complete and accurate count of the especially vulnerable popula- tion in region X. I would like to also take this opportunity to mention a cooperative effort between our Department, the Labor Department and the Census Bureau regarding the 1980 census. Recognizing the Bureau's need for temporary workers as enumer- ators, clerical, et cetera, HEW Office of Human Development Serv- ices is cooperating with State governments in several regions, not just region X, through the Federal work incentives program to identify, recruit and place aid to families with dependent children recipients in these temporary jobs. We hope that this effort will provide needed temporary employment for recipients and their families. We also feel that this coordinative effort will increase the overall accuracy of the census since many AFTC recipients are minorities and women who have a better than average familiarity with the communities where vulnerable population groups are most often encountered. This concludes my testimony. I would like to thank you again for this opportunity to present a Federal, regional perspective on the im- portance of the 1980 census. [The following letter was received for the record:] PAGENO="0107" 103 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE REGION X ARCADE PLAZA BUILDING MS/807 1321 SECOND AVENUE SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101 Dear Mr. Garcia: At your subcommittee's recent hearing on the 1980 census, which was held in Seattle on February 15, I presented testimony regarding the importance of accurate counts of migrant farmworkers and Indochinese refugees. Mr. Rodolfo Cruz of my office presented the verbal testimony on my behalf, since I was in Washington~, D. C. on the day of the hearing. He also left a written copy of my testimony with the subcommittee. As a part of our testimony, we spoke of~ the joint HEW/Labor Department/ Census Bureau effort to provide temporary employment to welfare re- cipients as census enumerators. We related that HEW has allowed the states, who operate the Ai,d to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, to disregard census income when determining AFDC eligibility of persons who take temporary jobs as census enumerators and office staff. In Region X, two of the four states have decided to disregard such census income. As you may recall ,~ members of the subcommittee asked about other HEW programs in which recipients might be deemed ineligible for continued service if they accepted temporary census employment. Mr. Cruz offered to research this issue and provide a response in writing to the subcommittee at a later date. This letter is in response to the subcommittee's inquiry. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare administers several "income tested" programs, in which income is counted as a factor in determining eligibility for services. Examples of HEW's largest income tested programs authorized under the Social Security Act are Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC, Title IV-A), Medical Assistance (Title XIX), Social Services (Title XX), and Supplemental Security Income (Title XVI). The Department of Labor and HEW also jointly administer the WIN program, for which most AFDC recipients are automatically eligible. Entitlement to Title XIX (Medicaid), Title XX (Social Services), and WIN is dependent upon AFDC eligibility. All of these programs are operated by the states. In those states where census income is disregarded in determining AFDC eligibility, it.will also be disregarded in determining Title XIX, Title XX, and WIN eligibility. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare administers directly the Supplemental Security Income (Title XVI) and Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (Title II) programs. After care- ful consideration, HEW decided it cannOt disregard income from the Census Bureau in determining eligibility for those programs. The Social Security Act requires that income be considered in determining eligibility for Title II and Title XIX benefits. There is no federal statutory distinction between the definition of census income and the income of other wage earners. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is, therefore, required under the Act to consider census income as ordinary income in determining eligibility for Title II and Title XVI benefits. We trust this information will satisfy the subcormiittee's needs at this time. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, The Honorable Robert Garcia 7 Chairman, Subcommittee. on Census - - ~`1.~'Bernard E. Kelly Principal Regional Official PAGENO="0108" 104 Mr. Lowny. Thank you for the statement. Mr. Dick Stannard is next. STATEMENT OP DICK STANNARD, COMMUNITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION Mr. STANNARD. Congressman, my name is Dick Stannard and I am representing Dean Morgan, the regional director of Community Serv- ices Administration, which is as you all know the Government's prin- cipal antipoverty Federal agency. This region covers Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Dean was unable to be here because of a major explosion that de- veloped at the office today and he is there dealing with it, so he asked me to present his testimony. I think I will summarize it because most of what I have to say has been said, at least once, and probably several times today. I think that I would say that in general that we agree with what's been said in terms of the need for, particularly the need to deal with the under- count problem in every possible way. There is one item that isn't in our prepared testimony that I would like to mention and that relates to, there have been a couple of ref- erences to it, the employment of AFDC mothers, particularly as enumerators. For reasons that I am unaware of, HEW left that up to each State to decide whether or not to count that income in calculating grants so there has been a scramble all over the country in all kinds of blood letting sessions within the State welfare departments over how to handle this problem. In our region the score is two to two. Washington and Idaho both opted not to exempt this income, which has the effect *of penalizing and discouraging the employment of these women. Alaska and Oregon have chosen to exempt it. As I understand, and I don't know this for a fact, but I believe that HEW had another option which was to declare this a blanket exemption across the coun- try, and if they had done that it would have simplified the admin- istrative situation of taking the monkey off the State's back. If it is still possible I would hope that that could be considered. The other points that we wanted to make, particularly are as I mentioned the undercount. `CSA has a memorandum of understand- ing, as it's called, between our agency and the Department of Com- merce in which we mutually pledge to help in every way we can, help the Census Bureau deal in every way it can with the undercount and I would say parenthetically that there is no question in my mind that the Bureau of the Census is deeply concerned about this problem and is making strenuous effort~s to provide a better count than occurred in 1970. I don't believe there is any effort not to make the count as complete as possible. I think it's quite to the contrary. In carrying out our end of this memorandum of understanding we in CSA,in this region, have set up a series of meetings between the community action agencies, which are our principal outreach mecha- nism, and the Bureau of the Census outreach personnel so that we can get some interaction going. I think that for whatever reason the Bureau ha.s been somewhat slow in taking advantage of the outreach capacity PAGENO="0109" 105 that exists within CSA grantees, namely community action agencies, and these meetings are going on now and will be into March, well, no later than March. It is my expectation that that will cause a good deal of interaction and awareness by the Bureau and perhaps of resources that haven't been tapped in terms of outreach. I have found that when we have set these meetings up that they have been very responsive in providing people to staff them. We have dwelt at length for the reasons for the undercount, I don't want to go into that. I think the Bureau has taken some hard raps today and I would, again, want to say that, to the extent that I am familiar with what they have planned, I think they have given a lot of thought to a lot of these difficult issues. For example, doing the Alaska count in January. It's currently underway