Complete Count Committee 

Focus Groups: 

Final Report 

On the Road to 2010

January 2006 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

January 2006

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U.S. Census Bureau 

Field Division, Partnership and Data Services Staff 

Complete Count Committee Focus Groups 

Final Report 

January 2006 

Table of Contents 

Background and Introduction...................................................................... 3 

Summary CCC Focus Groups Report........................................................ 7 

Key Recommendations .................................................................................... 7 

Key Elements that Define Successful CCCs .................................................... 21 

CCC Activities: Most Effective, Innovative and Low or No Cost...................... 24 

Other Recommendations and Findings .......................................................... 32 

Conclusion .................................................................................................... 34

Individual CCC Focus Group Reports ....................................................35 

Tribal Focus Group........................................................................................ 37 

Big City Focus Group..................................................................................... 55 

Medium to Small City Focus Group................................................................ 73 

Community Focus Group............................................................................... 93 

Rural/County Focus Group .......................................................................... 107

Conclusion .......................................................................................................123 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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As part of the research and development planning efforts for the 2010 Census, 

the U.S. Census Bureau conducted a series of focus groups on Complete Count 

Committees (CCCs). The Complete Count Committee Program is a part of the 

Partnership and Data Services Program in Field Division. The purpose of the focus 

groups was to obtain information to help plan and implement a new and 

innovative CCC Program for the 2010 Census. 

In August and September 2005, five focus groups were held. Focus groups were 

comprised of people who served on CCCs during Census 2000 and included 

elected officials, CCC chairpersons, CCC members and tribal liaisons. They drew 

upon their experience during Census 2000 to make recommendations for the 

2010 Census. The focus group type, locations and dates of the groups are 

provided in Table 1. 

Table 1 

CCC Focus Groups, 2005 

Focus Group Location Date 

Tribal Government CCCs Phoenix, AZ August 30, 2005 

Big City CCCs Philadelphia, PA September 13, 2005 

Medium to Small City CCCs St. Louis, MO September 15, 2005 

Community CCCs Chicago, IL September 20, 2005 

Rural/County CCCs Chicago, IL September 22, 2005 

Each focus group meeting lasted four and a half hours. The focus groups began 

at 8:00 am with registration. Shortly thereafter the moderator began with 

background information and the overview of what was expected. There was a 15-

minute break during the focus group, and the session ended at 12:30 pm. 

The focus groups were conducted using a moderator guide with 15 questions (16 

for the tribal focus group) and two group activities. The information provided 

was captured on flip charts for many of the questions, on notes, and on audio 

recordings. Information was validated by providing a summary prior to the break 

and at the end of each focus group so that participants could correct any 

misperceptions and/or add information that they omitted at the time of the 

discussion. 

Brenda August served as moderator for four groups and Marilyn Stephens served 

as moderator for the Community CCCs focus group. Mim Dixon was assistant 

Background and Introduction
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moderator for all the groups. She provided the summaries to the groups, 

analyzed the information, and wrote this report. 

At each of the focus groups, there were observers from the Census Bureau in the 

room. A Census Bureau representative welcomed the group at the beginning and 

thanked the group at the end. Group members were asked to reserve questions 

and comments unrelated to CCCs until the end of the focus group when they 

were afforded the opportunity to meet with a representative of the Census Bureau 

to respond to their inquiries. 

This report is organized with a summary section at the beginning and followed by 

the individual focus group reports. The summary is divided into five parts: 1) 

key recommendations for re-designing the CCC Program for 2010; 2) key 

elements for successful CCCs; 3) CCC activities: most effective, innovative and 

low or no cost; 4) other findings and recommendations from the focus group; and 

5) conclusion. 

The information is not reported in the exact sequence and context in which it was 

offered, but rather it is organized by topic. For the most part, however, the 

discussions related to a topic were motivated by a specific question, which is 

referenced in the subheadings. 

To reduce redundancy and make the report more readable, comments offered in 

the discussion of one question may have been moved to another section where 

the topic is more relevant. For example, confidentiality was usually raised in the 

discussion of what needs improvement (question 2), but the discussion items 

were moved to question 14, which focuses specifically on confidentiality. 

Innovative ideas that were explained in what worked well (question 1) were moved 

to the subheading on Innovative Activities (question 5) under the topic, Activities. 

The names of the participants and the communities that they represent are 

confidential. To make this report more readable, the Complete Count Committee 

is abbreviated as “CCC.” 
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Description of the Participants 

The Census Bureau recruited focus group participants with a target of 10-14 per 

group. A description of the focus group participant breakdown is given in Table 

2. 

Table 2 

Description of Focus Group Participants 

Gender Focus Group Total 

Number Male Female 

Age 

Range 

Tribal Government CCCs 7 3 4 45-62 

Big City CCCs 14 10 4 35-68 

Medium to Small City CCCs 14 7 7 32-63 

Community CCCs 5 2 3 34-61 

Rural/County CCCs 7 4 3 29-63 

 Totals 47 26 

(55%) 

21 

(45%) 

Overall, there was good representation by gender and age. Many areas of the 

country were represented; however, there was little representation from the 

Southern states. Some people who were scheduled to participate from Southern 

states had to cancel due to Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana, Mississippi, 

Alabama, and Florida at the time of the Tribal and Big City focus groups. The 

Rural/County focus group was scheduled to be held in New Orleans, LA and had 

to be moved to Chicago, IL which also reduced participation. 

Overall, the focus group participants were informed, experienced and articulate. 

For most of the groups, the group dynamics were lively and fun. The questions 

evoked information that was sought by the Census Bureau. The focus group 

participants remarked that they learned a lot from their fellow participants and 

often exchanged contact information after the focus group so that they could 

continue to communicate and provide support for one another. The focus group 

format was regarded by many participants as a model for information sharing and 

motivated many of them to begin planning their CCC activities for 2010. 
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To assist in the process of re-designing the CCC Program for the 2010 Census, 

information from all five focus groups has been integrated into the following 

summary. The summary offers 11 key recommendations to guide the re-design 

process based on focus group comments. It also identifies the elements that 

most focus group participants regarded as essential for the success of CCCs. In 

addition, the focus groups were designed to obtain input on some additional 

issues related to the CCCs that are included in this summary. 

I. KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RE-DESIGNING THE 2010 CCC 

PROGRAM 

Some clear direction emerged from the focus groups, these focus group findings 

are organized into 11 recommendations for the Census Bureau to consider for redesigning the CCC Program for the 2010 Census: 

1. Design the CCC Program to reflect the different needs and resources of 

different types and sizes of governments. 

2. Make effective use of the Internet to support CCCs. 

3. Use a 3-tier communications strategy in planning and implementing the 

CCC Program. 

4. Make handbooks more “user friendly.” 

5. Develop an ongoing program in schools that promotes census awareness. 

6. Initiate CCC support activities on a timetable that is coordinated with the 

lead times needed by local governments. 

7. Provide orientation and training for CCCs. 

8. Maintain and/or increase the number of Partnership Specialists because of 

their importance to the CCC Program. 

9. Utilize experienced CCCs to provide motivation and support to new and 

inexperienced CCCs. 

10. Provide federal financial support for the CCCs. 

11. Continue to provide promotional materials and items to support the CCCs. 

These recommendations that were a result of these focus groups are explained in 

greater detail in this section of the summary. 

Summary CCC Focus Groups Report
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1. Design the CCC Program to reflect the different needs and 

resources of different types and sizes of governments. 

Different types and size of governments need different types of support for their 

CCCs. Holding different focus groups for different sizes and types of 

communities was an effective way to explore their different needs. Some focus 

group participants provided unsolicited comments that they appreciated that the 

Census Bureau organized the focus groups in this way. All of the focus groups 

expressed the opinion that different types of communities have different needs. 

The largest cities that were represented in the focus groups tend to be very 

sophisticated in their organization and strategies for census outreach. They 

understand that the numbers of people counted have an economic impact for 

their city and they are highly motivated to achieve a complete count. They have 

the economic resources and some are willing (and with enough lead time they are 

also able) to allocate the funding necessary to plan, staff and implement census 

outreach programs. 

In these largest cities, the CCC provides oversight and advocacy for city’s census 

activities. For the most part, paid staff hired by the largest cities are responsible 

for coordinating the implementation of the plans approved by the CCC. Census 

outreach is a complex process for large cities involving multiple layers of 

organization and several levels of approvals. Because census outreach is 

regarded as a complex project, large cities need more lead time to plan and 

organize. 

Smaller cities do not have the resources that larger cities have. They tend to have 

smaller numbers of city employees and to experience greater discontinuity when 

there is turnover in elected local government officials. New mayors of small cities 

generally do not enter the political arena with an understanding of the value of 

the census to their communities. Small cities need the Census Bureau to reach 

out and provide education and orientation to elected government officials and to 

encourage them to form CCCs. 

Small to medium sized cities may have one paid part-time or full-time coordinator 

for census activities; however, CCCs in small cities tend to rely solely on 

volunteers both to develop and to implement census outreach strategies. To 

keep volunteers engaged and motivated, small cities prefer a relatively 
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compressed timeframe for the CCC. Expenses are a problem for small cities, so 

they look for low cost ways to do outreach for the census. 

The motivations for doing census outreach are different for different sizes of 

cities. The largest cities are motivated by opportunities for federal funding that 

are based on population size, such as block grants. The smaller cities are more 

likely to be affected financially in a different way. Sales tax revenues may be 

divided among small cities using formulas based on population size. 

Another difference is the definition of hard-to-count populations. Cities of all 

sizes were concerned about Hispanic and other immigrant populations, and all 

were using the same general approaches, such as working through churches and 

schools. However, cities of different sizes identified different other hard-to-count 

populations. Large cities expressed concern about counting the homeless 

population, while this did not come up in the small to medium size city focus 

group. The medium and small city focus group talked about university students 

as posing challenges, while this population did not enter into the discussions in 

the big city focus group. 

Counties have different issues than cities, but there are parallels in the impact of 

population size. Larger counties with more urban populations have more 

resources and greater sophistication with regard to census outreach activities. 

Counties that are more rural and smaller in population probably have the least 

resources and may want the most help from the Census Bureau. 

Tribal governments have unique circumstances that are different from cities and 

counties. Their motivation for a complete count is related to needs for planning, 

proposal writing, and formulas for grant programs that are specific to tribes. 

Many tribal governments do not have resources to commit to census outreach 

activities. The membership of their CCCs tends to be primarily employees of the 

tribal government. These and other circumstances related to language, culture 

and social organization require specialized support. 

The Census Bureau’s Partnership and Data Services Program has developed the 

American Indian/Alaska Native Program to provide extra support for tribal 

governments to do census outreach. Overall, this program appears to be 

effective and there is a need to continue and enhance it. 
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Community CCCs were organized in some cities during Census 2000. Many of 

the strategies developed by cities are also relevant for Community CCCs. 

However, the Community CCCs have a more narrow focus to reach a defined 

community group. Because their focus is narrower, information prepared for 

cities and counties may be too broad and therefore frustrating for Community 

CCCs to navigate to the information that is most relevant for them. 

A theme that comes from all the focus groups is “one size does not fit all.” Thus, 

the Census Bureau should use type of government (city, county, and tribal 

government) and size of government (large, medium and small) as it designs its 

CCC Program, including orientation, training, handbooks and support. This 

recommendation is an underlying principle in all other recommendations for 

designing the CCC Program for the 2010 census. 

2. Make effective use of the Internet to support CCCs in 2010.

Every focus group was enthusiastic about using the Internet to support CCCs. All 

of the governments and organizations that sponsor CCCs have access to 

computers and the Internet. However, some CCC members may not have 

personal computers and/or Internet access. 

Participants said that information currently in the CCC Handbook should be 

provided on a website in a format that takes advantage of internet capability to 

help people navigate to the information that is most useful for them. This would 

allow the Census Bureau to tailor the information for the size of community, the 

type of government, and other unique circumstances. For example, the focus 

groups indicated that different types of activities are effective for different types 

of communities. 

It was suggested that the website could provide links with success stories and 

effective and innovative activities that relate to particular types of communities. 

Focus groups also expressed a desire to have materials available on a website 

that they can download and adapt to their needs. These include such things as 

translations of census materials into various languages, radio scripts, and other 

templates that could be used with the addition of local information, local 

photographs, and local voices. They envision a website where the information 

does not have to come entirely from the Census Bureau. For example, a CCC in 
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one part of the country could provide translations to be used by CCCs in other 

parts of the country so that they don’t have to “reinvent the wheel.” 

Another use of the Internet is to provide an efficient way for CCCs to order 

promotional materials that are produced by the Census Bureau. Focus group 

members envisioned this as an on-line catalog that lists all the materials that are 

available to them. The Census Bureau could keep track of their inventories and 

CCCs could track the shipping of the materials that they request. 

The participants felt that people are comfortable using bulletin boards and chat 

rooms to ask questions, get technical assistance, and get ideas. The concerns 

that were expressed were related to the timeliness of posted responses. 

3. Use a 3-tier communications strategy in planning and 

implementing the CCC Program. 

The Internet should be part of a larger communications strategy developed by the 

Census Bureau. 

Currently, the Census Bureau has a policy of communicating with the highest 

elected official to initiate CCC Program participation. While focus group 

participants thought that this was essential, they also thought it was insufficient. 

Several focus groups pointed out that often the highest elected official does not 

know if he/she is receiving the only copy of materials (letter of invitation and 

handbook) being sent by the Census Bureau, or if others in the administration are 

also receiving materials. In addition, it was stated that sometimes the highest 

elected official does not pass the materials on in a timely manner and sometimes 

not at all. 

Several focus groups suggested that the highest elected officials need printed 

initial contact materials that are designed to engage them with exciting graphics 

and a minimum of technical information. This should also be sent to the top 

administrator for the city, county or tribal government. These types of materials 

can direct people to the CCC website for additional information. 

Based on the discussion and in an effort to ensure communication to the 

coordinator level, a three-tiered approach to communication is suggested by the 

focus groups. 
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The first tier is to work on an ongoing basis with national associations that 

represent cities, counties, and tribal government so that they can assist in the 

process of census promotion to their constituent governments and groups. 

The second tier is for the Census Bureau to engage the elected officials early to 

stimulate them to establish a CCC and motivate them to provide leadership for 

the local government budget process to support the CCC. 

