Census will stick with raw figures

Bureau rejects using adjusted data for dispersing money

Olympian staff and wire Olympian staff and wire Olympian staff and wire

Originally published October 18

WASHINGTON --The Bush administration has decided against releasing statistically adjusted Census data to help distribute billions of dollars in federal aid across the country.

The decision means the federal government will use the raw head count available now to divvy up more than $185 billion for Medicaid, foster care and other social service programs.

The decision was made because errors were found in the adjusted data, acting Census Bureau Director William Barron said at a news conference Wednesday.

Bureau officials weighed whether adjusting population figures with statistical sampling would improve the already completed raw head count.

Census numbers have been adjusted in the past because children, minority and poor residents are typically undercounted in the Census.

South Sound effect

The decision could have some impact on South Sound communities and programs, although local officials say they can't be sure yet what the impact would be.

"I think we would be better off (if Census data were adjusted)," said Pete Swensson, senior planner with the Thurston Regional Planning Council.

Thurston County is large enough in population that it's likely the county's population of minority and poor residents would be adjusted higher, he said.

That could result in more federal and state money for programs.

However, adjusting Census numbers is a complicated process, and often results in less accurate counts for smaller communities, such as Mason County, he said.

The type of program that might be affected by the decision not to adjust Census numbers is the Head Start/Early Childhood Education Assistance Program, for low-income children.

The program gets both state and federal dollars based on the number of low-income children in a region.

"There's a potential impact," said Sandy Nelson, director of the program for Thurston, Mason and Grays Harbor counties.

Nelson said she doesn't know for sure what the decision will mean for her program. "We'll just be trying to make sure we keep what (funding) we have," she said.

Adjustments

Most Democrats and civil rights groups said it would be better to use adjusted data, by offering a better tally of minorities, the poor and children -- groups typically missed in higher numbers.

Many Republican opponents claimed sampling would insert more errors into a 2000 Census that already was better than the one in 1990, because of a lower national net undercount. They

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