and that's done deliberately because it's be- lieved, rightly I think, that more native people will be in their own villages in January than they will in April. Many points like that that have been carefully thought through and I think have been well executed and will be well executed. There will be much better native American data, particularly urban data in 1980 than was provided in 1970. Finally, and again I realize this has been talked about, but it does seem to me a very serious gap in the proposed plans for this census not to have a clear, specific, detailed picture, statistical picture of the migrant population in this country and that's a particular concern of CSA. This has been a national emphasis program in the poverty legis- lation since it was first enacted in 1964. I think it is appalling that there will not be really good information, again, on the migrant popu- lation. So, if it is impossible to deal with that now, and I suspect that it is, I would say that at the very least we should be thinking about providing this kind of data in 1985 in the mid-decade census, so that the kinds of answers that are needed to provide social services in an equitable way for this population will be available. Has it been said? I'll say it again, if a migrant is in ~ akima who lives in Del Rio, Tex., on April 1, that he is counted as a resident of Del Rio, Tex., and he is invisible forever in Yakima. That's a ridiculous situation and I don't pretend to know how to deal with it, but I believe that it can be re- solved if we agree that it is necessary and I think it is necessary. I think that that pretty well summarizes what Dean would have said if he had been here. I will sign off here and if there are any questions I will try to answer them. Mr. Lowny. Thank. you. I didn't hear you correctly. What States have exempted the/income from the grant qualification for AFDC? Mr. STAXXARD. In this region Alaska and Oregon have exempted the income. Washington and Idaho will deduct it from grants to anybody who is employed as an enumerator who is on AFDC. Mr. LOWRY. Then it's not directly your field. What about social security, is that exempted all the. way across the country? Mr. STANNARD. It's not exempted, but I have talked to the Bureau here about that, the social security people, and the allowable income is high enough that I don't think it is a problem. If they only work 2 or 3 months they won't make enough to jeopardize their social security income anyway. But anybody who takes those jobs would PAGENO="0110" 106 be well advised to make sure they are not going to be hurt by that. But it appeared to me that it wouldn't do them any harm. Mr. LOWRY. Are there any other categories on the question of exempt income relative to government grants or payments? Mr. STANNARI. I think any income defined program is going to be affected. Mr. LoWRY. Thank you very much and thank you for sitting through this today. I learned a lot from it and I suspect even you may have. It was extremely interesting. I would like to thank the Census and Population Subcommittee staff, the majority council and the minority council for coming to Seattle for this hearing. I also appreciate Census Bureau's efforts. Many of the questions and comments that were made, I think we all realize, came down to the fact that you don't have the money to do some of the things that are necessary to do and that's something we need to be addressing ourseif to, that where there would be some answers to some of these questions you are strapped for the same reasons many of us are strapped. I appreciate that and the work done by everybody. I would now like to adjourn the hearing and take it from-yes, Dan. Mr. MARTIN. I wanted to submit a letter of February 5, written by the Director of the Census Bureau addressing that. Mr. LOWRY. I think a little earlier in the day we got that, and thank you. STATEMENT OF RICK SCHWEITZER, CENSUS BUREAU Mr. SCHWEITZER. Gentlemen, my name is Rick Schweitzer, acting regional census manager, Seattle. I have listened with great interest to all the comments that have been made here today. Many struck home, they are things that we can take care of, they are administratively determined at the local level. We will work with our two very capable district man~gers here in~ Seattle, Tacoma, and also in Yakima, to make sure that the points that have been brought up are carried out as much as possible. A number of points though did get raised which need to be clarified for the record, so that it is straight and clear. In the Yakima district office, for instance, the record will show that several of the people referred to the mail-back procedure not being the correct procedure for the enumeration of the migrant farm- workers and other persons who have high mobility and thus no resi- dence and thus might be missed in terms of the census, because they would not receive a questionnaire in the mail. As it turns out., by a fortuitous accident, the Bureau is testing a new procedure or a test procedure in the Yakima district office which means that every census questionnaire will be delivered by a census employee to every household. Thus at that point, if the household is a Hispanic household and needs a Spanish language questionnaire, the Spanish language questionnaire will be left there, plus you will have the personal contact of asking questions of the enumerator at that point in time. This we believe will insure that we get a better response rate in terms of these households. In addition we are working with the Rural Opportunities Agency over there, plus the migrant education program, to develop lists, maps, PAGENO="0111" 107 and identification of all the campsites, both recognized and unrecog- nized campsites, so that we can modify our special place procedures, go into these sites utilizing bilingual enumerators, persons from those communities to do the enumeration of the migrant farmworkers at the locations where they are residing at the time we are there. These two programs, I believe, will insure that we will, in effect, carry out a much better operation there, addressing the needs here. The test procedure is, in fact, designed to see whether we can in- crease the response rate from the population at hand by having this direct personal contact at the time the questionnaire is delivered. In this particular case, as I say, it is quite fortuitous. It involves an area of real need here in the Pacific Northwest. In terms of the assistance centers here in Seattle, we are, because of funding limitations, not allowed~ to set up formal Bureau sponsored and run, staffed, assistance centers. The difference of the 500,000 popu- lation centers is one that was of a necessary budgetary constraint as far as the Bureau felt. We do have a very able man on my staff who is involved with the area of the complete count committees. This is an area that we are working very heavily. We have complete count committees in a number of cities in the Northwest, throughout the State of Washington and other States. There was reference made this morning to having only one complete count committee. This is not true. We have a number of major cities, perhaps some of the most active ones are outside of the State of Washington, in cities like Portland, Ore., Las Vegas, interest is being expressed in Salt Lake City and a number of other smaller cities in the West. So this work is going on with, I think, great reward and response from these cities, which would benefit their accurate count. In terms of the assistance centers, we can work and provide some form of assistance through workshops, through other kinds of tech- niques of reaching into those communities and being able to provide the kind of assistance they have been asking for here. It's going to have to be of necessity, handled through the funding arrangements that they may have already. W~e are not able to fund that, that is very true and correct. We can provide that onsite direction and assist- ance to them. There are materials here which I would like to submit for the record of examples of the census promotional materials, question- naire assistance materials which have been translated into various Asian languages. This work Ins been done by the complete count committee here in Seattle and it is being utilized through the various community organizations, so consequently, one of the needs that has been expressed time and time again is already being worked on and addressed to the complete count committec~ that the mayor has set up here in the city of Seattle. In terms of our hiring