After a CCC coordinator is appointed, then the third tier is for the Census Bureau 

to communicate directly with the coordinator and provide technical assistance. 

With the national government associations and the elected officials, the 

communications from the Census Bureau should be more motivational and more 

face-to-face. For the CCC coordinators and the CCC members, the 

communication can begin with a face-to-face meeting and then rely more upon 

telecommunications, including conference calls and the Internet. 

4. Make handbooks more “user friendly.” 

There will be a need to produce written handbooks even if the material is also 

available on the Internet. Just as the Internet materials should be designed so 

that the users can navigate easily to the information that is most relevant to 

them, different handbooks should be written for specific audiences and topics. 

The medium and small city focus group was more acutely aware of this problem 

than other focus groups. They perceived that the CCC Handbook was designed 

for big cities and did not work for them. This was not a problem identified by the 

big city focus group because the handbook met their needs. It was not a problem 

for the tribal focus group because they had the American Indian and Alaska 

Native Program with their own handbook. 

Individual focus group reports have specific information regarding handbook 

needs for the audiences represented in the focus group. 
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In general, all focus groups had these recommendations for improving the 

handbooks: 

• The design should be more appealing and readable, including 

pictures/graphics, bullets and headlines; 

• It needs page numbers and a table of contents; 

• Information should be less dense and the handbook should be shorter; 

• To make it easier to read, the font should be larger and the print darker; 

• Bold print should be used to signal important things; and 

• Include telephone numbers for contact people to answer questions. 

In addition, the tribal government focus group strongly recommended that there 

be a special tribal review committee to review drafts of future tribal handbooks 

and to provide input before they are issued again. 

5. Develop an on-going program in schools that promotes census 

awareness. 

All of the focus groups discussed the importance of schools in the promotion of 

the census. One of the most effective strategies that they identified to reach 

adults who do not speak English is through their children who often serve as 

translators. Also, when children get involved in census promotion activities, they 

often get the attention of friends and relatives, as well as free media coverage to 

promote the census. A reason to include census materials in school curriculum is 

to build community understanding of the value and usefulness of census data. In 

rural areas, teachers are viewed as leaders in the community. A member of the 

Rural/County focus group perceived teachers as a “big stumbling block” during 

Census 2000. This perception was that teachers tried to protect undocumented 

immigrants and did not encourage parents of students to participate in the 

census. 

One of the CCC activities carried out in 2000 was for CCCs to write letters to the 

school districts encouraging the use of the Census in Schools materials in the 

classroom. However, this strategy is unlikely to work because the materials need 

to be incorporated into curricula prior to the formation of CCCs. 

School districts usually require at least one year to review and approve changes in 

curriculum, which means that the process to request the addition of census 

material must start at least two years before the census. However, many of the 
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focus group participants thought that this should be an ongoing activity, not just 

implemented prior to the census. “Young people need to understand the power of 

the census and the history of the census early on,” said one focus group 

participant. 

While the CCCs tend to be under the jurisdiction of city or county government, 

some school districts are independent. There are sometimes jurisdictional and 

territorial frictions that make it difficult for cities and counties to influence the 

schools. 

The Rural/County focus group suggested that school districts, which are treated 

separate from governmental units, have a special program. One focus group 

participant suggested that the Census Bureau should work with associations of 

social studies teachers early (before CCCs are formed) to assure that census 

education is included in the school curriculum. 

6. Initiate CCC support activities on a timetable that is coordinated 

with the lead times needed by local governments. 

Focus groups identified several phases for the CCCs with different time frames 

depending upon the size and resources of the community. The following is a 

synthesis of recommendations from all the focus groups. 

Awareness about the Usefulness of the Census

Awareness of the importance and usefulness of census data on an ongoing basis 

will help to build support for specific activities for census promotion during the 

decennial census. Awareness about the census is regarded as an ongoing 

process that does not have a beginning or an end. 

This can be done by providing data user training workshops and technical 

assistance. The Census Bureau can expand the number of users of census data at 

the local level (city, county, tribal, business, non-profit) for activities such as 

planning, grant writing, formulas for distribution of tax revenues and block 

grants. 

Technical assistance could also be provided to communities and tribal 

governments to develop reports or monographs that summarize census data and 

specifically describes their situation. 
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The Census Bureau should provide on-going education for elected officials in local 

governments particularly after elections when there is turnover in leadership. 

This involves the Census Bureau maintaining ongoing relationships and 

partnerships with governments and organizations. 

Local Government Budget Allocation

It takes approximately a year, usually beginning in September, for local 

governments to develop and enact their budgets for the following fiscal year. 

A key element for the success of CCCs is for governments to have a CCC 

coordinator in the beginning phase. This may be a full-time individual for the 

large cities and counties, and a part-time individual for the smaller cities and 

counties. Unless the budget allocates funding for a position, it will be a volunteer 

position and this is likely to be less successful. The coordinator needs to be hired 

and to begin planning activities before the CCC is actually formed. 

Therefore, for large cities and counties, the budget process needs to start about 

five years before the Census (2005) and the coordinator should be hired about 

four years before the Census (2006). For small cities, counties and tribal 

governments, the budget process should start two years before the Census 

(2008) and the coordinator should be hired one year before the Census (2009). 

The Census Bureau must keep these budget lead times in mind when developing 

the schedule for the CCC Program. 

Large cities and counties have a better understanding of the need for accurate 

census counts, more resources to devote to outreach, and more experience 

knowing how to plan and budget for a CCC. Smaller cities and counties need 

more help from the Census Bureau for their elected officials to understand what is 

expected. 

Planning

Once the CCC coordinator is hired, planning for census outreach begins. This 

includes defining the structure, size and organization of the CCC. It may include 

analyzing data to identify the hard-to-reach populations. 
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An important planning activity is to develop a more detailed budget for local 

government to fund activities, such as local media buys, grants to communitybased organizations, consultants, materials and other costs associated with 

outreach. These will be introduced into the next budget cycle and provide the 

funding to begin the CCC. 

For large cities and counties, the planning phase should begin about four years 

before the Census (2006). For small cities and counties, this can begin about 18 

months to two years before the Census (2008). 

CCC Start-up

Sufficient time is required to select CCC members, provide them with orientation 

and training, and use them as a resource to help develop and refine census 

outreach plans, develop subcommittees and lay the groundwork for 

implementation of outreach efforts. 

For large cities, this should start about two-three years before the Census (2007). 

For small cities and counties, this can start about one year before the Census 

(2009). CCCs with less experience and fewer resources to hire staff and 

consultants need more time for training. For example, focus group 

representatives from rural counties said that they need training on how to 

organize community activities that will penetrate the community and how to do 

public relations, particularly in an environment where there are limited local 

media sources. 

This start-up period is a good time for CCCs to review the promotional materials 

available to them from the Census Bureau, plan how they will use the materials, 

and decide how much they need to order. They also need to decide what 

materials they will need to develop to augment the materials that are provided by 

the Census Bureau. 

Community Outreach

A few focus group members felt that community outreach should be compressed 

into a short time to make the greatest impact. “If you present the idea too early 

and too often, it makes people complacent and resentful,” said one focus group 

member. 
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For large cities, a year was suggested as the maximum time for a public 

campaign. For rural areas and counties, it was suggested that a 60-day, short 

intensive campaign would be more effective than a longer one. One focus group 

participant said “With information overload in society, people tune out.” 

Celebration

A couple of focus groups discussed the need for CCCs to be able to “roll out the 

results to the community.” It was recommended that there should be a data 

dissemination plan so that community members can see the results of their 

census activities. This should be a “celebration” and the community should 

regard the results as a “win.” To do this effectively, there needs to be timely 

feedback from the Census Bureau. 

7. Provide orientation and training for CCCs. 

Some of the largest cities felt that they were able to provide their own orientation 

and training for CCCs with minimal support from the Census Bureau, but other 

focus groups said that they wanted the Census Bureau to provide orientation and 

training for the 2010 Census. 

Orientation and training were generally regarded as two separate activities. 

Orientation gives people information about the goals of the CCC and why the 

census is important to the community. Training is more about learning specific 

skills so that the CCC can carry out their objectives. 

Orientation is necessary for both elected local government officials and CCC 

members. Training is intended primarily for CCC coordinators and CCC 

members. 

For both orientation and training, focus group participants want information that 

is tailored to meet their needs. They want specific census data about their 

communities to use in orientation sessions. Almost every focus group said that 

they need to have a dollar figure that represents the value of each additional 

person counted in their community so that they could convince their elected 

officials that local funding for census outreach is cost-effective and convince the 

community that it is important. They want training on methods that worked for 

communities that are similar to their own. 
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The following is a summary of topics that were suggested for inclusion in 

orientation sessions: 

1. Historical information about the census 

2. Why the census is important 

• “What’s in it for me?” 

• All the different places where census figures are used. Not just federal 

programs, but also state programs should be included. This should be 

specific to the county and translated into the dollars per person that 

are at stake. 

• Congressional re-districting should be explained. 

3. Timelines for the Census 

4. Employment of Enumerators 

• Describe the recruiting, testing and hiring process. 

• Explain why enumerators are imported from other areas to meet Census 

deadlines. 

• State the number of census employees in the community. 

5. Confidentiality of census information 

6. Census Geography 

7. Roles and Responsibilities of CCC members 

• What is the CCC supposed to do? What outcome is expected? 

8. Resources available from the Census Bureau for CCCs 

• Funding 

- What is available? 

- How is it distributed? 

- What is the process for a tribal government, city or county to receive 

funding from the Census Bureau? 

- How CCCs can coordinate their planning of activities with funding 

from the Census Bureau. 

• Staff 

- Roles and responsibilities of Partnership Specialists 

- CCC expectations of Partnership Specialists 

• Promotional items and promotional materials 

- What is available 

- How to access it 

 9. Frequently asked questions about the census and their answers 
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In addition to an initial orientation, focus groups said that training was needed 

for CCCs. Here are some of the training topics suggested: 

1. How to develop strategies 

• Examples and strategies to mobilize and motivate communities 

• How to “penetrate the community” to get the job done within the 

timeframe. 

• Good strategies, what not to do, and lessons learned. 

• Innovative and effective promotion and outreach activities 

2. Talking points for CCC members and elected officials to use when they are 

communicating about the census. 

Orientation and training should be adapted to the needs of specific groups. For 

example: 

• Tribal governments want government-to-government relationship and 

tribal sovereignty included in the orientation. 

• Rural/County staff said they want training in public relations, because they 

don’t generally have those skills. Furthermore, they said it needs to be 

tailored to their situation. For example, there may be no local television or 

radio stations. 

• Community CCCs want leadership training, how to think as a group and 

work as a team, and how to speak with the same voice and deliver the 

same message. 

8. Maintain and/or increase the number of Partnership Specialists 

because of their importance to the CCC Program. 

Partnership Specialists are regarded as a successful part of the Census Bureau 

support for CCCs. CCCs may not have succeeded without support from the 

Partnership Specialists. In some Community CCC cases, the Partnership 

Specialists assume the role that paid staff coordinators would assume for CCCs in 

large cities and counties. 

Cities and counties with more resources and CCC experience need less help from 

Partnership Specialists. They say that the Partnership Specialist should help them 

get their CCCs started by reminding government officials that it is time to start 
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forming CCCs, and providing orientations and training. After that, the focus 

group participants say that Partnership Specialists should be available by 

telephone or e-mail, but they should focus their attention on cities and counties 

that have little or no experience with CCCs. 

Several focus groups said that they want the Census Bureau to hire Partnership 

Specialists for the 2010 Census who had experience with CCCs in 2000. They 

want Partnership Specialists who understand their governmental structures and 

therefore work effectively with them. Ethnic groups that form Community CCCs 

want Partnership Specialists who can speak their language and understand their 

communities as well. 

9. Utilize experienced CCCs to provide motivation and support to 

new and inexperienced CCCs. 

The focus groups recommended the Census Bureau should facilitate the linking of 

new CCCs to experienced CCCs. In many cases, the focus groups demonstrated 

to one another the value of peer support. Nearly every focus group came to the 

conclusion that if Partnership Specialists were not available, they could obtain 

needed information from experienced CCCs. 

The method for doing this most often recommended was holding regional 

meetings for cities or counties of similar size to share their ideas. Another 

approach that was cited in all the focus groups was to document successful case 

studies and share them. 

Other methods suggested were to publish a list of people who had experience 

and expertise who would be willing to provide assistance or guidance for new 

CCCs, or for the Census Bureau to hire consultants who have the experience to 

work with CCCs. 

10. Provide federal financial support for the CCCs in 2010. 

When asked what kind of support they needed from the Census Bureau, the first 

response in the focus groups was always financial support for census awareness 

and outreach activities. Tribal governments said that they even need funding in 

order to send their staff and CCC members to meetings to get orientation and 

training about the census. 
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11. Continue to provide promotional materials and items for the 

CCCs in 2010. 

All of the focus group participants, especially those with the fewest resources, 

want the Census Bureau to continue to provide materials that they can use for 

their outreach activities. 

Throughout the individual focus group reports, there are examples of effective, 

creative and inexpensive activities that were used by the CCCs in Census 2000. 

Often these activities are dependent upon promotional items that were provided 

by the Census Bureau. When CCCs set up tables at rodeos, festivals, flea markets 

and other community events, the give-aways are often what draws people to the 

table to learn more about the census. A focus group member who reported about 

a speaker’s bureau she organized said that the speakers handed out promotional 

items, thus thanking and rewarding those who listened to the census information. 

Also, give-aways keep the census message in front of the public. 

The communities with the fewest resources rely the most on materials provided 

by the Census, including banners, posters, printed materials, promotional items 

(give-aways), and advertising. Often they develop low cost strategies that use 

volunteer efforts. However, they believe that handing out promotional items 

provided by the Census Bureau is essential to the success of CCC activities. 

II. KEY ELEMENTS THAT DEFINE SUCCESSFUL CCCs 

Several questions for the focus groups were intended to identify “the essential 

ingredients for an effective and successful CCC in 2010.” Responses from these 

focus groups can be used to help Census Bureau staff as they design the 

orientation and training that the Census Bureau will provide to CCCs during the 

formation stage. 

As noted, this should not be “one size fits all.” Individual focus group reports 

may be more useful in shaping the specific information to provide to different 

types of CCCs. However, some common characteristics and themes run through 

all the CCC focus groups as described below. 

