Moving Out of Census Daze

As you will have noticed by now, I have posted infrequently on this blog for almost a year--this after almost a year of daily blogs.

I was involved with Census 2010 as a bilingual (Spanish) enumerator and as an Office Operations Supervisor for a suburb west of Chicago.  Census 2010 consisted of a series of operations and each operation could have separate staffing.  I was involved with Census 2010 from March, 2010 through the end of March, 2011, and was scheduled to participate in a final operation during May and June, 2011.  

The Census geared their temporary employees based on geography--wanting people to work in their local area.  Fortunately for the area in which I live, there was little to do in the final operation and no one from this area was hired.  For my area, Census 2010 and its follow-up activities are over.  (The U.S. Census Bureau has ongoing operations--Census 2010 was the Decennial Census.)

The Census believes strongly in protecting privacy and Census employees agree to terms of employment that include a $250,000 fine and up to five years of imprisonment for disclosing personal proprietary information (PPI).  That had a lot to do with not keeping up with posting.  I had several months between operations.  I took some of that time reviewing my earlier blog posts and am in the process of turning them into a book.

My focus and efforts are now in reaching out through the Internet to share my experience and insights as a global learning and change navigator.  Visit my new blog at http://www.JoelMonty.Info/blog/.  

You can also see more of what I'm up to these days on my Facebook Fan Page for JoelMontyPresents.

Helpful book to track recovery from brain injury

Open Letter to Mark E. Kelly


Dear Mark,

My thoughts and prayers are with you and Gabrielle.  After learning some of what her surgeon had to say about her condition, I felt drawn to suggest a resource that helped me support my mother through brain surgery in 1995.

In April of 1995, my mother, now 96, underwent brain surgery for two subdural hematomas.  These blood clots--caused by am old accident and a recent blow to the head--grew to the point that her brain was being compressed.  She was on Coumadin and the surgeons had to wait until her blood could clot.

They shaved her head, pulled her scalp forward, and drilled four holes in her head--trepanning, surgery found in the skulls of cavemen.  One hole allowed the air to come in and the other allowed the blood to flow out.  They had to have two pairs of holes, one for each clot.

She almost died before they started surgery.  Her body functions were starting to fail.  The surgery was successful and she was alert and speaking well immediately after the surgery.  Then her brain, which had been compressed, had to swell to return to normal size.  It took several weeks to recover--which she did successfully.  A book written by Glen Doman--in particular the Doman-Delacro Developmental Profile in the book--really helped me as I went through her recovery with her.  The book is What to Do About Your Brain-Injured Child  and is available from Amazon.com.  (I ordered two updated and revised copies tonight so that I can send one to you.)

I will look for an older copy of the book so that I can scan the chart and email it to you immediately.  (I found the chart and copyright restrictions keep me from sending you a copy.  It will be better seen in the book so that you can have the context of the chart.)

The book more accurately described the stages of brain growth, healing, and repair than the neurosurgeons did who performed the successful surgery.

This information may help both you and Gabrielle to understand her healing process better.

God bless you both and all concerned with her healing process.

I am posting this email to my blog and sending you the link in care of Diane Sawyer at ABC News because I believe she can forward it to you.  Let me know where to send your copy of Glen Doman's book.

Sincerely,

Joel Montgomery

Census Daze--Almost Gone

Census Daze--it's certainly occupied my summer.  It's coming to an end and my life (and blog) are beginning to return.

Census 2010 has been a long and involved process.  From the inside the beginning and the (near) ending have much in common.

Hopefully the Census will have sufficient data for the next 10 years to do effective planning for Medicare, schools, roads, members of Congress, etc.

The U.S. Constitution requires a Census every ten years.  The questions asked on the Census are approved by congress and become the "as approved by law" part of the Constitution.

Census workers agree not to divulge information they gathered while working for the Census.  This is why you won't see many blog posts with lots of detail.

I'm already thinking of other areas--Flu Vaccine for 2010 (I had mine on August 10th at a local Walgreens), for example.

More soon.

Census Daze

It's been many days since my last posting.  Blame it on "Census Daze."  I'm working with the Census 2010 in a variety of ways and am learning lots and lots about the census.

I've shared some about it on this blog.  Details of the census are protected by a lifetime privacy agreement I committed to when becoming a census employee.

Here I can say that the No Response Follow-Up phase of the census (the most traditional phase with people with questionnaires showing up at a home) is a 24/7 operation.  "Door-knocking" is usually from 8AM to 8PM and the rest is processing of the information gathered by the enumerators ("door knockers", census takers).