profiles we are very cognizant of the need to hire indigenous people, that is one of the main oriterias for the census. The feeling has been expressed here that the best way to enumerate the population in any locality is to utilize people that are familiar with it. We agree totally with that, but at the same time we have heard time and time again here that in the one neighborhood we could have as many cultural differences as there are houses, which means it is almost an impossibility to have one person assigned to that PAGENO="0112" 102 enumeration task who can represent and reflect all of the diverse communities that are in this particular small area, called an enumera- tion district. We will have in our staffs here in Seattle bilingual indi- viduals representing all of the different racial and ethnic minorities in Seattle. Consequently, when we run across a situation where a Viet- namese family might reside on a block which has Hispanics, blacks, Cambodians and other racial groups, we will endeavor to get a Viet- namese bilingual enumerator to that household, soon as it is identified that that is a particular need. Both of the district managers have been instructed to hire the necessary staff reflecting this. They will be, in a sense, held in a pooi and sent out to particula.r needs as they arise rather than being given territorial assignments. This is, again, an administrative way in which we can foresee the problem, anticipate it and react to it without having to constrict ourselves to giving one person a fixed geographic area which, given the testimony here today, we could not handle ade- quately, given the diversity here in Seattle. We are reacting and I will assure you and assure all the people that have been here today that we will do all that is possible to insure that we can carry out an effective and complete and accurate count of all the populations that are found not only here in Seattle, Wash., throughout the eight States that I have some direction and control over. This will be done and we will do it as thoroughly as possible. With this kind of cooperation that we have heard here, time and time again, the census can be done, will be done and will be done as accurately within budget as possible. Thank you. Mr. LOWRY. Rick, thank you for that statement. I am glad you came up and made it and the direct program in Yakima is going to be very important. What is the real process in which the enumerators are hired? Who really makes that decision and what are the parameters we have as far as determining that. Mr. SCHWEITZER. The process of hiring enumerators is one where we are acquainted with the community through a variety of sources. The names of different organizations, different community based or- ganizations, different individuals who are very knowledgeable about the communities. We have asked them to provide us names, in really a very short time frame, for potential enumerator assignments. We are then, grouping these by geographic areas within our district offices. We are setting up different testing sessions at different com- munity centers, libraries, schools, other facilities where we can get free space. These tests will be given in that locality for all the in- individuals that have been identified there. The tests have raised a number of questions, obviously, today, but the test is the medium which we use is one of several elements in the selection processes, screening device. The people, then, also fill out what is called a cultural familiarity questionnaire. This is an attempt to get an idea of the background an individual has in his ability to deal effectively with the population found within that small geographic area that he could potentially be assigned to work. PAGENO="0113" ~O9 The application, test results, cultural familiarity questionnaire come back to the district offices. At this point they are processed in terms of the small geographic area. As the crew leaders, for instance say, we need to have 10 enumerators from a particular segment of the city, they will go to the files, structured in a geographic manner, pull out the necessary applications there. They will be going through a rank ordering process based upon the test score to identify the most capable people in terms of the test. These individuals, then, will be put onto a form and delivered out to the~ crew leader for the final selection process. There is an interview which is used to screen individuals, because some of our jobs, particularly in rural and suburban areas require the use of a car, for instance. If a person does not have access to a car they can be reserved for Other jobs, but not necessarily fill the assignment that would be forthcoming at that moment. So there is an interview process by the crew leader of the individual to be hired. They would, then, select, going down this list the most capable people they have for that small geographic area. With the constraints of being indigenous to the area~ and being familiar with the cul- tures that are in that particular geographic area. Mr. LOWRY. Have we ever had sensitizing programs for the manage- ment personnel relative to the yarious different minority questions that come up? The sensitizing of that management personnel so that they would be as aware of these difficulties as possible, as they are going through this selection process. Mr. ScHw]~ITzER. In terms of the permanent census staff, any of those of us who rise up to the management levels, yes, there are. We are, of necessity, required to have both management training programs and sensitization training programs. But in terms of the temporary staff that we are hiring, the Bureau has gone much further than it ever has before, in terms of past census, developing a self-study program which does raise a lot of very basic issues about the census. This is being used in all the supervisory level staff within the district offices. This consists of a self-study, a tape presentation involving seven cassettes and other materials. At the formal training sessions with the~ district managers and their top sup- ervisory staff there are sessions dealing with communication and interpersonal relationship and direction and motivation of staff. As far as sensitization as to particular issues and background fea- tures of the community, we are hoping, in effect, to overcome this by hiring people that know the community and come from the cOm- munity. There is just not the tjme and budgetary ability to carry this out in terms of the kind of programs that I think were suggested here today. There is more being done this time in the census than in prior years. Dick, thank you very much. Do you have a question, Ms. Batayola? Ms. BATAYOLA. Yes, I have a question. After hearing all the testimor~y today, throughout the day people have identified the different groups that would need bilingual in- terpreters or translators. After h aring that would you have the power as well as the will to identify a certain number of enumerator posi- tions, specifically provide enumerators as appropriate to the population? PAGENO="0114" 110 Mr. SChwEITzER. The answer is, I have directed in the training sessions that all the district managers look very carefully at their areas of carrying out the work and identify all the different language and minority situations they would have to face and make sure they have a staff on hand, on April 1, to carry out the enumeration relation- ship for their constituency. Now, they know the areas far better than I. Those are the instructions they have, make sure they have them and I will reemphasize this again in a memo to all the district managers, to make sure that they have addressed the problems of the communities, have faced up to it and have the necessary staff on hand. Mr. FERRELL. Are you suggesting that a certain number of enumera- tor positions be reserved for bilingual enumerators? Is that what you are asking? Ms. BATAYOLA. Not necessarily. What I am after, he is setting the tone and he is setting the policy and, of course, what I needed to hear was to have more specifics as to x number of enumerators for a certain area and within that area these are the following languages that will be necessary. `Would there be a specific person, number specified of enumerators with those capabilities that need to be hired? Mr. SCHWEITZER. There are basic work load estimates set up for the production standards that we hope the enumerators can carry out. These are based upon a geographic area. What we are really talking about is focusing onto particular situa- tions