Composition

Different types of communities need different types of CCCs. The roles and 

responsibilities of CCC members help to define the composition, rather than the 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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other way around. When cities and counties have the resources to hire staff to 

support the CCC, the membership in the CCC is more of an advisory role to the 

local governments. When cities and counties have few resources and are unable 

to provide as much, if any, staff support, then the CCC members must be “worker 

bees.” 

Four types of CCC members were identified as essential for the success of CCCs: 

1. People who know how to reach out, especially to undercounted groups; 

2. People who can bring resources to the table; 

3. People who can implement ideas; and 

4. People of influence and credibility. 

Different approaches to selecting CCC members were used by different types of 

organizations and communities. For example, tribal governments tried to assure 

that relevant departments in tribal government were represented. The 

Community CCCs considered their “points of touch” in the community when 

selecting members. Some counties found it more helpful to organize by 

geographic area, while most cities used categories that allowed them to tap into 

organized social, economic, faith-based and political structures. 

Size

The size of the CCC depends on the size and type of the community. Advice from 

the Big City focus group was that cities should “grow” their CCCs over time: “Start 

small and think big.” A small group should be used for the initial planning 

activities, and a larger group later. Some thought that 60 was too big, others 

thought that 50 was too big. The Community CCC focus group thought the size 

could range from 10 to 45. 

Subcommitees

Subcommittees are expected to develop specific strategies to reach designated 

populations that the subcommittee members represent. In many communities, 

the subcommittees are organized around characteristics that present barriers to 

enumeration. For example, there may be separate subcommittees to focus on 

specific hard-to-reach populations, such as the homeless, migrant workers, and 

people living in public housing. 
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A focus group participant from an organization that serves several different 

ethnic groups suggested organizing subcommittees by ethnic group so that 

people who participate could speak their own (non-English) language and plan 

culturally-specific activities. For example, a CCC for an Asian advocacy 

organization could have a Chinese Subcommittee and a Korean Subcommittee. 

Roles and Responsibilities

People who are selected for the CCC and its subcommittees are expected to 

communicate the importance of the Census to their peer groups and guide them 

in carrying out pragmatic strategies to increase the count. This process is 

envisioned to be like a telephone tree, where the CCC member passes information 

to others who then pass it to others until everybody gets the message. 

In small cities and counties, the CCC members are expected to do the work of 

organizing and implementing activities. 

 

Leadership

The role of elected officials in CCCs was discussed in all the focus groups. Most 

people felt that it was essential for elected officials to be involved to provide 

leadership and advocate for funding for the CCC from the tribal government or 

local government. 

The role of elected officials should match what they do best. It was suggested 

that what they do best is work with the media and deliver resources to get things 

done, as well as add credibility and influence to the process. 

Management

There was general consensus that a paid coordinator is needed for the CCC to be 

successful. For those with few resources, this can be a part-time consultant on a 

relatively short contract. For larger cities and counties, this should be a full time 

individual whose sole task is to help organize and implement the outreach 

activities. 
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III. CCC ACTIVITIES: MOST EFFECTIVE, INNOVATIVE AND LOW or NO 

COST 

The main purpose of CCCs is to plan and implement community activities that 

increase awareness and promote participation in the census. One of the goals of 

the focus groups was to learn about activities that were effective, innovative, and 

inexpensive. Focus group participants were excited to share their successful 

activities. As the individual focus group reports indicate, some types of activities 

may work better in specific types of communities. While the focus group time 

was limited and it was possible to capture only very brief descriptions of 

activities, the groups recommended that the Census Bureau prepare examples of 

successful activities that could be shared with governments and organizations 

wishing to form CCCs for the 2010 Census. These examples would provide some 

of the content for the Internet site in support of CCCs in the 2010 Census. 

In addition to identifying activities that worked well in Census 2000, the focus 

group discussions also provided an opportunity to make recommendations for 

improvements to the CCC Program for the 2010 Census. 

A. Most Effective CCC Activities 

Focus group participants were asked to consider activities that were carried out 

during Census 2000 and to rank the most effective activities. Individual focus 

group reports provide information about which activities were ranked among the 

top five for each focus group. Altogether there are about seven activities that 

were cited among the top five by more than one focus group. This can help guide 

the Census Bureau in the recommendations they make for CCC activities in 2010. 

Public Service Announcements and Advertising Campaign

Public service announcements (PSAs) were ranked among the top five most 

effective activities by all the focus groups. Many focus groups feel that the 

Census Bureau should continue to conduct a national advertising campaign, while 

CCCs should conduct a local campaign that targets the hard-to-reach populations. 

Focus groups made the following suggestions for the Census Bureau to improve 

its advertising campaign and support for CCC media activities: 

• The Hispanic media should be used more effectively. More ads should be 

placed on Telemundo and other Hispanic television channels. Hispanic ads 

are needed to build trust and counter immigration laws. 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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• Some large cities feel that too much time is purchased by the national 

campaign and this means that not enough resources are available for local 

media buys. There needs to be more coordination between national and 

local media campaigns. 

• Radio is an effective medium in many areas. Focus group members would 

like the Census Bureau to develop radio scripts that could be adapted and 

used by local radio personalities. 

Banners, posters, billboards and benches

Banners, posters, billboards and benches in public places with census messages 

work best in tribal communities, rural communities, and non-English speaking 

communities. Focus groups representing these types of communities ranked 

these materials/activities as the first or second most important 

materials/activities for outreach and awareness in their communities. 

Among the tribal focus group participants, 86 percent indicated that this was 

among the top five most effective activities. In small communities, there are focal 

points for messages and these types of signs are effective. In ethnic 

communities, these census promotional materials can be effective if they are in 

languages and use graphics that reflected the culture of the intended audience. 

A member of the Rural/County focus group said that the Census Bureau sent him 

ethnic posters that had people who did not look like anyone in his predominantly 

white community. Therefore, the Census Bureau needs to develop non-ethnic 

materials for non-ethnic communities. 

Another rural representative said that he did not know that materials were 

available and asked for more comprehensive distribution. 

Government and Community Agencies

Distributing census materials in government and community agencies that have 

public contact services and programs was considered most effective in the ethnic 

communities by the Rural/County focus group participants. This was ranked as 

the most effective activity by 71 percent of the Rural/County focus group 

participants. However, this activity was not ranked highly by focus groups for 

tribal governments, big cities, or medium to small cities. 
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Faith-based Organizations

One of the activities that was ranked among the top five by all of the focus 

groups, except the tribal focus group, was to encourage faith-based organizations 

to motivate participation in the census among their members by using censusdeveloped materials for faith-based organizations. 

While this was a highly ranked activity overall, most of the discussion about it in 

the focus groups related to outreach to Hispanic populations. Many of the focus 

groups identified two strategies that were used to reach Hispanic populations: 1) 

through Catholic churches that have Spanish-language masses; and 2) through 

their children who are attending schools. 

Translations of census materials into other languages

Translations of census materials into other languages were most highly valued by 

the big cities that have non-English speaking enclaves and by the Community 

CCCs that serve non-English speaking neighborhoods in those big cities. 

However, the focus groups cited unmet needs: 

• The Big City focus group said that translation of materials needs expansion 

to reach additional populations, including people from Burma and 

Cambodia. More posters are needed in additional languages. 

• The Rural/County focus group said they need more help with outreach to 

Eastern Europeans. This is not a unified community with organized 

services. They are polarized, and people from various ethnic groups do not 

work together. They tend to be suspicious of government. They speak 

many languages and the Census Bureau does not provide translations of 

materials for them. The materials from the Census Bureau do not relate to 

them. These factors make it hard to direct CCC activities and count Eastern 

Europeans. “We don’t know how to reach them,” said one focus group 

member. 
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Local Media Coverage of Census Issues and Promotional Activities

Different types of communities have different ways of effectively using media 

coverage. 

Most focus groups regarded the role of politicians as CCC members as helping to 

bring media attention to the Census. Some CCCs found creative ways to get free 

media coverage, often involving programs with youth. 

• A CCC in a small city formed a student subcommittee that included middle 

school and high school students. They developed programs for the schools 

that involved performances at school assemblies. A census “mascot” was 

invented called “Count Capita,” similar to the Count on Sesame Street. 

Students were invited to audition to be the mascot. All of the students who 

showed up for the audition were invited to be in skits that the students 

wrote to promote the census. One was a rap group called “Census Sisters.” 

Another was “A Census Carol” Christmas skit put on at the Village Hall that 

featured the ghosts of census past, present and future. They also had a 

game show, patterned after “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” using census 

trivia. All of the performances attracted the media, which provided free 

publicity, as well as the excitement that spread to the families and friends 

of the performers. 

• High school students in a small city wrote a “catchy” census song and 

performed it and recorded it with a video on a CD. The song was played on 

the radio until everyone in town knew it. The music video was shown on 

the public access TV station to promote the census. 

• Contests were held in the elementary, middle, and high schools in a small 

city to design census logos and slogan. An awards ceremony was held in 

the schools to announce the winners. The winning logos were put on Tshirts. They were also made into slides that were projected on the screen 

at the movie theater before movies, and “kids loved this.” Before the 

contest was held, the CCC coordinator taught the teachers in the school 

about the census and gave them a one-page lesson plan to use with 

students. 
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• A Korean Census Newspaper was produced using advertising funds from 

local businesses. 

• Non-English language newspaper provided a corner for a Question-andAnswer column about the census on a regular basis. 

Press conferences are not ranked among the top five most useful activities by 

people in the Community and the Rural/County focus group. Some rural 

participants said that they do not have access to the media because they are 

peripheral to a metropolitan media market. They simply can’t command the 

attention of the media through a press conference. 

The ethnic groups in the Community CCC focus group said that they know how to 

access the media in their languages that reach their communities. Generally, this 

is limited so there may be no need to hold a press conference. 

Using sports and entertainment personalities to promote the census was deemed 

effective by only two focus group participants. One represented a predominantly 

African American community. The other was from a small city that is home to 

many celebrities, including a professional football team, writers and musicians. 

The CCC asked these individuals to help promote the census by going to public 

places, for example to autograph books, and census information would be 

handed out at the same time. The celebrities drew people to the event and the 

media provided free advertising. 

B. Innovative CCC Activities

The focus groups also identified innovative and unique activities that they felt 

worked well in their communities. Here is a sample of innovative activities from 

among the dozens identified by the focus groups which are recommended for 

consideration for the 2010 Census. 

• A city brainstormed with advocates for the homeless to develop a strategy 

to reach this population. They decided that they could motivate homeless 

people to participate in the Census by rewarding them with breakfast for 

one month (“that was what was in it for them”). Census advocates went to 

places where homeless people go (for example, under bridges) and brought 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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food and sat to “let them check us out.” They talked to people there to 

explain the program. Homeless people who participated in the census were 

given a button that read “I’m important, I’ve been counted.” People with 

the button showing that they had responded to the census were given 

breakfast for a month. Leaders among the homeless were the first to get 

the buttons and they were able to help convince others to participate. 

• A homeless outreach project hired homeless people to assist people with 

their questionnaires and to advise the city about locations in which to find 

homeless people. 

• A tribe made a video about the census in their tribal language. It included 

historical information about the size of the population and was educational. 

The video was sent to local communities to be shown in public meetings. 

The focus group noted that many tribal languages are not written 

languages and that a video is more effective than the written word. 

• Thank you cards were printed that said thank you for being counted and 

why it is important. These were sent to people in low response areas as a 

way to motivate those who had not completed the census questionnaire. 

• Local commercials were developed with an “us against them” strategy 

showing a person from another state saying that they would be happy to 

take the money from the community where the commercial was shown if 

they didn’t answer the census. 

• The census message was printed on paper place mats used in restaurants, 

such as diners, that cut across all socioeconomic groups. In upscale 

restaurants, a tent card was used. All of the local restaurants participated 

in the activity; however, some chain restaurants could not get permission 

from their corporate headquarters to participate. 

• A party was held at a Chinese senior center with food and games. One 

game was like musical chairs: an envelope like the envelope people receive 

with their census forms was passed around until the music stopped. The 

idea was for everyone one see the envelope and handle it, so they would 

recognize it when it came in the mail for them and not throw it away or 

refuse it. 
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• Local government funds were used as grants to community-based 

organizations to promote the census to historically undercounted 

populations. 

• Neighborhood associations were able to compete for a monetary prize in 

one city. The first prize was $1,000 and the second place received $500. 

This motivated the leaders of the neighborhood associations to increase the 

number of census questionnaires returned from their neighborhood. 

• Senior citizens and youth from a Chinese community were paired together 

in an intergenerational “Ambassador” program to go door-to-door to 

provide census information. Seniors were “scared” to do this without the 

youth because they were afraid they would knock on the door of a nonChinese person in their neighborhood and would be unable to 

communicate. 

• A library bookmobile was converted into a “census-mobile” that traveled 

around the county to educate people about the census and provide 

assistance in filling out the census form. 

• One large city organized 500 questionnaire assistance centers in schools, 

fire stations, churches and community centers where volunteers helped 

people fill out their census forms. The Census Bureau also provided some 

staff for this effort. 

• An African American Museum was asked to distribute census information. 

They expanded their role and developed historical information about the 

census and the African diaspora. 

• A CCC partnered with a university center for research and economic 

development to develop materials that showed the benefits of the census, 

provided useful data from the census regarding leading economic 

indicators, and helped to promote the census. They also made 

presentations on different topics at CCC meetings, which kept the meetings 

“exciting and interesting.” 
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C. Low or No Cost Activities

Focus groups were asked to identify creative approaches that are not expensive 

or can be implemented without any cost. 

Small to medium size cities and counties with few resources were especially 

interested and experienced in inexpensive activities. They were eager to take 

advantage of all the materials that the Census Bureau provided to them free of 

charge. They talked about the importance of utilizing existing organizations and 

events. One of the most common strategies they used was inserting messages in 

utility bills, pay checks and grocery bags. 

These are some CCC activities that could be recommended to local governments 

for the 2010 Census that need little or no financial resources to implement but 

yet promote awareness and participation. 

• Place messages on electronic signs at stadiums and other facilities. Also, 

utilize large signs at businesses, such as car washes. 

• Arrange to have the Post Office cancel stamps with the city’s census logo and 

a special message to remind people to answer the census. 

