Census hopes for better count on Hispanics in LV

The latest numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau are estimates -- but the bureau is making a concerted effort to physically count every person of Hispanic heritage in the Las Vegas Valley for next year's census.

The census comes every 10 years. During the last count, Hispanics were among the most undercounted in the region and country. It contributed to the sixth worst undercount in the nation, said David A. Byerman, the bureau's liaison to the Nevada state government.

For Nevada and the valley, that means lost federal funding of all kinds, from educational assistance to senior citizens' programs. A family of four that isn't counted means the loss of $25,000 over 10 years in federal funding, or more than $600 per year per person, Byerman said.

Historically, Hispanics have been reluctant to respond to the census -- either the form that is mailed back or the door-to-door enumerators.

"Nevada has the dead-last response to the census form," Byerman said -- 58 percent in the state versus 85 percent nationally. And that means enumerators have to go out to physically count the fold.

"That obviously presents special challenges within the Latino population, not just because of the language barrier but because it is a federal official knocking on their door," Byerman said.

Nationally the 1990 undercount was about 1.8 percent for all groups, but about 2.5 percent for people of Hispanic heritage, the bureau estimates. That number is substantially higher for Hispanics locally -- about 7 percent, versus 1.8 percent for the local population of non-Hispanic whites.

Hoggard, Byerman and others from federal, state, county and city governments are working to get the message out that census information is confidential.

By federal law, the bureau cannot release information on any individual to any other organization or government body. The respondent's residency status is confidential, and anyone, government official or not, who releases census information is subject to stiff criminal prosecution -- a $50,000 fine and five years in prison, Hoggard said.

"Individual data is totally protected," he said.

The bureau and the state, county and city governments are coordinating their efforts to ensure that people know that answering the census is safe and confidential. One strategy for the local Census 2000 committee is to get the word to local religious leaders throughout the county, but especially within the Hispanic community, that it is important to respond to the census, Hoggard said.

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