as they are uncovered. In fact, this is one that is difficult to try to come up with in terms of a work load. Let me just use an example. We have had a number of areas in recent years, last year when we were conducting some of our preparatory work which involved lan- guage difficulties, need for bilingual people. One involved a Russian community down in Oregon. `We went to the Russian leadership, asked them to identify somebody to serve with us as a translator. `We would, then, work with that person and our enumerator too, in a pair, to do the effective listing that was required at that point. `We have done the same thing on the American Indian communities, particularly with the elders on reservations. By going to the tribal authorities, asking for assistance in identification of a bilingual person, in effect, to work on that particular need. So when we identify the need we will hire the necessary people to go in and do that job. Mr. LOWRY. `Well, again, most of this process will be handled through the district offices. So the key certainly seems to be supervisory person- nel that have been selected in district offices to carry out this basic policy. Is that correct, Rick? Mr. SCHWEITZER. Yes; you are very correct, sir. In fact, let me, for the record, identify what just came up this morning in some numbers what the minority composition of our supervisory staff is, at this time, in the 24 district offices in this re.~ion. `We have appointed to date, as of yest.erday morning, 193 persons of supervisory level. Of this number 5.2 percent are identified as being black; 3.1 percent identified as being of Spanish ancestry; American Indian is 5.2 percent; of Asian background ancestry 2.1 percent. That leaves about 84 percent for white population. We have, I believe, a. staff out there that is committed to insuring that affirmative action is carried out at all levels. That was one of the basic questions that I asked during all of the interviews for our key PAGENO="0115" ii' supervisory staff, particularly district managers. They are committed to this and they will insure that it is carried out. But of necessity I cannot, in Seattle, anticipate all the needs in the diverse eight States that we have. The district managers can and will insure that it is carried out. Mr. LOWRY. Rick, can you provide for us that information and the estimated population within the district offices for each of the dis- tricts so we could have that for our use? Did you say you have 24 districts within the eight States? Could you provide that by district and the profile of the district and, then, of course, the supervisory per- sonnel that has been selected to date? Mr. SCHWEITZER. Yes. Mr. LOWRY. Well, again, thank you very much. We will stand ad- journed. I appreciate everyone's cooperation today and I think it has been a very successful hearing. Thank you. [Whereupon, at 5 :40 p.m., the hearing was closed.] [The letters and statements which follow were received for the record:] PAGENO="0116" 112 U.S. Department of Labor Employment Standards Administration 909 First Avenue Seattle, Washington 98174 Reply to the Attention of: RAO February 25, 1980 Congressman Robert Garcia U.S. House of Representatives 1711 Longworth House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congressmaii Garcia: Enclosed is written testimony on 1980 Census issues, which those submitting would like included as part of the official record for the February 15 Sub- committee hearing in Seattle. Some of this testimony has been put in the form of letters addressed to me, although the intent is submission as hearing testimony. If this is a problem, please let me know, and I will ask the individuals involved to restructure the format of what they have written. Let me again thank you for conducting the hearing in Seattle to allow us an opportunity to express our concerns. We have already seen several positive results from the hearing, particularly in increased communication and coopera- tion between the regional Census staff and various community groups. The hearing gave both sides an opportunity to realize they were interested in the same thing - a complete Census count. If I can be of any further assistance to you in the future, regarding Census issues or particularly on data gathering on migrant and seasonal farmworkers, please let me know. We all look forward to your visit again to our area, although this time I promise no snow. Yours truly, Alice Larson Migrant Coordinator Enclosure 9826 14th AvenueS. It'. . Seattle, Washington 98106 . Telephone (206) 764-4220 SERVICE * EMPLOYMENT * REDEVELOPMENT SER/Jobs for Progress, mt. February 15, 1980 Census Oversight Hearings Mt. Zion Baptist Church 1634 19th St. Seattle, Washington 98122 TO: Congressman. Robert Garcia, Chairperson Congressional Subcommittee on Census and Population 601 Annex #1 Washington, D.C. 20515 Government officials estimate that at least sixty billion dollars will be allocated for various projects by the Federal Government based on the results of the 1980 Census. PAGENO="0117" 113 Today, one-fifth of Hispanic families live~ in poverty. Our unem- ployment rate is nearly double that of the general population. Many of our children are undereducated. Only half of their parents graduated from high school. In short, every indicator defining progress shows us still far behind. Witho~ut an accurate count we stand to lose precious funding dollars for programs specifically addressing these needs. In the 1980's, Hispanics will be the nation's largest minority. Unless that reality is clearly documented by the 1980 Census, we will continue to lose out on our fair share of government funds for on-the-job lraining, housing, education, economic development and the opportunity to share in the economic growth of our country. We are all concernedthat this census truly reflect the count of the Spanish-speaking in this country. It is obvious that we in the Hispanic community cannot afford to see these resources continue to go elsewhere. We need sincere attention and support for programs which are attempting to provide these much needed services to the underprivileged Hispanic community. We need more equitable repre- sentation in city halls, county courthouses, state houses, and the nation's capitol. Hispanics have earned a better life. The 1980 Census could help make it a reality. Sincerely, Sohn Gonsalez Executive Director LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN, AMERICAN CITIZENS OF SNOHOMISH COUNTY LULAC #4707 2731- 10th February 15, 1980 Everett~, Wa. 98201 (206) 258-1011 or 258-4747 Census Oversight Hearings Mt. Zion Baptist Church 1634 19th St. Seattle, Washington 98122 TO: Congressman Robert Garcia, Chairperson Congressional Subcommittee on Census and Population 601 Annex #1 Washington, D.C. 20515 The League of United Latin American Citizens of Snohomish County, Washington; together with LULAC in the State of Washington and LULAC throughout the United States of America, call upon the U.S. Department of Census to promote and pro- vide for the accurate count of Hispanics. This will assure an accurate count of undocumented workers through a genuine outreach which will allow Hispanics equal representation. We are resolved and ready to assist and promote with you for parity in the census and the equitable representation for all Hispanics through our country. Please call on us as we are ready to work with you in this most important and historical event. Sincerely, Gilbert Salcido LULAC Snohomish County Washington 66-270 0 - 80 - PAGENO="0118" 114 OPPORTUNIDADES RURALES DEL NOROESTE 914 N. STATFORD ROAD * TELEPHONE 165-8839 * MOSES LAKE, WA. 98837 February 13, 1980 TES~I?