• Develop a Speakers Bureau. Recruit speakers from various segments of the 

community, including those who speak different languages and provide 

training. Give speakers a manual, talking points, and materials and 

promotional items to hand out at meetings. 

• For small tribal governments with high poverty rates, participate in a weekly 

flea market that is well attended by tribal members was recommended. The 

purpose would be to set up a table with a representative that tribal members 

can talk to about the census. It should be an outgoing person who has 

census promotional items to give away. If Tribal Council members sit at the 

table, people will come to talk with them. 

• Reach out with translated information to people who are recent immigrants or 

non-English speaking citizens at the following places: 

- English classes; 

- Citizenship classes; 
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- Drivers License offices; 

- Voter Registration offices; 

- New citizen swearing-in ceremonies; 

- Back-to-school nights and day care meetings; and 

- Enclose in mailings from agencies that serve non-English speaking 

communities. 

• Broadcast “lead-ins” with census promotion messages on public assess 

television prior to the televised City Council meetings. 

IV. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDINGS FROM THE FOCUS 

GROUPS 

Two other topics were considered in the focus groups: confidentiality of census 

information, and the name for the CCC Program. In addition, the tribal focus 

group was asked about the relationship between the Tribal Liaison Program and 

the CCC Program. 

Confidentiality

All of the focus groups expressed awareness of social and political developments 

that make it increasingly difficult for the Census Bureau to convince people that 

their information will be kept confidential. During the discussions of 

confidentiality, the focus groups identified additional challenges the Census will 

face in 2010 in communicating its commitment to confidentiality that can be 

understood and believed. They cited such factors as: 

• INS raids coinciding with census activities; 

• The Patriot Act; 

• The Department of Homeland Security; 

• Increased political pressure on undocumented workers; 

• Increasingly sophisticated and intrusive computer systems that track 

everything that people purchase; 

• Integration of data bases for commercial and government purposes; 

• Failure of organizations to maintain the security of data bases; 

• Government intrusion into areas that were previously considered private, 

such as library records; 

• Perceptions that census data was used to put Japanese-Americans in 

internment camps in World War II; 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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• Statements by politicians that even they would not divulge personal 

information to the census takers; 

• Perception of the federal government as monolithic, without distinctions 

between departments and agencies; and 

• Rise in poverty forces people to share housing in violation of housing codes 

and regulations for various assistance programs, and they have greater fear 

of being evicted and homeless. 

The focus group participants provided the following recommendations to assist 

the Census Bureau in meeting this challenge for the 2010 Census. 

1. Become an independent agency separate from the federal government, 

like the Federal Reserve Bank, with leadership that is not a political 

appointee of the current Administration. 

2. Work with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to have a 

moratorium on INS raids during the census. 

3. Increase awareness/publish the penalties for violation of confidentiality 

and be vigorous about enforcing them. 

4. Explore ways to collect information that creates more anonymity. 

5. Reconfirm the confidentiality of the census through new legislation; for 

example, specific wording saying that the Patriot Act has nothing to do 

with the census. 

6. Convince people that the benefits outweigh the risks. Currently “the fear 

factor is greater than the count factor.” A vigorous information campaign 

is needed to change this perception. 

Utilize words like “privacy” and “security”, rather than “confidentiality” in 

advertising. People are currently getting inundated with information about the 

federal Privacy Act, and this counters some of the other trends. 

Keeping the CCC Name

The focus groups participated in an exercise that asked them to identify key 

words that were representative of CCCs that could be used by the Census Bureau 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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to formulate a slogan for the 2010 Census or re-naming the Complete Count 

Committee. 

Many of the tribal governments, cities and counties developed their own unique 

name for their CCCs, so they found the name that the Census Bureau uses to be 

not as important. 

Focus groups explored alternative names for the CCC and all of them concluded 

that it was best to keep the name, “Complete Count Committee,” because it had 

achieved a level of name recognition and branding. 

However, many people recommended adding a slogan or tag line that would 

change with each census to keep it fresh and interesting or one that could be 

specific for their community. 

Tribal Liaison Program 

The Tribal CCC Focus group was asked whether the Census Bureau should have 

two separate programs for the Tribal CCC and the Tribal Liaison, or whether these 

two programs should be combined. There seems to be a perception that the 

Tribal governments do not think of these as two different programs. Furthermore, 

they said that the tribal governments do not need two separate handbooks (one 

for the Tribal Liaison and one for the Tribal CCC), as these could be combined 

into a single handbook. They made the point that the Tribal Liaison Program 

must be retained because it is essential to the government-to-government 

relationship. 

V. CONCLUSION 

As the Census Bureau designs the CCC Program for the 2010 Census, it should 

build on the successful aspects of the CCC Program in Census 2000. The focus 

groups identified the components that should be retained and improved, 

including Partnership Specialists, promotional materials/items, and outreach 

activities. Another way to build on the success of Census 2000 is to utilize the 

experience of CCCs by developing a peer support program, as well as 

documenting examples of successful activities to share. 

The individual CCC Focus Group Reports, in the next section, provide a questionby-question summary of each of the five focus groups. 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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Individual CCC Focus Group Reports

Tribal Government Focus Group 37 

Big City Focus Group 55 

Medium to Small City Focus Group 73 

Community Focus Group 93 

Rural/County Focus Group 107 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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37

Location: Phoenix, AZ 

Sheraton Wild Horse 

Pass Resort and Spa

Date: August 30, 2005

Moderator: Brenda August

Assistant Moderator: Mim Dixon

Tribal 

No. of Participants: 7

Focus Group Participation

The Census Bureau invited eight individuals to participate in the Tribal Focus 

Group. One person was unable to participate because Hurricane Katrina. 

The focus group participants represented a cross-section of American Indians 

from five different tribal governments, both large and small tribes, in five states. 

Three are women and four are men. The group included an elected tribal leader, 

three tribal employees, and three people who work outside the tribal government 

in roles related to education, technical assistance, and communications. 

Participants ranged in age from 45 to 62 years old. The average age and median 

age was 52.5. 

The names of participants and their tribal governments are confidential. 

However, it is often important to distinguish the experiences of tribal 

governments that did have CCCs vs. those tribal governments that did not have a 

CCC. 

CCC Success during Census 2000 

(Question 1: What worked well for your CCC during Census 2000?) 

As the meetings kicked off, the moderator encouraged participants to discuss 

areas that worked well for their CCCs during Census 2000. Most participants 

came prepared to talk about their experiences and this generated lively group 

discussion. 

Tribal CCC Focus Group 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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Several of the participants in this group had experience with both the 1990 

Census and the 2000 Census. Overall, focus group participants felt that the 2000 

Census had been much more successful than the 1990 Census. 

Some of the successes that they identified were: 

• Good training for tribal governments; 

• Good communication between Census Bureau and tribal governments; 

• Support from community groups; 

• Media involvement; and 

• Recruitment of tribal members for census positions. 

Focus group participants expressed appreciation for the opportunity for tribal 

governments to recruit census workers and to be involved in doing their own 

count. One participant stated, “There is a better feeling for tribal members to talk 

to people from their own tribe.” 

The three focus group participants from one CCC that was represented believed 

that there was a good composition for their CCC, which included five people 

appointed by the Tribal Council and five appointed by the Tribal President. 

The participants believed that it was important to keep both the legislative and 

the administrative branches of tribal government informed and to have their 

support. With support from tribal government, they were able to put the CCC in 

place quickly and have good coordination. 

The tribal government with the CCC also had a Tribal Liaison whom they 

described as “outspoken” and “a good problem-solver” who was able to clarify 

things both in English and the tribal language. 

Focus group members said that tribal governments should have flexibility in 

setting up CCCs. They noted that reservations are different and have different 

levels of resources. 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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Below are some of the comments made by participants: 

- One person called it “a complete turn around.” 

- One person recalled that in 1990 the Census Bureau staff was not willing to 

meet with the Tribal Liaison. However, in 2000 the Census Bureau staff 

came to tribal meetings, listened to concerns, and provided funding for 

some activities. 

- Focus group participants said that the improvement in communications 

between the Census Bureau staff and tribal governments was due to having 

more American Indians working in Census Bureau Regional Offices, as well 

as positive leadership at the Regional Office level. 

- The Tribal Partnership Specialist was regarded as a key to success. 

- Focus group participants had specific praise for Susan Lavin in the Denver 

Regional Office, as well as the staff in the Santa Fe Census Office and the 

Oklahoma City Census Office. 

- The focus group participant from Oklahoma appreciated that the Census 

staff worked to help define Tribal Jurisdictional Areas in Oklahoma and this 

was helpful to tribal governments. 

CCC Improvement Areas 

(Question 2: What needed improvement with your CCC?) 

By recalling areas that needed improvement in Census 2000, focus group 

participants were able to make recommendations for a better CCC Program for 

the 2010 Census. 

Though the participants felt that there was a vast improvement from the 1990 

Census to Census 2000, there are still areas where they felt could use further 

improvement. 

These five main areas of concern are 1) timeline, 2) funding, 3) employment, 4) 

education, and 5) messages. 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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Timeline

The CCC process needs to start earlier. It takes time for tribal governments to 

pass resolutions, modify budgets, appoint committees, and locate space for 

offices. “The tribal wheels go slow,” said one focus group participant. 

It was recommended that the Census Bureau begin the CCC process two years 

before the Census, which is 6-9 months earlier than what was done with the 2000 

Census. 

It was suggested that April 1, 2008, be the date to initiate the process, to keep 

the April 1 date in people’s minds for the 2010 Census. 

One participant thought that 2 years is “too rushed,” and recommended 2 1⁄2 to 3 

years prior to the Census. However, others noted that some tribal governments 

may not be able to start that early and that the Census Bureau should remain 

flexible and “start as early as convenient for tribes.” 

Focus group members saw a need to balance the time tribal governments need to 

take action with the need to have certainty in the Census Bureau plans and forms. 

One person said that the Census Bureau needs to have forms and “everything” 

ready before beginning the CCC. Uncertainty creates confusion and makes it 

more difficult for the CCC to explain and promote the Census. 

Also, as the timeline is pushed back, there is more probability of turnover in tribal 

leadership. Political changes in tribal governments create a need for more 

continuous education of tribal leaders. 

The timeline for the CCC is not necessarily the entire timeline for involving tribal 

governments. Several people thought that education of tribal leaders and tribal 

members should be an ongoing process between the censuses. 

Funding

Funding for the CCCs is a problem for some tribal governments. Even travel to 

attend regional meetings or meet with the agency staff can be a hardship for 

tribal governments. 

There is also a problem with sufficient funding for media, including both radio 

and television. 
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Education

The process of educating people about the value of the census is one that takes a 

long time to develop and deliver. A number of strategies were suggested, 

including programs in the classrooms. Tribal leaders and tribal members need to 

see reports with census data and to know how numbers of people counted by the 

census can affect funding for tribal services. 

Messages

Some dissatisfaction was expressed with the American Indian posters developed 

for Census 2000, although the 1990 Census artwork was considered to be 

collector’s items. One participant pointed out that the messages and the artwork 

need to be more contemporary and appeal to youth. 

Also, there needs to be more emphasis on communicating confidentiality of the 

census. 

Essential Ingredients for an Effective and Successful CCC in 2010 

(Question 3: Based on your successes and challenges, what do you think are the essential 

ingredients for an effective and successful CCC in 2010?) 

The Tribal Focus Group discussed the ideal CCC for the 2010 Census by 

identifying essential elements for a tribal CCC. . 

The focus group identified and discussed five essential elements for an effective 

and successful CCC in tribal communities which are: 1) composition, 2) selection 

of members, 3) support from tribal leaders, 4) orientation and training, and 5) 

advertising. 

Composition

Elected tribal officials are needed to provide support and funding for a tribal CCC 

and the focus group thought this would be more likely to happen if those elected 

officials were represented on the CCC. The focus group participants also listed 

the following type of organizations within tribal governments that should be 

represented on tribal CCCs: 

• Tribal enrollment office; 

• Education; 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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• Business; 

• Culture commission or other groups that involve elders; 

• Housing; and 

• Media: tribal radio station and/or tribal newspaper 

Focus group members said that the most important thing is that CCC members 

be committed and knowledgeable. They explained that this means the 

individuals know the value of a good count and know about statistics. Their 

dedication should be reflected in attendance at CCC meetings. 

The size of the CCC depends on the size of the tribal government. One large 

tribal government tried several different approaches over the years, but they 

found that ten is about the right size for their CCC. 

Selection of CCC Members

One focus group member noted a problem with tribal leaders appointing people 

to serve on the CCC without a proper selection process. He believes that 

prospective members should attend an orientation first so that they will 

understand the project. Then they should be asked if they are willing to make the 

necessary commitment. If people don’t attend the CCC meetings, then they 

should be replaced so that a quorum can be maintained. 

Support from Tribal Leadership

Elected tribal officials from both the legislative and the administrative portions of 

the tribal government must be involved with the census. They must introduce 

legislation to create the CCC and fund its activities. Tribal leaders must 

understand the need for a complete count so that they can explain the census to 

their constituents. They must be available to their constituents to do this. Tribal 

leaders usually can talk with elders and this is important for the success of the 

census. 

Orientation and Training

Both tribal leaders and CCC members need an orientation about the census and 

the CCC. They need to know where they can go with questions. 

Advertising

Advertising is important to get results. It is needed “all the time.” It should occur 

between the censuses and have increased frequency as the time of the census 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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gets closer. Both radio and television are important channels of communication 

for advertising in tribal areas. 

Roles and Responsibilities of CCC Members 

(Question 4: What do you think should be the roles and responsibilities of CCC members?) 

The tribal focus group expressed a need for more clarification of the roles and 

responsibilities for CCC members. Those who had served on a CCC had not been 

given any guidance about roles and responsibilities. Those members who had not 

been involved with a CCC did not have a concept of the roles and responsibilities 

of CCC members. One individual who had served as a Tribal Liaison for a small 

tribal government during the 2000 Census said that “two people did everything.” 

They didn’t have set roles and responsibilities. 

Below are some of the suggestions/recommendations made by participants: 

- They feel that the major role of the CCC is public advocacy for the census. 

To do this, they believe that CCC members need to have good speaking 

abilities in both their native language and English. They need to be able 

and available to “justify” their activities. 