I've met lots of people from all walks of life, ethnic groups, and education levels both in the ranks of census workers and at the homes whose doors I have knocked on.

The process is rooted in the U.S. Constitution--where the job of Enumerator is listed along with President and Vice-President.  Congress was involved in accepting the questions being asked by the census.

I'm bringing to bear many of the business skills I use in my consulting and teaching practice in the day-to-day-operations of my work with the Census and, while it is a temporary job with a modest pay scale, the work is helping me pay my bills while the work I do helps the government have the information to make informed decisions about how to distribute tax monies for the next ten years.

All in all it's very good experience.  Sometimes my hours are strange and I haven't had the extra energy for this blog for a while.  More later.

Back to Census Daze.

Census 2010--Revisited--Negative Impact from Not Completing a Questionnaire

Households who do not complete a Census 2010 Questionnaire--either on their own or with the aid of an enumerator (census taker) cost their state approximately $19,400 in revenues for roads, education, etc.  Hispanic families who do not complete a questionnaire will not be counted in terms of providing adequate education resources for Spanish-speaking students and families.  This year's questionnaire focuses especially on the Hispanic heritage of respondents, asking from which areas did the people come in the Spanish-speaking world.

This information, especially tied to individuals, is confidential and will not be shared for 72 years.  Some individuals may choose to respond to the questionnaire without providing full names.  That's fine for the census.

Identifying personal information will be stripped from the data to be compiled for statistical purposes.  Those statistics influence lots of funding decisions regarding the distribution of federal taxes as well as representation in the House of Representatives.

Not completing a questionnaire can have a significant negative impact on all of these areas.  Work with enumerators to complete your questionnaire.

How to Help a Census 2010 Enumerator

Enumerators started knocking on doors on Saturday, May 1, 2010, in the No Response Follow-Up (NRFU) phase of Census 2010.  Their job is to help households get their information to the Census Bureau so that their information can be added to the statistics needed to meet the requirements established by the U.S. Constitution.

Personal data collected during the census is stripped from the data added to the statistics and held confidential for 72 years.  Information released to the Census Bureau is not shared with any other governmental agencies.

Households who have completed one of the questionnaires mailed to them by the Census Bureau and who have not mailed them yet can hand them to the enumerator when he or she calls.  That will speed the process and reduce the time the enumerator needs to take with the family.

The Census Bureau does not have names of people living at residences.  Questionnaires were mailed to "residents."  People who do not want to share their names can share other information and their names will not be collected.  If you are a neighbor and know that a house near you was vacant on April 1, 2010 (Census Day), please tell the enumerator in your neighborhood so that time will not be lost waiting for someone to respond from an empty house.

In some neighborhoods, 80% of the residents have responded by mail.  This probably means that the balance of households are either vacant or did not understand English.  (The questions are available in 18 languages.)

After an in-person visit to each home that needs a questionnaire follow-up, telephone interviews work to gather the information required.  While visits to homes to collect the information are budgeted to cost $57 dollars, that is much more than the enumerators make.  Enumerators are required to visit homes in person at least three times.  The quicker the enumerator can gather the information or determine that the house is vacant, the lower the cost of the in-person enumeration.

If a home needs a language other than English, they can tell the enumerator who will make a note on the questionnaire and someone will follow-up with the appropriate language.  If someone in the household (especially 15 or above) is available to translate, that works, too.

Remember, each completed questionnaire generates about $19,400 in federal funds for highways, schools, etc. within a state as well ad contributing to the number of representatives for each state in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Elder Abuse--Similar to Day Care Abuse of Young Children

My 95-year-old mother may have been the victim of a type of elder abuse where she lives.  She reported that a person came into her room and said, "You're old enough.  Why don't you die?"  Mom felt threatened and kept replaying the one-sided conversation over and over in her mind.

She called for help and, by the time people arrived to help, there was no evidence that anyone had been involved in abuse.  Because Mom does have short-term memory problems, it is easy for someone to record the incident as "senile dementia" or "confusion."

While Mom can get confused and forget things, especially when she's tired, she has reported similar incidents to me at least three or four times over the last few months.  She does react by becoming nervous and upset.

When this happens in day care for young children, parents often set-up a hidden camera and microphone to see what's really going on.  That will probably be my next step in finding out what's happening to Mom.