~DNY `0~ ThE fXNRE~SI0NAL SUBtIMMITTEE ON CENSUS AND POPULATION Thu 1980 U.S. Census has becane an interest of great importance to many of us who are actively involved with rural ccxmiunities. in the Northwest we have very unique conditions that "regular census processes" exclude, masses of rural porulations, specifically farmcorker.s. Mail out forms may be effective for sane populations who can read, write, and understand the importance of census count efforts. House to house census counts are usually surveyed in incorporated areas. The vast majority of the areas' farmaorkers are Mexican-American. The life styles vary fran migratory to causunity settled farmeorkers who cork the seasons. It's no great secret that subculture, language, present/ past life experiences have conditioned farmcorkers to exist in suspicion of the daninate groups and "their ways." In our efforts to help reawaken social consciousness and social responsibility, rural local governing bodies are not reflective of the pop- ulation make up. Thus in providing direction or leadership for progranm to destroy this rnensterous poverty cycle, we need correct and accurate data. Most fanacorkers reside in substandard housing usually located in unincorporated areas, which are not surveyed due to language barriers, excessability, cost, lack of understanding and sensitivity, (in) `~rbey don't want to be counted because all are fran Mexico and here illegally." Men- tality still exists and continues to be reir~forced by the systenm in our cnTmunity. The invisible I armeorker is the best because then we don't have to deal with him other than to cork the fields. The Issues I `ye attmpted to address are multi problen. The 1930 U.S. Census, if done correctly, will be a tool to use In putting proper prospec- tive on-our areas population. Efforts to help balance our expressed con- cerns are greatly appreciated. Respectfully, - / ~* Thalando Adame PAGENO="0119" 115 CONGRESSIONAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON CENSUS & POPUI.ATION~ TESTIMONY - COLUMBIA BASIN Introductions - Congressman Garcia and subcommitee members, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak here today. My testimony is in regard to the upcoming 1980 U.S. Census and our concern over its ability to accurately count all minorities, as well as migrant and seasonal farmworkers. To~better demonstrate the need for improvement in minority population counts, I'd like to share our personal experience in working with the past U.S. Census. In an effort to improve mental health services to the Spanish- speaking in Grant County, we are currently writing a grant for funding a bilingual/bicultural therapist position at the Mental Health Center. However, in the course of our research, we found that 1970 Census population statistics by race were deficient In accurately assessing total minority numbers. The data under-estimated the actual size of our Mexican-American population for the following three reasons: (1) Minorities in unincorporated areas of the County were not surveyed due to language barriers and lack of cultural understanding. (2) Migrant and seasonal farmworkers, a majority of which are Mexican-American, were not included in the census figures, and (3) The unicorporated rural areas of the County were not sur- veyed very thoroughly. Other services in addition to mental health have remained in- adequate in meeting the needs of minorities in the Columbia Basin. Low-income medical clinics are scarce and more day care centers for many working mothers are needed. If the Census counted minorities correctly, we would see better housing in the Moses Lake, Ephrata, and Quincy region. And yet the housing conditions for many Mexican- Americans and Blacks are still substandard. Even our rural City Councils do not abide by affirmative action policies which state that the local governing body be reflective of the community. Not one Mexican-American or Black is represented on the Moses Lake City Council despite the fact that these ethnic groups constitute 30% and 10% of the city's population respectively. Hence, as social service providers, we cannot adequately meet the needs of minority clientele unless we have sufficient backgroung information with which to work. We therefore appeal your consideration of the following recommendations: . - PAGENO="0120" 116 (1) A more thorough count of minorities in the unin- corporated areas of the Columbia Basin. (2) The Census surveyers should be trained in giving all census takers a full, clear explanation as to what the Census is about and how it is administered for the people's benefit. This would reduce the suspicion that some people hold of the Census as an invasion of their privacy by the government. (3) A clearer definition of the "migrant" and "seasonal farmworkers", which would allow the Census to take a more accurate count of those who change residence frequently. (4) A better observance of the "235" Home Loan grant discounts for minorities, including seniors and the handicapped. Many times people who are eligible for those housing discounts are not made aware of them. (5) And finally, we feel that Census counts of minorities would help the representation of local city councils to better reflect all groups of the population. We would appreciate receiving your response to our concern on these issues. Thank you! Sincerely, Don Palermo (509) 765-9239 Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE 117 South 6th Avenue / P.O. Box 913 Boise, Idaho 83701 (208) 336-8980 February 114, 1980 Ms. Alice Larson U.S. Department., of Labor (E.S.A.) 141141 Federal Office Building 909 First Avenue Seattle, WashIngton 981714 Dear Ms. Larson: I wish to formally comment on matters relating to the 1980 Census and those individuals with whom we traditionally represent - the seasonal and migrant farmworkers of Idaho. Please feel free to include my comments in the hearing record which I presume will be established on Friday, February 15th in Seattle, Washington. . PAGENO="0121" 117 The significance of the census is well known by both the general public and programs such as ours which depend upon those census figures for funding and for consideration by the govern- ment of matters of interest to our clients. To the extent that those figures dorived from the census are inaccurate or fail to totally describe the present life-style and life locations of individuals the census fails to fulfill its purpose We have great concerns regarding existing plans for the 1980 Census and wish to express some of those concerns at this time The primary concern that we have r~lates to our intimate knowledge of the life-style of migrants who come to Idaho and the difficulty of knowing exactly where they can be located at any one time In Idaho there are a series of major camps which house a large number of migrants and seasonal farmworkers However there are also thousands of individual housing locations scattered throughout the hills of the Trea~ure and Magic Valleys and these locations are neither obvious nor easy to fjnd In many instances they are n in any way to the individual farmers whose address may appear on mailing lists for that particular property. Often times those housing units are used by illegal aliens who have no contacts with the outside community. This suggests that any attempt to mail out questionnaires will fail very clearly. A second concern which we have again relates to the housing location of migrants and the time during which they can be found in Idaho. It is our experience that migrants traditionally come to Idaho in the very latter part of April and the early part of May. This suggests that any mailing to locations and indeed any attempt to personally visit housing locations in early April will fail to denote the true number of migrant and seasonal farmworkers who reside in Idaho on an annual basis. Again, statistics acquired during these off months will simply be inaccurate and will fail to denote the true status of migrant problems in Idaho. Any attempt to rely on these inaccurate problems will shortchange Idaho as regards the funding of all federal programs and will fail to give the U.S. Government and related agencies the proper perspective they need to resolve important problems dealing with these individuals. We believe very strongly that additional efforts must be made to determine the number of migrants and seasonal farmworkers living in Idaho. It is my belief that these efforts must at a minimum consist of an attempt to recruit and hire individuals who are bilingual and totally familiar with the housing locations of migrants and seasonal farmworkers in their communities. One promising example of this would be the Census' Idaho Special Loca- tions Representative's recent interest in hiring our summer outreach workers during the months of March and~April to make contacts with migrants at these migrant housing locations. These individuals do not work for us during the early Spring months and will be able to visit housing locations'of individuals. Most importantly these individuals are totally familiar with the locations of a great number of seasonal and migrant farmworkers. It would appear to me that there are people like this in every community and they are the ones who could be hired to find the residences and to acquire the information that is necessary. Even more importantly, those individuals are recognized in the community and are individuals who have