- Tribal Council members on the CCC should have the role and responsibility 

to introduce tribal legislation to create the CCC and provide stipends for 

members to participate. 

- CCC members should also have the role and responsibility of seeking 

funding from the tribal government for the CCC activities. 

- Another role for the CCC members in 2010 should be to advise the 

manager of the Local Census Office/Census Bureau staff. The Census 

Bureau staff attended CCC meetings and raised issues for the members to 

consider and discuss. At the beginning, these meetings were held monthly 

and later they were bi-weekly. 

- Tribal managers who serve on the CCC should have specific assignments. 

For example, one might assist in getting a Temporary Land Use Permit to 

locate the Census Office on tribal lands. 
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- CCC members with specific talents or contacts in the community might be 

given assignments related to their other employment. For example, a 

person representing the media might be assigned some tasks related to 

media promotion of the census. 

- The primary role of the Chair of the CCC should be to chair the meetings 

and to participate in publicity activities. 

Focus group members thought that the roles and responsibilities of CCC 

members should be a topic in the orientation. 

CCC Activities 

(Question 5: Please share just one item that you added to the bottom of the list that you 

consider to be innovative activities. 

Question 6: What specific awareness, outreach and promotional activities can be planned 

with limited or no financial resources for 2010?)

Feedback about CCC activities was sought by asking focus group participants to 

rank activities and through further focus group discussions. Below is a summary 

of the results of the ranked activities and individual comments. 

Ranking List of Activities

Focus group participants were provided with a list of activities that were carried 

out by CCCs during Census 2000. They were asked to indicate the five most 

effective activities for their communities. 

The activities that received the most votes are: 

• Arrange to have census banners, posters, billboards and benches in public 

places in the community. 

• Develop, produce and distribute public service announcements (PSAs). 

- Two people wrote notes clarifying that these should be PSAs or paid 

advertising on tribal media. 

• Print and display census messages on products, bags, envelopes, sales 

bulletins, etc. 
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• Write letters to school districts encouraging the use of the Census in 

Schools materials in the classroom. 

All of the other activities received votes from one or two people. However, there 

were three activities that received no votes from the focus group participants. 

These are the activities that received no votes: 

• Identify local sports and entertainment personalities to appear on local 

television and radio stations urging quick response to the census. 

• Encourage faith-based organizations to motivate participation in the census 

among their members by using census developed materials for faith-based 

organizations. 

• Recruit community leaders to organize a “telephone campaign” to be 

conducted throughout the community. 

Innovative Activities

In addition to the list of usual activities, focus group participants were asked to 

identify innovative activities undertaken by their tribal government in Census 

2000. These are the activities they described: 

• A tribe made a video about the census in their tribal language. It included 

historical information about the size of the population and was educational. 

The video was sent to local communities to be shown in public meetings. 

The focus group noted that many tribal languages are not written 

languages and that a video is more effective than the written word. 

• A tribe sponsored a Partnership meeting in January, similar to a kick-off. 

They put announcements in the newspaper and invited civic groups to 

participate, such as the Kiwanis, Lions and the Rotary Clubs. The Census 

Regional Office came. The program included the Tribal Liaison and 

information about recruitment. 

• Another tribe held their “kick-off” with a presentation to the Tribal Council. 

• A tribe made its own public service announcements in the tribal language 

for radio and television. They decided that the best spokespersons are a 

variety of people well-known in the tribal government, both male and 
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female, of all age groups. The advertisements featured school children, 

senior citizens, and the chair of the CCC. 

• A tribe found that working with the Census Bureau on maps helped to 

define the land base of the tribal government and establish clear 

boundaries for districts that had been previously disputed by some tribal 

members. This process was valuable to the tribal government and provided 

a clear benefit from the 2000 census. 

• The tribal radio station was an effective source of communication. Radio 

was fully utilized as a medium by one tribal government that aired 

announcements, talk shows, and live remote broadcasts with key leaders 

from the tribal government, the Indian Health Service, and the Bureau of 

Indian Affairs. CCC members made 2-minute tapings regarding the census 

that were used on the radio. 

• It was helpful to make announcements about the census at events where 

people gathered, including pow-wows and meetings of national Indian 

organizations, such as the Nation Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the 

National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA), and the National Indian 

Education Association (NIEA). 

• Census posters were placed in schools, tribal offices, Indian Health Service 

clinics and offices, housing offices and other public places. If posters are 

attractive and not too large, people will put them on their walls at home. 

The recommended size for posters is about 50% or 75% of the size of the 

flipchart paper that was used for the focus group. The focus group 

recommended that posters be produced in two sizes: 1) the larger posters 

would be used in public places and 2) the smaller posters would be given 

away at tribal fairs and taken home. Tribal governments are different and 

posters should be developed for different regions using local artists. 

• Tribal governments developed products using their own logos along with 

the Census logo. A focus group member said that pins and cups were 

desirable products. 

• The tribal government that had a CCC provided special recognition of the 

CCC after the completion of the census count. 

The most effective approach, according to the focus group, is a combination of a 

national campaign and a local campaign. 
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Low or No cost Activities

The focus group was asked to identify promotional activities that could be 

planned with limited or no financial resources. They offered three suggestions: 

• Tribal Liaisons can coordinate activities on behalf of the tribal government 

with no additional funding, as their salary is already paid by the tribal 

government and their time is donated by the tribal government. 

• Public education can be carried out in Tribal Council meetings and public 

meetings. 

• A small tribal government that has a high poverty rate has a weekly flea 

market that is well attended by tribal members. A table can be set up there 

with someone to talk about the census. It should be an outgoing person 

who has items to give away. If Tribal Council members sit at the table, 

people will come to talk with them. 

Orientation for CCC Members 

(Question 7: Do you feel an orientation or training session would be beneficial for CCC 

members for 2010?) 

Focus group participants liked the idea of an orientation and provided additional 

feedback relating to who should receive orientation, the topics for orientation and 

the time and place for orientation. 

Who should receive an orientation?

The focus group thought there should be two orientations. The first one should 

be held before the CCC is formed to encourage tribal leaders to create a CCC. It 

should be attended by the President or Chairman of the tribal government, 

representatives of the Tribal Council and the tribal administrator. After the CCC 

is formed, there should be an orientation for CCC members. 

Topics for Orientation

The following topics were identified by the focus group to include in an 

orientation for the tribal CCCs: 

• Government-to-government relationship and tribal sovereignty 
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• Historical information about the census 

• Funding 

- What is available? How is it distributed? What is the process for a 

tribal government to receive funding from the Census Bureau? How 

CCCs can coordinate their planning of activities with funding from 

the Census Bureau. 

• Timelines for the Census 

• Employment of Enumerators 

• Explain why tests are given prior to employment. Explain why enumerators 

are imported from other tribal governments to meet Census deadlines. 

• Geographic Boundaries 

- Discuss what tribal governments want and what the Census Bureau 

wants. 

• Roles and Responsibilities 

• What has worked well for tribal governments in previous censuses 

• Don’t “reinvent the wheel.” Learn from previous experience. 

• List of promotional items available from the Census Bureau. 

Time and Place for Orientation

Focus group participants said that the orientation for tribal leaders should take 

place about six months prior to the formation of the CCC. This gives tribal 

governments the understanding and needed time to organize a CCC. After the 

CCC is formed, then they need an orientation. 

The CCC orientation should be close to home to reduce the expenses for tribal 

governments and increase attendance. Focus group members felt that the Denver 

meeting held by the Census Bureau was too large. It would be better to have 

several smaller conferences within the region that are in driving distance for CCC 

members. 

One participant felt that in Census 2000, the Census Bureau did not understand 

the relationships and distinctions between some tribal governments. In 

organizing meetings, there should be more careful attention to these dynamics. 
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Other comments relating to this question are noted below: 

- Only one of the focus group participants said that she had attended a 

training session for Census 2000. She served as the Tribal Liaison and she 

said that the workbooks she received at the training were very helpful. 

- The CCC members who participated in the focus group said that an elected 

tribal official went to a regional meeting regarding the census, received a 

packet of information and gave it to the CCC members. 

Evaluation of the CCC Handbooks 

(Q8: How many of you saw the handbook during Census 2000? 

Q9: Those of you who are raising your hands, did you find the handbook useful? 

Q10: For all of you, what do you think of the handbook?) 

During Census 2000 three different handbooks could have been distributed to 

tribal participants: the “Census 200 Complete Count Committee Handbook for 

Local Governments,” the “Tribal Complete Count Committee Handbook” with the 

Census 2000 logo, and the “Tribal Governments Liaison Program Handbook” with 

the Census 2000 logo. 

One focus group member who had served as a Tribal Government Liaison had 

received and used both the Tribal CCC Handbook and the Tribal Government 

Liaison Handbook. She said enthusiastically, “These were my two Bibles!” She 

added, “They gave me guidelines and helped to develop ideas.” She especially 

appreciated the timelines and checklists. 

It is not clear how many other people had actually seen or used each of the 

handbooks during Census 2000. One person said that the handbooks were 

issued too late in the process to be useful. They said that handbooks should be 

available at the first CCC meeting. 

All of the focus group participants were provided with copies of all three 

handbooks prior to the focus group. However, they said that they did not have 

time to fully review them and provide meaningful input during the focus group 

discussion. 
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They strongly recommended that there be a special tribal review committee to 

review drafts of future tribal handbooks and provide input before they are issued 

again. 

Focus group members did offer a few general comments about the handbooks. 

- They liked the Tribal CCC Handbook because it was simplified and easy to 

follow, compared to the Community Handbook which they thought had too 

much narrative. 

- One person said that he did not like the Census 2000 tribal logo with two 

feathers making circle because “it looks like the Pepsi logo.” 

- The Tribal Liaison and Tribal CCC Handbook covers looked too similar and 

they need to look different to tell them apart. 

- In response to another question, a focus group member said that books are 

hard to use without an orientation. 

Assistance Needed from Census Bureau for CCCs 

(Question 11: In addition to the handbook, what other kinds of assistance do CCCs need 

from the Census Bureau staff in order to successfully plan and implement their activities?) 

In an effort to identify additional areas of assistance, the issue of cost of travel to 

attend meetings was raised again. This time it was suggested that a video tape 

be prepared that could be sent to tribal governments and used for orientation for 

tribal CCCs. 

It was asked that a uniform process be followed. It was stated that this would 

make it easier to implement CCCs activities. 

Focus group participants also said that there should be better communication 

between tribal governments and the Census office. There were times when tribal 

governments felt “pushed aside” by the Census Bureau staff. 
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It was also recommended that the Local Census Office (LCO) management staff be 

given American Indian/American Native cultural training for those LCOs with 

tribes in their area. 

Alternative Methods of Communication 

(Question 12: Given that the Census Bureau staff member cannot attend every CCC meeting, 

what alternative methods of communication could substitute for the face-to-face meeting?) 

There was unanimous agreement that the Internet was a good tool to use to 

communicate with tribal governments. All of the tribal governments represented 

in the focus group had Internet access and were comfortable with this type of 

communication. 

They suggested an Internet bulletin board for tribal CCCs. They felt that monthly 

communications from the Census Bureau would be sufficient early in the process 

with more frequent alerts later. 

While the Internet can be used with tribal governments, there is still a need to 

initiate the communications between the Census Bureau and tribal governments 

with a face-to-face meeting. This initial communication is very important to 

establish the government-to-government relationship. High level Census Bureau 

leadership should participate in the initial “kick-off” or orientation meeting. After 

that, more limited communications using the Internet can occur. 

If the Census Bureau develops a tribal list-serve for CCCs, it should also include 

the Tribal Liaison. Furthermore, a focus group participant said there should be 

attention to county governments and building their relationships with tribal 

governments. 

Names for the CCC 

(Exercise and Question 13: Would you prefer these suggestions, or do you think it is better 

to stick with the name “Complete Count Committee”?) 

Focus group members participated in an exercise in which they identified key 

words and arranged them to form alternative names for the CCC. 
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The combinations the participants made included the following names: 

2010 Tribal Census Committee 

Complete Enumeration Workgroup 

Tribal Accurate Acknowledgement Census 

Tribal Accurate Census Count Committee 

Protect Census Count 

Full Count Committee 

The focus group was asked whether any of these names was preferred to 

Complete Count Committee. They said that “tribal” needed to be in the name. 

They said the name should be short and simple. They said that local tribal CCCs 

will develop their own tribal-specific names, so the name used by the Census 

Bureau is relatively inconsequential. 

Confidentiality 

(Question 14: How can the Census Bureau best communicate its commitment to 

confidentiality to respondents in a way that they can understand and believe?) 

The focus group discussion of confidentiality of census information began with a 

statement by a participant that the Census Bureau did not implement previous 

suggestions by tribal governments regarding confidentiality; however, those 

recommendations were not detailed by the participant. 

The group acknowledged that confidentiality and concern about confidentiality is 

a problem. They placed the problem in the national context of the “big brother is 

watching you era” with Homeland Security intruding on people’s privacy. They 

said that fear of violating confidentiality is probably more prevalent nationally, 

particularly with regard to illegal aliens. 

In Indian Country the biggest concerns are about information regarding the 

number of people in the household and income. One focus group participant 

urged the Census Bureau to “see the big picture.” She said that “people are just 

struggling to make it.” Another participant said that tribal governments are 

working on controlling confidentiality in other areas in addition to the census 

information. 
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Focus group participants said that there needs to be more education on this 

subject. They need trusted people who are Native speakers to communicate 

about this topic to overcome the fear. 

Utilizing Experienced CCCs to Assist New CCCs in 2010 

(Question 15: How can veteran CCCs best assist other CCCs who are considering 

participating or are participating for the first time?) 

Focus group members were enthusiastic about including the advice and stories 

from experienced tribal CCCs in new guidelines, handbooks, and orientation 

materials. Here are some of their suggestions: 

• Use people who participated in the tribal CCCs in Census 2000 in 

orientation videos, websites, and other materials. 

• Include summaries of what CCCs did in Census 2000. 

• List activities that were successful for tribal governments in Census 2000. 

• Provide examples of how increased response to the census made a 

difference in funding from grants and federal programs for tribal 

governments. 

• List people as references to contact for more information. 

• The Census Bureau should hire consultants with experience with tribal 

CCCs and knowledge of statistics and historical data to serve as a resource 

for new tribal CCCs. 

