Census 2020 resumes in Northern California with home drop-offs and social distancing

The U.S. Census Bureau resumed operations Tuesday in several counties in Northern California as the federal agency tries to reach residents in mostly rural parts of the state.

The effort will focus on most counties in the Sacramento Valley and specifically the 150,000 households that do not receive regular mail. It’s a part of the phase known as “update leave” in which workers deliver a census questionnaire to homes in person and leave it behind for a resident to fill out.

The effort was suspended on March 18 after two days of operation as the coronavirus pandemic intensified and governments began urging people to stay home. In recent weeks the federal government began reopening offices and deploying census takers in various states as many stay-at-home orders are eased.

Early data showed many communities in the Sacramento region are responding at or above the statewide rate but some rural places like Isleton, Colfax and Lake Tahoe lagged behind because of the number of households that receive mail in P.O. boxes.

Three-week operation in Northern California

The 23 counties in Northern California will be the first operations in the state to restart, census officials said. Some places, like Placer and Butte counties have thousands of households that do not get mail delivered.

“There are other areas of California where update leave has not yet resumed but it has been a staggered start across the nation over the past two weeks,” said Marna Davis, a census spokesperson.

The operation is expected to last three weeks, she said. Field staff were trained to comply with all social distancing rules and will wear official government-provided personal protective equipment.

Davis said the agency is deciding where to resume operations based on public health guidelines, local conditions and input from local leaders.

“Where it’s safe, we are resuming delivery of census invitations and questionnaires to those who haven’t received them,” she said. “We are not yet starting the operation that conducts in-person interviews with households that haven’t responded.”

California has been particularly concerned with the 2020 Census and is actively trying to boost the count among hard-to-count groups and regions in the state. Lawmakers agreed to spend $187 million on outreach but the efforts have been hindered by the threat of COVID-19.