the confidence of migrant and seasonal farmworkers. Through their bilingual abilities they can approach, individuals including illegal aliens who might naturally be wary of any strangers. This recognition and confi- dence will result in additional data being acquired for the census. It would appeOr to me as if there should be a large number of individuals who have worked in past summers as migrant school PAGENO="0122" 118 coordinators or as Headstart Individuals or teachers aloes ano that all of these persons could be used to personally visit these special locations. Without this personal contact I believe the census figures will be useless and incapable of accurately reflect- ing the number of individuals actually living in the Idaho communities each year. In closing, let me suggest that we strongly support the idea that special efforts must be made to personally contact our clients in the communities in which they live and that special efforts must be made to recognize that those clients may not necessarily be in the communities during the months in which the personal contacts are presently planned by the census employees. Furthermore, and given the fact that these figures will probably be unnecessarily low as compared to the actual number of individuals living in the community, we believe that special effots must be made to supplement the record as regards migrants and seasonal farmworkers to include data concerning peak season months. Thanking you in advance for your assistance in seeing that these concerns are passed on to the members of the committee, I remain, Sincerely yours, - Managing Attorney Migrant Farmworkers Law Unit STATE OF DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND HEALTI4 SERVIC.~S WASHINGTON o~. w,sw~~o~ wsO4 ~,, Dixy Lee Ray ~o ~ 0 Gosernor ~,, ,-..~ çq >1 e.g: ..5 ~rTl Testimony before the Mouse Subcommittee on Census and p Population of the 96th Congress. Congressman Robert Garcia of New York presiding, presented at Seattle, February 15, 1980 prepared by State of Washington, Department of Social and Health Services,..~ Division of Vocational Rehabilitation office address: OB - 31C Olympia, Wash~r.g ton 98504 FOLLOW-UP SURVEY TO 1980 CENSUS - QUESTION ON DISABILITY Thank you Congressman Garcia. I am pleased to have the opportunity to testify before you about a matter of great importance. Ny name is Robert C. Thurston. I am a program manager for the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation with Headquarters in the State Capitol. Vocational Rehabilitation is a program which provides a wide variety of rehabilitative services including evaluation, counseling, physical restoration, training, equipment and other services in order to enable disabled persons to gain full employment. My responsibilities as a program manager include management of the Independent Living Program, advisor and consultant to the Division and Department, and other state agencies on effective implementation of the non-discrimination on the basis of hshdicap requirement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. PAGENO="0123" 119 As you are aware, Congress has mandated that program emphasis in Vocational Rehabilitation be directed first to the severely disabled segment of our disabled population. We are also to serve many who, although not severely disabled, do have a disability which interferes with their employability. I am proud of th.e fact that we are one of the~most cost effective social service providers, Rehabilitation saves between $5 and $11 for each $1 of taxpayer investment. But I do not know if we are reaching the Congressionally mandated service population adequately because I do not know what that population is or how it is distributed, If we believe that there are 100 disabled potential clients'-'-and~ we are reaching 75.~we are quite effective, But if there are 200 disabled potential clients'--and we are reaching 75-then our service is not nearly as adequate, Only the accurate count of the disabled population, which the 1980. Census and its follow- up survey will provide, can tell me which is the case. The j~oint at issue is the funding for that follow-up survey on the disabled population which the Bureau of Census has requested in order to assure valid state-level counts of the disabled population~. The Office of Management and Budget has disallowed $10,000,000 that the Census Bureau planned to spend for this follow-up survey. Without the follow-up survey, the general Census question on the disabled will not yield the information necessary to provide valid state-level statistical data for program planning purposes. Non-Census estimates of the disabled population vary widely; so widely that we can not determine which are valid. Washington's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation has been so in need of good statistical data on Washington's disabled population that we have sought to invest half a million dollars to get a statistically valid count. So that leaves me, as a prngram manager, and the others in the agency with service planning responsibilities, not knowing how many severely disabled there are, or what their disabilities are, or how many reside in this state, or how many need service. Nor do we have such information about the less severely disabled. The last comprehensive data (presumably a complete count) is that from the 1970 Census. Since then, many severely disabled young adults (the most viable population that Vocational Rehabilitation serves) have returned from the Vietnam War or have become disabled because of accident or disease. In order to intelligently plan services for our disabled clients, we must have an accurate data base, as must every other group that serves this population. The needs of different disabilities are very different so we need information about the disabled by disability, as well as an accurate count. We are counting on the 1980 Census and its follow-up survey to give us these valid state-level statistics. The extant to which we need these sta' tistics is convincingly demonstrated by the fact that we considered such information for Washington State alone wort1t~ $500,000. Virtually every other state, and each service agency within it, has the same problem. One 10 million dollar Federal Census question and follow-up survey is much cheaper than fifty state surveys. 1980 begins the Decade of the Disabled. Almost all Federal programs which serve this population,and many state and private programs, base:their service delivery plans upon accurate statistical counts of the population to be served. To emasculate service to this priority group in the misguided effort to save $10,000,000 makes a travesty of the intentions of Congress; futile the efforts of thousands working in the service delivery system so that they may serve the disabled well, and a mockery of the wants, needs, and desires of our largest and most poorly served minority. Don't make us wait another ten years. Require the Office of Management and Budget to reinstate the disability follow- up survey. Thank you. PAGENO="0124" 120 UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SEVfl1E, \~ASI1ING1ON 9t195 February 12, 1980 School of Medicine Depart ;ncnt of Rehabilitation Medicine, RJ-30 Testimony presented to Congressman Garcia by David Haley, Assistant Director for Program, Independent Living Evaluation Project. I have, two major concerns with respect to the deletion of a follow-on effort by the Bureau of the Census to capture relevant data with respect to the population of persons with disabilities: 1. The extreme paucity of data (not only in population count but especially so in socio-economic demographics) necessarily makes creditable research in disability issues almost impossible; and 2. This same lack of data and consequent research results would appear make the implementation of existing private and state and federal public social service programs (e.g., Title XIX, CETA) with respect to the disabled community less efficient than desirable. This comment is all the more important recognizing the current development of national catastrophic medical insurance programs. Of course, the impact of this lack of data upon affirmative action plans Is obvious (and will be addressed by others). I would, therefore, urge that the Congress of the U.S. provide the support necessary for a follow-on disability demographics effort by the Census. COMITI~ DE PERSONAS DE HABLA ESPAf~OLA DE OREGON Committee of Spanish Speaking People of Oregon ...