• Distribute publications with tribal-specific census data that can serve as a 

reference document with standardized information for the tribal 

government. This will demonstrate the usefulness of census data. 
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Combining Tribal Liaison and CCC Programs 

(Question 16: Is there a need for a separate CCC Program for tribes, or should the typical 

CCC activities be rolled into the Tribal Liaison Program?) 

For the Tribal CCC focus group, an additional question was asked to assess 

whether the Census Bureau should have two separate programs for the tribal CCC 

and the Tribal Liaison, or whether these two programs should be combined. 

Most of the response to this question came from the tribal government that had a 

CCC in Census 2000. They said that most people do not perceive these as two 

different programs. 

Regardless of whether the Tribal Liaison is expected to help organize and staff a 

CCC, or a tribal CCC is organized separately, the Tribal Liaison Program must 

continue. The implication is that the CCC could be rolled into/under the Tribal 

Liaison Program, but the Tribal Liaison should not be under the control of the 

CCC. 

Furthermore, they said that the tribal governments do not need two separate 

handbooks (one for the Tribal Liaison and one for the Tribal CCC), as these could 

be combined into a single handbook. 

They made the point that the Tribal Liaison Program must be retained because it 

is essential to the government-to-government relationship. The Tribal Liaison is 

designated by the tribal government to represent them in that relationship. 
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Location: Philadelphia, PA

Marriott Philadelphia 

Downtown

Date: September 13, 2005

Moderator: Brenda August

Assistant Moderator: Mim Dixon

Big City 

No. of Participants: 14

Focus Group Participation

The focus group was comprised of 14 people who represented 13 cities in ten 

states in nine different regions of the Census. The participants included ten men 

and four women. The participants ranged in age from 35 to 68 with the average 

age of 52. Four participants speak languages in addition to English, including 

German, Russian, Vietnamese and Malay. 

During Census 2000, four of the focus group participants served as chairs or 

members of their CCCs, while the others provided staff support. 

The names of participants and their communities are confidential. 

CCC Success during Census 2000 

(Question 1: What worked well for your CCC during Census 2000?) 

There was a range of experiences about what worked well. Some cities listed 

something that worked well for them; while the same topic was listed by other 

cities as needing improvement. 

Many people felt that they had good support from Census Bureau staff, including 

technical assistance and guidance. Some people said that the Census Bureau 

staff worked well with the CCC and with specific ethnic groups in some cities. In 

some cities, the CCC developed strategies and action plans that they negotiated 

with the Census Bureau staff. 

Big City CCC Focus Group 
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Focus group participants appreciated it when the Census Bureau let the CCCs “run 

with the ball” and understood that local people know who is influential. Local 

governments were pleased that they could participate in the LUCA Program for 

their jurisdiction. 

Much of the focus group discussion centered on strategies for hard to reach 

populations. This group focused on local media campaigns. Some cities made 

their own public service announcements (PSAs) tailored to their ethnic groups. 

Funding to make local media buys that target ethnic groups, such as Latino radio 

stations, was considered effective. 

An area that was generally considered successful was translations of materials 

into other languages – both initial translations and contingency plans to made 

materials available in additional languages. However, some languages were 

needed and not provided, such as Burmese and Cambodian. 

A common strategy to reach immigrant populations is through their children. 

Thus, the focus group felt that it was important to have educational materials 

about the Census for the schools. While focus group participants found this 

generally successful, they thought the activity needs to be started sooner. 

Several of the cities represented worked with advocates for the homeless to 

develop effective strategies to count the homeless population (see specifics under 

innovative activities). 

For the most part, focus group participants thought that the composition and 

structure of their CCCs worked well. They thought that political appointees were 

important to the process. The use of subcommittees was effective. For example, 

a business subcommittee developed a plan to put inserts in bills, and 

subcommittees for specific ethnic groups did outreach to those groups. 

Some focus group participants felt that the timing and sequencing of CCC 

activities worked well in Census 2000. One person said that it worked well to 

start 4 years early (1996) with a technical team and 3 years before the Census 

(1997) with the CCC. Another participant said that the CCC Media committee met 

first to develop materials, followed by the kick-off, and then monthly meetings for 

the CCC and its subcommittees. 
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Focus group members thought that the Census artwork was good. One city 

framed the Census posters and hung them in neighborhood city halls. Many of 

the cities developed city-specific materials showing how the Census affected 

funding for city programs. Materials produced by the Census Bureau were 

adapted with city-specific logos, including stickers and pins. 

CCC Improvement Areas 

(Question 2: What needed improvement with your CCC?) 

The problem areas identified by the focus group included 1) timing for activities, 

2) support from the Census Bureau for CCCs, 3) confidentiality, and 4) outreach 

to hard-to-count populations. These are focus areas in Big Cities for the 2010 

Census. 

Timing

Some participants felt like they started their activities too late (i.e., October 1999) 

and there was not enough time to get the City Council and County 

Commissioners involved. They said implementation was too fast. There was 

general agreement that school programs should be started earlier.

Census Bureau Support for CCCs

According to the focus group participants, Census Bureau staff was not effective 

for some cities. Some Partnership Specialists did not know the city and who the 

community leaders are. Some focus group participants felt that the Census 

Bureau should consult with the cities prior to hiring Partnership Specialists. They 

said some Partnership Specialists had their own agendas which were not in 

accordance with the city’s agenda. 

Some focus group participants felt that the Partnership Specialists assigned to 

their city did not attend enough CCC meetings and did not follow through on 

plans. In addition, the location of field staff offices was not ideal for some cities. 

Another problem discussed was that negotiations between the CCC and Census 

Bureau staff regarding ideas was not considered successful by some cities. 
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Confidentiality

There was general consensus that building trust is an area that needs 

improvement. CCCs felt undermined when they promoted the confidentiality of 

the census and then later found out that in the 1940’s the census information 

was used to round up people for internment camps. 

People living in housing with rental subsidy programs are a special challenge 

because they tend to qualify as single female heads of household and it is 

perceived as a risk if a boyfriend is living there or there are too many people 

living in the household. 

Hard-to-count Populations

Focus group participants said that more time and effort is needed for 

undercounted communities. “Buy-in takes dialogue,” said one participant. Better 

methods are needed to reach immigrants and poor people. A large population 

cannot be reached through utility bill inserts and other traditional outreach 

methods, because they may not be paying utility bills. Also, reading levels can be 

a problem. A focus group participant said that the Census Bureau should hire 

more people from undercounted neighborhoods. 

Census materials are too complex. A simple one-page fact sheet is needed to 

answer these questions: What is it? When is it? What’s in it for me? There was 

general agreement that census materials are okay for people who would fill out 

the census anyway, but not for undercounted communities. Materials are needed 

to explain the benefits of the census to poor and working class people (for 

example, child care funding). 

Translation of materials needs expansion to reach additional populations, 

including people from Burma and Cambodia. More posters are needed in 

additional languages. 

The Hispanic media should be used more effectively. More ads should be placed 

on Telemundo and other Hispanic television channels. Hispanic ads are needed 

to build trust and counter the anti-immigration state laws. 

Focus group participants said that the national media campaign can be improved. 

The national media campaign is too generic and should focus more resources on 

hard-to-reach populations. Too much time is purchased by the national campaign 
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and this means that not enough time is available for local media buys. There 

needs to be more coordination between national and local media campaigns. 

Essential Ingredients for an Effective and Successful CCC in 2010 

(Question 3: Based on your successes and challenges, what do you think are the essential 

ingredients for an effective and successful CCC in 2010?) 

Focus group members identified the following eight elements that are essential 

for the success of CCCs. 

1. Timing 

2. Data and Statistics 

3. Funding 

4. Ideal Size of the CCC 

5. Composition of the CCC 

6. Subcommittees 

7. Leadership of CCCs 

8. Marketing Strategies 

Timing

Bigger cities need more time to organize a census campaign, compared to smaller 

cities. A range of start times was suggested from five years to two years before 

the 2010 Census. There is a dilemma in addressing the need to start early vs. the 

additional staffing costs to do so. 

If CCCs start too early, there may be turnover among city political leaders and the 

political appointees from a previous administration may not be representative of 

the current administration. Also, it is hard to keep volunteers motivated over a 

long period of time. 

It was recommended that cities sequence activities in stages or “waves”, for 

example: 

Five years out: Technical work. 

Three years out: Form CCC and subcommittees, develop education 

 strategies, begin to share the message “It is coming.” 

One year out: Public involvement/Community outreach. 

One participant advised not to start with public involvement until the last year or 

“people will get bored with it.” 
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Data and Statistics

Cities will not put up money for CCC activities unless they are convinced that 

increased census counts lead to increased funding for the city. Also, information 

is needed to focus efforts on need in specific areas. 

Funding

Focus group participants said there must be funding for staff to work with the 

CCC because volunteers will not do the “grunt work.” Local government must 

commit to funding early on. 

Ideal Size

Most felt that cities should “grow” their CCCs over time: “Start small and think 

big.” A small group should be used for the initial planning activities, and a larger 

group later. Some thought that 60 was too big, others thought that 50 was too 

big. 

Composition

Four types of CCC members were identified as essential for the success of CCCs: 

1. People who know how to reach out, especially to undercounted groups. 

2. People who can bring resources to the table. 

3. Staff to implement ideas (and also to develop programs and bring them to 

the CCC for review). 

4. Persons of influence and credibility. 

It was noted that CCC members should be people with a vested interest in census 

outcomes. 

One person asked how to identify leaders of ethnic groups to participate in the 

CCC or its subcommittees. Another experienced CCC leader said that the Latino 

neighborhoods have churches, festivals, and Spanish-speaking schools. People 

who organize activities for these institutions are the leaders that should be 

invited to participate on the CCC. 

Subcommittees

There was consensus that the CCCs should have subcommittees. One participant 

said that needs and goals should drive the organization of subcommittees. 
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Another person recommended that subcommittees should include political 

leadership so that community volunteers know that the city is listening to their 

ideas and their work is not in vain. It was suggested that five members is a good 

size for a subcommittee. 

Leadership for CCC

A focus group participant said that a central leader is needed: “Democracy 

doesn’t work.” CCCs need to have good coordination with the Census Bureau. 

At this point in the focus group, it was stated that for the CCC to be effective, the 

Census Bureau staff must participate in CCC meetings. 

Marketing Strategies 

A representative of the business community recommended that the CCCs use 

marketing principles to develop their strategies: “Identify who the customer is 

and how you can reach them.” He stated that it is important to segment markets 

and develop materials for the segmented markets that tell: 1) how the census 

impacts you, and 2) what are the rewards. 

Another participant added that it is important to identify people who won’t 

answer the census, including those who have “angst toward the government.” 

Roles and Responsibilities of CCC Members 

(Question 4: What do you think should be the roles and responsibilities of CCC members?) 

The focus group participants believe that different types of members have 

different roles in the CCC. Business and philanthropy members are there to “lend 

their names and provide resources.” Those who represent the underserved 

populations are expected to “walk the streets.” 

Subcommittee members are there to use existing structures and to reach out to 

others who fit the description of the subcommittee (for example, labor or clergy). 

One example that a focus group participant cited was a subcommittee for clergy -

- a Christian minister was able to reach out and bring in a Buddhist religious 

leader to join the subcommittee. 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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CCC Activities 

(Question 5: Please share just one item that you added to the bottom of the list that you 

consider to be innovative activities. 

Question 6: What specific awareness, outreach and promotional activities can be planned 

with limited or no financial resources for 2010?)

Feedback about CCC activities was sought by asking focus group participants to 

rank activities and through further focus group discussions. Below is a summary 

of the results of the ranked activities and individual comments. 

Ranking List of Activities

Focus group participants were provided with a list of activities that were carried 

out by CCCs during Census 2000. They were asked to indicate the five most 

effective activities for their communities. 

The activities that received the most votes are: 

• Write letters to school districts encouraging the use of the Census in Schools 

materials in the classroom. 

• Develop, produce and distribute public service announcements. 

• Encourage faith-based organizations to motivate participation in the census 

among their members by using census developed materials for faith-based 

organizations. 

• Arrange to have census awareness/promotional materials translated into 

other languages as needed and distributed in the community. 

• All of the other activities received votes from one to five people, except for 

one activity that received no votes from any of the focus group participants. 

The activity that received no votes is: 

• Recruit community leaders to organize a “telephone campaign” to be 

conducted throughout the community. 
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Innovative Activities

In addition to the list of usual activities, focus group participants were asked to 

identify innovative activities undertaken by their city in Census 2000. These are 

some of the activities they described: 

• A city brainstormed with advocates for the homeless to develop a strategy 

to reach this population. They decided that they could motivate homeless 

people to participate in the Census by rewarding them with breakfast for 

one month (“that was what was in it for them”). Census advocates went to 

places where homeless people go (for example, under bridges) and brought 

food and sat to “let them check us out.” They talked to people there to 

explain the program. Homeless people who participated in the census were 

given a button that read “I’m important, I’ve been counted.” People with 

the button showing that they had responded to the census were given 

breakfast for a month. Leaders among the homeless were the first to get 

the buttons and they were able to help convince others to participate. 

• A homeless outreach project hired homeless people to assist people with 

their questionnaires and to advise the city about locations in which to find 

other homeless people. 

• At a church with a predominantly Hispanic congregation, 500 cell phones 

were provided to parishioners after mass on Sunday and they were given a 

telephone number to call where they could respond to the telephone 

census survey in Spanish. This helped to increase the count for this city by 

15,000 to 20,000 people. 

• One city organized 500 questionnaire assistance centers in schools, fire 

stations, churches and community centers where volunteers helped people 

fill out their census forms. The Census Bureau also provided some staff for 

this effort. 

• To motivate students to read materials about the Census, one community 

developed T-shirts with school’s names on them that ere given to high 

school students who read the Census materials. This student outreach was 

important because kids translate for their parents who do not speak 

English. 
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• To involve youth, the CCC sponsored poetry and rap contests. 

• Neighborhood associations were able to compete for a monetary prize in 

one city. The first prize was $1,000 and the second place received $500. 

This motivated the leaders of the neighborhood associations to increase the 

number of census questionnaires returned from their neighborhood. 

• Block clubs and other groups pledged to get 100% participation in the 

Census. 

