Census Procedures for AL and Nursing Homes Outlined
With mail-out of the 2010 Census forms less than one month away, members need to be made aware on the process for "group quarters." According to the Census Bureau Web site, classified living quarters for large numbers of unrelated individuals are defined as "group quarters." These include, among others, group homes for those with physical or mental disabilities, and nursing homes. These units offer special challenges for accurate enumeration. Through the middle of March, a census taker will be visiting each group quarters' facility. The primary goal is to inform a contact person of the upcoming enumeration, address privacy and confidentiality concerns related to personal identifiable information, and identify security issues, such as restricted access.
Through this process, the Census Bureau staff will obtain an agreed-upon date and time to conduct the enumeration and an expected April 1 population count. The information collected during the interview is used to prepare the correct amount of materials needed to conduct the enumeration at the facility. The information helps determine the size of teams that need to be created, the identification of necessary language abilities, and the identification of any safety and security concerns.
The Census Bureau Web site states "these visits permit the Census Bureau to judge whether the best data would be obtained through reports of the management personnel or through individual reports of the residents. For some settings (e.g., health care facilities) the residents may not be able to provide their own information, and administrative records can be used to enumerate the population. If the judgment is made that administrative records are best used, then the management personnel will take the same oath of confidentiality as the census taker.If individual reporting is chosen as the option, there is a special form for individual responses."
The Census Bureau staff will leave posters or educational materials at the facility that describe how the census will be taken in the facility. Based on this operation, the Census Bureau will prepare all the materials needed to do the enumeration of the facility in March. Although demographic information is considered "protected health information" under HIPAA, the Census Bureau has the legal right to collect the information necessary to answer the questions on the Census forms, so there is no HIPAA violation. There may be people posing as Census workers in order to obtain information illegally. Here are some recognition tips to assure the validity of the field representative. The person:
• Must present an ID Badge which contains: photograph of field representative, Department of Commerce
watermark, and expiration date.
• Will provide you with supervisor contact information and/or the regional office phone number for
verification, if asked.
• Will provide you with a letter from the director of the Census Bureau on U.S. Census Bureau letterhead.
• May be carrying a laptop and/or bag with a Census Bureau logo.