-. ... February 12, 1980 Alice Larson, Migrant Coordinator U.S. Department of Labor Employment Standards Administration 909 First Ave. Seattle, Wa. 98174 Dear Ms. Larson: The Committee of Spanish Speaking People of Oregon would like to express its concern over the following issues surrounding the 1980 Census. Despite the fact that there is verbal commitment to the employing of minorities to secure a more accurate count of the minority communities, a screening exam is set up whose validity is questionable. How much do the questions in the exam actually PAGENO="0125" 121 relate to the job for which the individual is applying? The sample questions seem to indicate that differences in dialect might exclude candidates quite able to perform the job, being "deviants" from the accepted norm of English grammar. Also, it is our understanding that EEO statistics will not begin to be compiled until April, so how can deficits in minority personnel be rectified at~that late date? How does the Census Bureau know whether it is hiring representative numbers of minority employees to effectively deal with their communities? The confidentiality of the census information is also somewhat in question. Statements addressing this issue are invariably cou~hed in such careful terminology as, "There has never been a case on record where personal information has been released by the Bureau of the Census~ Have there been cases off the record? Also, the Council of Bishops would only give their support to participation in the census, but would not guarantee the confidentiality of the information provided. What assurances can be given that the information will not somehow be put to use against the ones who participate? It is a widely-acknowledged fact that census data is used for appropriating funds for various services and needs. It would seem to follow that funding for INS workers to be sent to those areas where concentrations of non-citizens reside, be they registered aliens or not, would be based on census data as well. In 1979, there were preliminary agreements made between the Census Bureau and our organization, COSSPO, to have census staff members working out of our offices, hiring the necessary personnel to carry out the 1980 census. Again, these turned out to be vain promises. What assurances do we have that the other promises are not empty as well? The difficulty in locating members of many minority populations, plus convincing them to participate in the census is a problem that has often been addressed. It is still a concern that we share and would like to see resolved, providing there are adequate assurances that confidentiality of the information is not an issue. Our interest is to get an accurate count of the population, just as yours is, and we are doing everything within our power to cooperate with Census Bureau staff to make this happen. However, our ability to convince others that they should participate in this important event will be contingent upon our own conviction that there are true affirmative action efforts being put forth in the hiring practices of the Bureau and that the utilization of the information secured will be for the betterment of all. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to be heard. ILa *~ do Armando Laguardia Executive Director DATE: February 13, 1980 TO: Subcommittee on Census and Population and Committee on Post Office and Civil Service Congressman Robert Garcia, Chairman FROM:. Millie Russell, President Seattle Multi-Greek Council 702 - 33rd Avenue South Seattle, Washington 98144 RE: Population Census PAGENO="0126" 122 Several concerns surface and must be shared with you regarding the process thus far by our government to cake 1980 the most accurate Census ever. 1. Why are so few minorities in top census jobs in Region X? If the se- lection process was through our legislator offices, who allowed so few people of color to be considered? Only one district office in Seattle has an administrator that is an ethnic minority, Bea Kiyohara. Even from Mike Lowry's office, only one Asian name was submitted for an administrative appointment. No Black or American Indians were even suggested. 2. The University of Washington census course has minority students in it only because I recruited most of them at the last minute after I finally tracked down the course, just before the close of registration. The channels for getting minority students into that course were abominable and restrictive. How were minority students to know of this unique opportunity for a fantastic educational exposure and job on the federal payroll? Churches, community organizations and pertinent campus organizations that serve as a network for minority students were never contacted. As a result, I question the real commitment and expertise of census planners to do an effective job in the 1980 Census. Without minority people participating in the planning and decision caking at all levels, (not just a few enumerators), the methodology is faulty and we are likely to again suffer severe undercounts of people of color. Testimony on the 1980 Census Presented by Seattle Indian Health Board February 15, 1980 The Seattle Indian Health Board is pleased to have this opportunity to present our views on the forthcoming Census and its impact on the Indian community. While we are not familiar with the way in which the Census is conducted, we are aware' of the impact the Census has on the services Indian and Alaskan Native People receive. We are also aware of the severe undercount of this population during the last Census and the difficulty this has created in the provision of services to Indians and Alaskan Natives. PAGENO="0127" 123 There has long been considerable discontent among Indians in the enumera- tion of their population and its subsequent application to such programs as Revenue Sharing, health service funding, and appropriations for other state and Federal programs. Because so many Federal programs allocate funds on a basis of capitation computations, the serious underenümeration of the Indian people penalizes their equitable receipt of funds for health, housing, education, and other social and economic services. The Seattle Indian Health Board recently completed a major planning effort as a part of an Indian Health Service report to the HEW Secretary and Congress for continued authorizations for urban Indian Health. Mandated to use the 1970 Census projected to 1981, the issue of Indian Census became a crucial and vitally important one. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The 1970 Census is seriously and demonstrably underenumerated with respect to Indians and Alaskan Natives. Factors contributing to this underenumeration include: 1) Assumption of Race In face to face enumeration, the census taker often assumes or guesses at the race of the respondent. It sometimes happens that a white head of household is the respondent, and as a result it is assumed that the entire family is white. It may also be assumed that all Spanish-surnamed people are of Mexican or Puerto Rican descent, rather than Native American. Many Southwestern peoples were given Spanish surnames by well- meaning and ignorant priests who could not be bothered to master the Indian language and Indian names.~ The lack of a clear definition for determination of Indian heritage or identification handicaps both Indian and non-Indian. Without clear guidelines, it is sometimes difficult for an individual of Indian descent, especially an urban resident, to know how to declare himself. Ignorance of recorders or indifference results in the incorrect race being recorded on birth certificates. One Indian mother reported that although she told the nurse she was of Indian and Spanish descent, the nurse insisted that Indian and Spanish equaled Mexican, and so registered the child. PAGENO="0128" 124 No provision for reporting dual heritage, e.g. Indian- white or Indian-Black. And, finally, there is the additional factor that the Native American population is a very diversified one, with a long history of unique cultural identification. Not all Indian people `look like Indians," end not all Indians look alike. Although it is popular to stereotype the Indian in popular movies and televised portrayals, there is enormous somatotypic as well as genotypic variation among Indian people. And the addition of non-In'flan genetic material has created further blurring of the Indian stereotype. Full-blooded or wholly Indian-acculturated Individuals may not appear Indian at all, but their entire orientation and cultural perspective may be Indian. 