• A one-page summary was developed to use for inserts in bills and grocery 

bags that provided the following Census information: What is it? When is 

it? What’s in it for me? 

• A CCC partnered with a university center for research and economic 

development to develop materials that showed the benefits of the census, 

provided useful data from the census regarding leading economic 

indicators, and helped to promote the census. They also made 

presentations on different topics at CCC meetings, which kept the meetings 

“exciting and interesting.” 

• Thank you cards were printed that said thank you for being counted and 

why it is important. These were sent to people in low response areas as a 

way to motivate those who had not completed the census questionnaire. 

• The management philosophy for the census used by one CCC was “Must be 

present to win.” This meant that the CCC and the city must be present in 

the community for the city to win at the goal of getting a complete census 

count. Using this philosophy, they went to places where community 

members were likely to be as a captive audience, including beauty shops, 

barbershops and nightclubs. They kept a calendar of events for their 

community, as well as nearby communities, to build on what was already 

scheduled, such as festivals, labor meetings, and marches. At these events, 

they set up tables with CCC members promoting the census. 

• Local commercials were developed with an “us against them” strategy 

showing a person from another state saying that they would be happy to 

take the money from the community where the commercial was shown if 

they didn’t answer the census. 
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• Culturally-sensitive radio ads were developed using a well-known local 

personality. 

• It was very effective for a CCC to engage the disabilities community in 

planning, volunteer and community activities, as they are very well 

organized and helpful. They appreciated being acknowledged and 

included. 

• Because an accurate address list is important for a complete census count, 

one city provided census LUCA training for city clerks. 

• A mayor challenged churches to have a “Census Sunday.” 

• Participation in Census-related activities was used as criteria for 

performance evaluations for city employees. 

Low or No cost Activities

The focus group was asked to identify promotional activities that could be 

planned with limited or no financial resources. 

 

Some members of the focus group were incredulous at the idea that a city would 

not have the funds to promote the census. At minimum, they thought it was 

imperative that cities provide the funding for staff to coordinate the efforts. If a 

city didn’t have funds for this, one participant said, they should go to the state 

government to get funds. 

Focus group participants said that by building relationships, CCCs could get a lot 

done for no cost to the city. One person said that it was very effective to bestow 

honorary titles on people. For example, the mayor could call a host of a popular 

radio show and tell him how important he was to the community and ask him to 

be an “Honorary Census Ambassador.” The radio personality would then use his 

show to promote the census. 

Effective use of the media without paying for advertising was a theme of the 

discussion. People in the focus group who work for mayors said that it is 

important to get the topic of the census on the agenda for the mayor. “The 

mayor is talking to the media every day,” said one participant, so he will talk 

about the census if it is a priority for him. It was also suggested that the CCC or 
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the mayor’s staff meet with the editorial boards of local newspapers and ask them 

to run articles about the census on slow days and slow months (such as August). 

Many cities have television channels that can be used to promote the census at no 

additional cost to the city. For example, “lead-ins” with census promotion 

messages can be used on public assess television prior to the televised City 

Council meetings. The mayor and City Council members in one city all have callin shows on their local access channel that could be used for census promotion. 

One city represented in the focus group has a contract with a cable television 

company that requires them to air public service announcements. 

Other ideas suggested by the focus group that do not have direct costs for cities 

include: 

• Speakers Bureau with city staff talking to chambers of commerce and 

community groups. 

• Place messages on electronic signs at stadiums and other facilities. 

• Insert messages in utility bills and grocery bags. 

It was also suggested that smaller communities may want to build on civic pride 

and competition between communities. Recognition, such as providing a blue 

ribbon to a winner or highlighting winners in the media, can help motivate 

people. State legislators wore buttons promoting their community’s census 

efforts to the legislature. For example, the button might proclaim that their 

community “knows how to count.” 

Orientation for CCC Members 

(Question 7: Do you feel an orientation or training session would be beneficial for CCC 

members for 2010?) 

There was a difference of opinion in the focus group about the value of an 

orientation for CCC members. One person said, “It won’t hurt, but it won’t make 

a difference.” Others thought it would increase the effectiveness of a CCC, 

particularly if it presented information using census data. One city created a 28- 

minute video that they used to train the CCC and later broadcast on public 

television. 
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Many of the cities represented in the focus group have a history of working with 

their CCC in ways that are effective. They did not regard the concept of an 

orientation as a training session. There was a suggestion near the end of the 

focus group that regional meetings be held for cities to share their successful 

strategies with one another. 

While there was a statement that the orientation should be a partnership between 

the Census Bureau and the city, there was a definite desire that the information 

presented be customized for the city. For example, it was suggested that maps 

could be presented showing growth in the community. 

Also, numbers are needed to show how much the city gets back for each person 

counted. This will vary from city to city. It can be calculated using block grants 

and prevention funding per person. Numbers should be multiplied by 10 and 

shown for the 10-year period between censuses. 

Focus group members thought that city staff and elected officials should attend a 

census orientation. It was suggested that the orientation could offer talking 

points for CCC members and elected officials to use when they are 

communicating about the census, so that the message will be consistent. They 

need to be able to say, “This is why it’s important to our community.” Different 

issues resonate with different people because they depend upon different types 

of services. For example, some will be interested in traffic lights, while others 

may be interested in buses, subsidized child care, or free vaccinations. 

It was also stated that local and regional Census Bureau staff need training about 

the city. One participant said that the city she represents is more motivated to 

see a complete count than the average census enumerator who is making 

minimum wage. 

Evaluation of the CCC Handbooks 

(Question 8: How many of you saw the handbook during Census 2000? 

Question 9: Those of you who are raising your hands, did you find the handbook useful? 

Question10: For all of you, what do you think of the handbook?) 

The common perception was that the CCC Handbook was sent to the highest 

elected official who then passed it along to the person designated to coordinate 

CCC activities. For the most part, it was not distributed to CCC members. One 
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participant who had used the handbook liked it and said it had “good ideas.” 

Another said it provided “a nice foundation” for CCC activities. 

One person said the information was too dense and bold print should be used to 

signal the important things. 

Focus participants did not ask for much additional information in the CCC 

Handbook, but they did suggest that separate handbooks may be needed for 

specific topics, such as: 

• Group homes, foster homes and similar institutions; 

• Prison populations; and 

• Special Enumeration Day to count homeless people. 

In the 2010 Census, it is suggested that new technology be used, keeping a 

balance between the old and the new. For example, people thought that the CCC 

Handbook should be available on a Census Bureau website. 

Assistance Needed from Census Bureau for CCCs 

(Question 11: In addition to the handbook, what other kinds of assistance do CCCs need 

from the Census Bureau staff in order to successfully plan and implement their activities?) 

Focus group participants thought that the Internet provided an opportunity for 

the Census Bureau to support CCCs. They recommended that materials 

developed for CCCs reflect the size of the community, with separate web pages 

for small, medium and large cities. Testimonials and examples of approaches 

used by cities of similar size would be helpful. 

Some focus group participants said that promotional materials, particularly 

translations of census materials, arrived late, so the city spent money on 

translating and creating materials for non-English speaking populations. They 

suggested putting translations of materials on the web so that cities can 

download these materials and not duplicate this expense. Using web-based 

information, cities can mix and match materials to create their own census 

promotional materials. 
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During the census, cities need feedback on response rates. Some focus group 

participants said that they got the information they needed in a timely way on the 

web, while others said that they felt the information posted on the web was not 

timely or complete. The largest cities did not trust the accuracy of website 

reporting and worried about the disposition of questionnaires that were filled out 

at assistance centers. One suggestion was a card to be mailed back by the Census 

Bureau confirming that they received the completed questionnaire. 

Focus group participants said that there needed to be more support from a wider 

range of federal agencies. For example, if people are receiving assistance from 

federal programs, their checks could be withheld until they fill out the census 

form. 

Alternative Methods of Communication 

(Question 12: Given that the Census Bureau staff member cannot attend every CCC meeting, 

what alternative methods of communication could substitute for the face-to-face meeting?) 

This question raised concerns that the Census Bureau was cutting back its 

staffing. Focus group participants said that they did not want to see the Census 

Bureau reduce its staff. However, they said that staff should be focused on the 

high need areas. 

One person said that he preferred face-to-face coordination. Another focus group 

participant said that the 2000 model worked well: “Get you started and cut you 

loose.” After the initial contact to set up the CCC, this participant said that the 

census staff was available by telephone. If this is explained up front, the 

participant said, it does not create any problems. 

Other approaches were suggested for communication including: 

• Weekly or bi-weekly conference calls; 

• Internet sites where a technical team responds quickly and posts answers to 

frequently asked questions (FAQs); and 

• Peer sharing of information between cities. 
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Names for the CCC 

(Exercise and Question 13: Would you prefer these suggestions, or do you think it is better 

to stick with the name “Complete Count Committee”?) 

Focus group members participated in an exercise in which they identified key 

words and arranged them to form alternative names for the CCC. Using these key 

words, they formed the following combinations for possible names: 

Census Outreach Team 

Complete 2010 Census Count Committee 

Count Everyone Committee 

Census Outreach Partnership 

Critical Count Community 

Accurate Local Response 

Census 2010: Why be Counted? 

Local Census Partnership Committee 

Most cities had developed customized names and slogans for their CCCs and 

found the Census Bureau use of a program name not as important. 

Confidentiality 

(Question 14: How can the Census Bureau best communicate its commitment to 

confidentiality to respondents in a way that they can understand and believe?) 

Participants indicated that it is becoming harder to persuade people that census 

information will be kept confidential because of three factors: 

• The Patriot Act; 

• Illegal immigration; and 

• Government agencies are exchanging information more and more 

“If library books aren’t confidential, how will people believe that the census is 

confidential?” asked one person rhetorically. 

A focus group participant said, “The fear factor is greater than the count factor.” 

There was some discussion about the census activities being politicized. One 

focus group participant expressed the opinion that the Administration does not 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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71

want a complete count because it could increase federal expenditures for social 

services. The question was raised, “Can the Census Bureau leadership be strong 

enough to keep the census from being politicized?” 

The suggestion was made to separate the Census Bureau from the federal 

government, similar to the Federal Reserve Bank. Another suggestion was that 

the head of the Census Bureau should be appointed for a longer term and not be 

a political appointee for the current Administration. 

A participant asked if information could be collected in a manner that creates 

more anonymity. For example, could the questions on the form be asked in a 

different way? 

It was suggested that new legislation is need to reaffirm the confidentiality of the 

census. For example, there should be specific wording saying that the Patriot Act 

has nothing to do with the census. 

Most focus group participants felt that nothing could be done to overcome the 

fear of people that their confidentiality would be violated if they were engaged in 

some illegal activity, such as being an illegal immigrant or having too many 

people in the house in violation of housing codes and housing subsidy 

regulations. However, some felt that there should be messages assuring people 

that census information would not be used in a punitive way. 

There was some discussion about the need to address the fears regarding 

confidentiality in census advertising. For example, the highest officials could say 

“we work together on some things, but census information is not shared.” A 

focus group member jokingly suggested the following message: “We can’t find 

Osama, so how are we going to find you?” 

There was general agreement in the focus group that a media campaign is needed 

to stress that the benefits outweigh the risks for the census. 
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Utilizing Experienced CCCs to Assist New CCCs in 2010 

(Question 15: How can veteran CCCs best assist other CCCs who are considering 

participating or are participating for the first time?) 

Many people in the focus group said that they learned from others in the focus 

group. They liked the idea of peer sharing. They suggested that focus group 

participants (and others) be contacted to see if they would agree to talk with 

people from other cities and CCCs. Their contact information could be posted on 

the Census Bureau website. It was also suggested that the Census Bureau have 

regional workshops and invite those individuals to speak. Another suggestion 

was to hire them as consultants. 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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Location: St. Louis, MO

Chase Park Plaza 

Hotel

Date: September 15, 2005

Moderator: Brenda August

Assistant Moderator: Mim Dixon

Medium to Small Cities 

No. of Participants: 14

Focus Group Participation

The focus group was comprised of 14 people who represented medium to small 

cities in 12 states in 10 different regions of the Census. The cities ranged in size 

from about 8,500 to 230,000. While the largest city represented had nearly 

230,000 people, the next largest city had a population of about 126,000. Half 

the cities represented had populations less than 50,000. Half the participants 

were men and half were women. The participants ranged in age from 32 to 63 

with the average age of 47. Two participants speak languages in addition to 

English. 

In the 2000 Census, eight of the focus group participants served as chairs of their 

CCCs, while four provided staff support, and two worked for the Census Bureau. 

The names of participants and their cities are confidential. 

CCC Success during Census 2000 

(Question 1: What worked well for your CCC during Census 2000?) 

Many of the participants in the focus group were enthusiastic about the 

accomplishments of their CCCs and brought sample materials and final reports to 

share with the group. Some of the innovative activities they described are 

included in this report in a later section regarding activities. 

Medium to Small City CCC Focus Group
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Several people remarked that the attitude of Census Bureau personnel in 2000 

was different from 1990. They said that the Census Bureau was more responsive 

and returned their phone calls in 2000. They appreciated that Census Bureau 

staff came to CCC meetings. CCC members said that Census personnel 

encouraged them and kept their momentum high. They also said that they 

appreciated the Census Bureau staff looking profession when they attended CCC 

meetings by wearing a jacket and a tie. This signaled to them that the Census 

personnel thought the CCC was important. There was general agreement with 

the statement, “The Partnership Specialists were great! They were an excellent 

resource!” 

Focus group participants also said that they believed they did a better job in the 

hard to enumerate areas in 2000, as compared to 1990. One focus group 

member said that the city’s response rate in hard to enumerate areas went from 

47% to 79%. Members of this focus group identified the hard-to-enumerate 

populations as Hispanics and other minority groups, students at local 

universities, and people on military bases. 

They identified a number of reasons their performance improved in Census 2000 

with regard to hard-to-reach populations, including: 

• The county provided funding for the city’s outreach efforts. 

• The Census Bureau recruited and hired people from the hard-to-reach 

populations. 

• CCCs had subcommittees that developed strategies to focus on hard-toreach populations. 

• The Census Bureau provided materials that were translated into various 

languages. 

• CCCs worked with groups that were trusted by these populations, such as 

neighborhood organizations. 

