Modernizing the U.S. Census (1995) / Chapter Skim
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E State and Local Needs for Census Data
E State and Local Needs for Census Data
Pages 273-291
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From page 273... ...
. This appendix is based on a background paper prepared for the panel by Michele Conrad entitled "State and Local Needs for Census Data: A Survey of State Data Centers." 273
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From page 274... ...
Those purposes include, but are not limited to: meeting state and federal legislative requirements, allocating funds for social service programs and assessing the need and effects of public health and social service programs, community planning and development, environmental monitoring, and economic analyses. Census data are used to describe neighborhoods, which helps private and public agencies understand their community's needs and target program and policy efforts effectively.
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From page 275... ...
One data center reported that the demand for census data has grown dramatically in 1983, that center received fewer than 1,000 inquiries for census data; in 1993, it received over 8,000 inquiries. School districts, university students, housing authorities, the farm programs, consultants for sewer and water districts, grant applicants, state tax assessors, utility companies, soil conservation services, grocery store chains, hospitals and health clinics, various state and local government agencies, municipalities, housing developers, newspaper reporters, accountants, the United Way, media consultants, banks, transportation agencies, libraries, and other types of businesses and industries are among the users of census data.
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From page 276... ...
Household relationship helps to identify high-risk areas, such as those areas with high concentrations of single, female-headed families, high unemployment, and high drop-out rates; federal reports and grants; research; area profiles; planning and evaluation purposes; household projections; and determining and targeting areas where social services are needed. Migration is crucial for understanding migration from state to state and within states, as well as for understanding who is moving.
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Race data are also essential for grants applications; housing, social service, and community planning; affirmative action compliance assessments, as well as for education, health care, and employment services. A way of addressing multiple racial background in the census was advocated.
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The Alaska State Data Center noted that enrollment data are available from the state Department of Education. Data on education levels are used by the departments of education and educational leaders to measure programmatic impact, and many communities use the data to attract industry.
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The data area also essential for land-use plans and community development block-grant programs. Uses and needs for housing data are discussed in Appendix H
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· Small-area transportation data items, such as mode of transportation to work and vehicle occupancy are used by transportation and environmental agencies to assess environmental impacts related to federal guidelines or mandates, including requirements of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. · The Illinois Department of Public Health cited the use of block- and tract-level data for health assessment studies related to toxic waste clean-up of Super Fund sites on the national priority list a federally mandated program.
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From page 281... ...
, requires census data for the grant application (Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974~. CDBG housing and other grant applications are prepared using census data on population, number of households, income, vacant housing units (number of)
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Without census data, many public health and social service agencies would not be able to meet their responsibilities and, in the long run, the public's health could suffer. Census data are used to help state departments and agencies for child welfare predict trends in child abuse, foster care, socioeconomic needs, number of children in foster care and/or receiving social services, cost of services in the future, and household composition.
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Federal Environmental Protection Agency mandates require many local governments to upgrade or replace water systems, sewage systems, and solid waste facilities. The funds for those projects are obtained through grants from the Farmers Home Administration, Community Development Block Grants, and, in some cases, state endowment programs.
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A brief description of data uses for school districts, law enforcement, library services, and emergency planning follows. School Districts Some state codes require that school districts calculate the average the number of students in poverty and the number of school-age children in families receiving AFDC based on census data.
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From page 285... ...
In addition, census data are used to analyze library service areas (census tract aggregations) to determine the type of services, materials, and programs that should be offered.
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Income, poverty, and other socioeconomic characteristics are crucial at least at the census tract level for those areas. The California enterprise zones program identifies economically depressed areas and offers state incentives designed to encourage business investment and the creation of jobs.
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In preparing economic analyses and grant applications for counties and communities in Wisconsin, data on the farm and nonfarm populations, median age, educational attainment, minority population, employment categories, occupational data, income and poverty data, race, population by age and by sex, and place of work are utilized. An important use of census data is to aid in assessing the potential impact of an economic disruption, such as the closing of a large automobile manufacturer or a military base, on an area.
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From page 288... ...
are frequently requested from the Wisconsin state data center, but there are few requests for block and block-group data. One of the data centers stated that the requested census data are primarily at the tract, block group, and block levels.
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From page 289... ...
As several centers noted, all of the data items are used by some group or agency for some purpose, whether for federally mandated reporting or for longrange local transportation planning or for economic analyses of an area. Second, all of the centers expressed a desire and need for current small-area data that are accurate at various levels of geography (e.g., tracts, block groups, and blocks)
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