2) Eligibility Restrictions Limit Access Programs which report numbers of people served often base their population estimates on those people who get into the official record because they sought services. However, all programs have eligibility guidelines which prohibit certain classifications of people from seeking services, so that a service population is far from an accurate population perfection. In addition, different programs have different eligibility requirements, so' that the same individual may be eligible for one program, yet denied access to another because there is no inter- agency standardization of eligibility requirements or agreement on definition of the population to be served. Eligibility guidelines instruct programs to restrict services according to income (Public Assistance), residence (Indian Health Service), relation to head of household, age (Medicare), etc. Such restrictions upon who can access a service will produce fallacious estimates of the total population in need. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that even where a greater service population is known to exist, agencies still insist on accepting lower census data rather than press for changes or increased appropriations. 3) High Mobility Urban areas often do not produce accurate Indian statistical PAGENO="0129" 125 data because Indians are a highly mobile people. Individuals and whole families can be missed because they only recently left a reservation and have not yet settled in a place~ of their own in the city. The Bureau of Indian Affairs encouraged and contributed to this high migration through their Relocation programs initiated in the 1950's, programs which dispersed, scatter and disenfranchised many Indian people, cutting them off from services. 4) Fears on the part of the Enumerators Census takers in some cases have been afraid to enter Indian communities in order to take the census. Thus people on reservations or within urban enclaves may have been missed. 5) Language Barriers indian people often grow up speaking English as a second language, and many Indians on larger reservations continue to be bilingual even today. Some elders have a poor~command of English, so that communication can be a problem. Interpreters and Native census takers would be a necessity under these circumstances. 6) Foster Home Placement Many Indian children are removed from their parents and placed in non-Indian foster homes, under conditions and circum- stances which would not apply to white parents. Thus, an Indian foster child may not be enumerated as Indian, or his tribal affiliation may be lost. 7) Institutionalized Populations Although not the problem it once was for Indian people, Indian children in boarding schools, and Indian people in other institutions (jails, prisons, nursing homes) may be missed, or again subject to the errors of assumption. 8) Adoption of Indian children Parents adopting an Indian child may not know the tribal affiliation of the adopted child, and a child placed for adoption may never be recorded on tribal rolls. Moreover, an Indian child adopted by non-Indian parents may have his genetic heritage eradicated by the legal maneuver of declaring the child a legal descendent of a non-Indian. PAGENO="0130" 126 9) Common Census Problems In addition to the special circumstances which may contribute to the underenumeration of Indian people, there are those well- recognized problems which have been discussed frequently in the literature regarding the difficulties in conducting a universal census. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE INDIAN COMMUNITY One of the fundamental concepts in planning is to know for whom you are planning. All good planning pre-supposes an accurate enumeration of the population to be served. If the total population is not accurately counted, the plan developed from this erroneous data is assured of failure because it will not meet the needs of the people for whom it was developed. Failure to accurately determine the beneficiary population will result in a multiplicity of problems, among which might be included: 1) Duplicative Efforts If the original survey is inaccurate, there may be the necessity for repeating the survey if the undercount comes to light. Repeated community surveys are expensive in terms of time, money and manpower, and they serve further to alienate the community people. Residents of a community which is oversurveyed tend to become indifferent about their answers, inclined not to answer at all, and hostile to the interviewers. This community aliena- tion can produce further skewing of the data collected, especially if the respondent will tell the interviewer anything to get rid of them. 2) Inadequate Services If the population projections are seriously underenumerated, then the funding for services on which those data are available will be far less than the actual dollar amount needed. This results in severe cost-cutting, reduction of services, inadequate services, and sometimes outright denial of services. 3) Inappropriate Services If a particular segment of the population is not counted accurately, the wrong or inappropriate services may be planned for and provided. If an undercount of elderly people takes PAGENO="0131" 127, place, then emphasis may be placed on services~for youth; if youth is undercounted, there may be too much emphasis on services for the elderly. 4) The "Multipler Effect" The inaccurate data collected by one agency may be picked up and used by another agency, thus compounding the original error. In addition, if erroneous data is repeated often enough, it takes on a spurious cloak of appearing to be the "true and accurate" figure. Such recitation from agency~ to agency of false data has the effect of compounding and multiplying the error. 5) Loss of Resources Because a great deal of money for program operation and development is allocated on a per capita basis to communities, the severe underenumeration costs much needed dollars which might otherwise accrue to the Indian community. 6) The Double Standard Federal agencies encourage "self determination" and self- government, yet those same agencies often refuse to accept tribal enrollment data collected by that governmental unit (even when this data can be verified). Few agencies will accept tribal enrollment data as a true and accurate reflection of the extant population, yet this is some of the most carefully collected data available because of the enormous legal implications for fishing, inheritance, and educational benefits. 7) Planning for the Past, Not the Future The inability to realistically plan for ~he future, because the data restricts and limits accurate projections is a hazard of having a serious shortage of people in the data base. Starting from a false premise means that planning and programs will always be behind current needs and will not ade- quately project future needs, thus essentially keeping the planning always in the past and preventing it from accurately addressing the future. PAGENO="0132" 128 8) Jurisdictional Problems The implications for underenumeration with respect- to issues of legal jurisdiction are less clear, but severe underenumeration may create major problems with respect to economic development, law enforcement, the provision of emergency services, the availability of essential public health services (water, sewage and waste disposal), and other areas. Indian people have experienced in the past oversight and failure to be included in programs because it was assumed that their numbers were to few to matter. 9) Indian Identity A peoples' sense of self and pride in self is in part a reflection of their numeric strength. If the.dominant society continues to maintain and support the myth of the "vanishing American', then Indian youth can, and do, develop an inferiority complex and a sense of disillusionment which can be very destructive. Coupled with the prejudice and lack of understanding about Indian culture and heritage, the non-Indian's dealings with Indian children can be callous and detrimental. The Seattle Indian Health Board maintains a registered patient population of nearly 20,000 Indians and Alaskan Natives. Nearly all of our registered patients reside in the greater Seattle metropolitan area. Yet, the 1970 Census counted only approximately 7,000 Indians in this same area. This testimony presents some of the problems encountered in utilizing 1970 Census data. While we have no effective solutions to these problems, we would hope that some effort will be made to more accurately reflect the number of Indian people in the area. 0