• Nearly every focus group member felt that the Catholic Church was the key 

to reaching Hispanic populations and they developed specific strategies 

around this. 
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• Small cities in rural areas did outreach to the rural population which was 

described as “generally apprehensive.” For example, one CCC engaged the 

leader of the local Wool Growers Association. Another city built 

relationships with farm workers and began early to educate them about the 

census. 

• Cities that participated in reviewing the census address files were able to 

increase the number of addresses used by the census, particularly for farm 

workers. 

Another successful aspect of the 2000 census discussed by the focus group was 

effective use of the media. One focus group participant said that the CCC 

assumed that the Census Bureau would reach the mainstream American 

population, so the CCC focused media attention on the hard to enumerate 

populations. Another participant said that the CCC involved the media early on 

and had excellent press coverage. “We were in the paper all the time,” said the 

participant who had invited the media to all CCC meetings. 

In addition, they had good cooperation from the media in running public service 

announcements (PSAs) and press releases. Also, the city cable television station 

ran a video on the census and local call-in shows featured the census. Another 

participant said that the CCC activities in the schools that involved students 

putting on shows increased media coverage for the census. 

 

The census was “visible everywhere,” said one focus group participant. Not only 

did media make a difference, but also focus group participants thought that 

banners were effective and handouts that were provided by the Census Bureau. 

One person remarked that they liked the Census tour bus and used it effectively 

in conjunction with other activities. 

There was a range of experience in the focus group with regard to timing of CCC 

activities. While some felt that they started too late, others said that their timing 

was good. One participant said that it worked well for them to have two phases, 

with the first starting in 1988-89, and the second phase in 1990. Another focus 

group member said that it worked well for her small city to start with a part-time 

staff position and to increase the funding for a fulltime staff position closer to the 

time for the census. 
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Many of the small and medium sized cities developed their own logos and 

slogans for the census. However, they were on generally tight budgets and they 

relied on materials already developed by the census. When they ordered these 

materials, they were shipped promptly and received in a timely way. 

There was a range of experience with regard to funding for the CCC and their 

activities. One participant said that their CCC had a budget to provide committee 

support and to fund activities that were itemized in a plan. Other participants 

indicated that their funding was much more limited or non-existent. 

Most of the focus group participants felt that the composition of their CCCs 

worked well. 

CCC Improvement Areas 

(Question 2: What needed improvement with your CCC?) 

The areas needing improvement identified by this focus group included 1) 

communications, 2) timing, 3) budget, 4) engaging hard-to-reach populations, 

and 5) mixed messages. 

Communication

One participant from a local government in a rural area said that they received no 

information from the Census Bureau, did no planning, and didn’t know that 

grants were available to help them. 

Another participant said that their CCC was not started until January or February 

of 2000 because there was a change of city administration near the time of the 

census and the new mayor did not know the importance of the census. The focus 

group participant said that small cities need a reminder from the Census Bureau 

to prompt them to form CCCs. 

Timeline

One participant said there was a short window in which to do census outreach 

and that the city needs more time. “Internally, it was dumped on us last minute,” 

the participant reported. 
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Two timelines were discussed. One was the timeline for the city to allocate 

funding for the CCCs in their budgets, and the other is the timeline for CCC 

activities. Some focus group representatives said that there is a longer timeline 

to get the budget process rolling and to get census materials in the school 

curriculum, and then a shorter timeline for the CCC to do its work. 

According to the focus group participants, the process should start three years 

before the census, because it takes at least one year to “get the wheels rolling” 

and get buy-in from the city council. The regular city budget process begins 

nearly a year before the budget is passed. The CCCs operated on very small 

funding from their cities and relied primarily on the work of volunteers and 

donations from the community. Regardless, some funding is needed. One focus 

group participant said that it took along time to get money from the city for the 

CCC. 

“If you start too soon, it becomes old,” said one participant who fears that there 

would be a drop off in participation if the process was started too early. One 

participant remarked that there was “dead time” between kick-off and the Census 

community outreach public involvement. 

Budget

Participants remarked that little towns did not budget for census outreach, but 

rather they depended on the Census Bureau. Several people said that they found 

out too late about grants available from the census bureau. One focus group 

participant who was new to the idea of city funding for census promotion asked, 

“How do you determine a figure for the budget?” 

A representative from a city that did provide funding for their CCC in 2000 

commented, “We can’t look to local government for the same amount of money in 

2010.” 

Hard to Reach Populations

While many of the focus group participants stated that they had success with 

hard-to-reach populations in Census 2000, others said that this is an area that 

needs improvement. One city with populations of Hispanics, Chinese, Pakistanis, 

and people from India was unsuccessful in recruiting representatives from these 

groups to serve on their CCC. A community with a large Armenian population 

said that it would have been easier to motivate Armenians if the census 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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questionnaire had designated them as an ethnic group. Despite trying many 

approaches, focus group participants said that it was difficult to get Hispanic 

populations to respond to the census because of fear regarding confidentiality of 

information. 

The comment was made that the Census Bureau should translate materials into 

more languages. 

Focus group members discussed challenges of enumerating college students who 

may never have participated in the census before and need more education about 

why it is important. 

Schools

While some focus group participants had excellent success working with the 

schools, others found obstacles there. One focus group participant said that 

schools did not cooperate with the CCC plans for census promotion. Another 

person remarked that the process for developing and approving the curriculum 

for schools takes a long time. For a city that started its CCC late, a participant 

noted that it is hard to “plug the census information into the curriculum that late.” 

Mixed Messages

Focus group members said that political leaders on the national level undermine 

the goal of the census when they make public statements criticizing the census 

questionnaires. One focus group participant reported that President Bush 

(Governor at the time) said he would not fill out his census form because it was 

“too personal.” 

Essential Ingredients for an Effective and Successful CCC in 2010 

(Question 3: Based on your successes and challenges, what do you think are the essential 

ingredients for an effective and successful CCC in 2010?) 

For small and medium size communities, the CCC is considered a working group. 

The prevailing opinion was that size doesn’t matter as much as caliber of 

members. 

These are the essential ingredients identified for an effective and successful CCC 

in 2010. 
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Composition of the CCC

The following types of organizations were identified by focus group participants 

that should be represented on the CCC: 

1. People with access to hard-to-count populations 

a. Salvation Army 

b. Achievement Centers (after school programs) 

c. Boys and Girls Clubs 

d. Mexican American Legal Defense Fund 

e. Armenian National Committee 

f. Literacy, Adult Basic Ed, GED programs (new immigrant populations use 

these services) 

g. NAACP 

h. Community Improvement Associations 

i. Organizations that serve or represent other ethnic groups, such as 

American Indians, Vietnamese, Chinese 

2. Ministers 

a. All denominations 

b. Catholic important for Hispanic population 

3. Business 

a. Power Company 

b. Gas Company 

c. Chamber of Commerce 

d. Banks 

e. Realtors 

4. Government 

5. Universities and Colleges 

6. County Schools 

a. Grade schools 

b. Middle schools 

c. High schools 

7. “Movers and shakers” in community 

 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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A strategy that was used successfully was to divide the community into 

neighborhoods and have the mayor ask one person from each neighborhood to 

serve on the CCC. It was considered an honor to be asked by the mayor and the 

people who accepted felt important. 

Another source of leadership and participation identified by one focus group 

participant was people who had run for political office but had not been elected. 

These are people who care about the community and are willing to work hard. 

Also, they have the incentive of getting publicity for their next run for political 

office. 

Leadership

One person said that the city Mayor should chair the CCC to send a message of 

commitment. This was met with general agreement from the focus group, 

including the mayor who had served as chair of her CCC and participated as a 

focus group member.

The CCC needs a staff person, either part-time or full-time, who is totally 

dedicated to census promotion and does not have other assignments. It was 

suggested that every subcommittee have a facilitator. 

Other

During the discussion of the essential elements for a successful CCC, there was a 

statement that the Census Bureau staff should be at every CCC meeting “cheering 

us on.” Later, in response to another question, this position was modified. 

One CCC that started rather late felt that an essential ingredient to their success 

was regular frequent meetings. They met weekly from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm from 

February through May. 

Roles and Responsibilities of CCC Members 

(Question 4: What do you think should be the roles and responsibilities of CCC members?) 

As discussions state, the roles and responsibilities of CCC members are critical in 

improving the CCC Program for the 2010 Census. 
CCC Focus Groups Final Report 

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Generally, the cities represented in this focus group had not more than one staff 

person to work with the CCCs. Staff members were more involved with 

coordination, while the CCC members did the planning and implementation. 

Thus, small and medium size cities need CCCs with members who are “worker 

bees” not “figure heads.” CCC members should be people who are empowered to 

make decisions and make things happen. “We don’t want deadbeats,” said one 

focus group member. 

Leaders should tell CCC members what the expectations are: “This is what I need 

from you. . .” For example, “I need you to get a bus to a certain place at a certain 

time.” There should be an action in which everyone has a job to do. 

Each subcommittee should have a plan, action steps and a timetable. For 

example: If there is going to be a table at a festival, then CCC members should be 

signed up to sit at the table and hand out literature and materials. 

Reports and minutes of meetings are helpful and can provide accountability to 

assure that CCC members follow through on their commitments. 

In addition, people who are selected for the CCC are expected to communicate 

the importance of the Census to their peer groups and give pragmatic strategies 

to them to increase count. This process is envisioned to be like a telephone tree, 

where the CCC member passes information to others who then pass it to others 

until everybody gets the message. 

CCC Activities 

(Question 5: Please share just one item that you added to the bottom of the list that you 

consider to be innovative activities. 

Question 6: What specific awareness, outreach and promotional activities can be planned 

with limited or no financial resources for 2010?)

Feedback about CCC activities was sought by asking focus group participants to 

rank activities and through further focus group discussions. Below is a summary 

of the results of the ranked activities and individual comments. 
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Ranking List of Activities

Focus group participants were provided with a list of activities that were carried 

out by CCCs during Census 2000. They were asked to indicate the five most 

effective activities for their communities. 

The activities that received the most votes are: 

• Arrange to have promotional messages and materials included in business 

and local government employee paychecks and utility bills. 

• Encourage faith-based organizations to motivate participation in the census 

among their members by using census developed materials for faith-based 

organizations. 

• Develop, produce and distribute public service announcements. 

• Hold community events such as parades, fairs, ethnic festivals and other 

gatherings and distribute census information and promotional materials. 

All of the other activities received votes from one to six people, except for 

three activities that received no votes from any of the focus group participants. 

The activities that received no votes are: 

• Identify local sports and entertainment personalities to appear on local 

television and radio stations urging quick response to the census. 

• Include census messages on local Internet sites and create links to the 

Census Bureau’s Internet site. 

• Recruit community leaders to organize a “telephone campaign” to be 

conducted throughout the community. 
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Innovative Activities

In addition to the list of usual activities, focus group participants were asked to 

identify innovative activities undertaken by their city in Census 2000. These are 

the activities they described: 

• A CCC formed a student subcommittee that included middle school and 

high school students. They developed programs for the schools that 

involved performances at school assemblies. A census “mascot” was 

invented called “Count Capita,” similar to the Count on Sesame Street. 

Students were invited to audition to be the mascot. All of the students who 

showed up for the audition were invited to be in skits that the students 

wrote to promote the census. One was a rap group called “Census Sisters.” 

Another was “A Census Carol” Christmas skit put on at the Village Hall that 

featured the ghosts of census past, present and future. They also had a 

game show, patterned after “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” using census 

trivia. All of the performances attracted the media, which provided free 

publicity, as well as the excitement that spread to the families and friends 

of the performers. 

• High school students wrote a “catchy” census song and performed it and 

recorded it with a video on a CD. The song was played on the radio until 

everyone in town knew it. The music video was shown on the public access 

TV station to promote the census. 

• Contests were held in the elementary, middle, and high schools to design 

census logos and slogan. An awards ceremony was held in the schools to 

announce the winners. The winning logos were put on T-shirts. They were 

also made into slides that were projected on the screen at the movie 

theater before movies, and “kids loved this.” Before the contest was held, 

the CCC coordinator taught the teachers in the school about the census and 

gave them a one-page lesson plan to use with students. 

• To engage university students, pizza parties were held in student housing. 

The “price of entry” to the pizza party was completing the census form. 

• The city Registrar coordinated election activities with census promotion. 

The voting machines were programmed with messages to remind people to 

fill out their census forms. 
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• The Post Office cancelled stamps with the city’s census logo and a special 

message to remind people to answer the census. 

• A library bookmobile was converted into a “census-mobile” that traveled 

around the county to educate people about the census and provide 

assistance in filling out for 

• The census message was printed on paper place mats used in restaurants, 

such as diners, that cut across all socioeconomic groups. In upscale 

restaurants, a tent card was used. All of the local restaurants participated 

in the activity; however, some chain restaurants could not get permission 

from their corporate headquarters to participate. 

• Merchants were asked to put census information in their businesses. If 

they participated, they were given a special sponsor button to wear. 

• A brunch was held between two Sunday services in a church attended by 

Hispanics. At the brunch, bi-lingual assistance was available to help people 

fill out their census forms. 

• Census information was printed on paper cut to hang on door knobs. 

People were organized to walk through their neighborhoods wearing Tshirts that identified them as census volunteers. They passed out the 

information in these “neighbor-to-neighbor” walks. If someone was not 

home, the card was hung on their door knob. Boy Scouts, city workers, Fire 

Departments, and other civic organizations helped to distribute the 

information. This was done like a political campaign, including trucks with 

speakers that broadcast messages in the neighborhoods. 

• The St. Patrick’s Day Parade had a convertible car with a character riding in 

it who was a caricature of a census taker. The CCC passed out balloons 

and carried a banner with a census message. 

• In a town parade, the CCC marched with alpacas “dressed in census garb” 

and handed out chocolate coins imprinted with a census logo and message 

• A census questionnaire assistance center was placed in City Hall. 

• Friday was designated as Census Day for city employees and green was 

selected as the color for the census. So city employees were encouraged to 

wear census T-shirts or wear green on Fridays. 
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In addition to the above activities, people reported on kick-off parades, Christmas 

parades, block parties, cable television announcements, recruiting university 

students as volunteers, and other strategies. 

Low or No cost Activities

This focus group was very interested and experienced in low or no cost activities. 

They were eager to take advantage of all the materials that the Census Bureau 

provided to them free of charge. Some said that it took more lead time than they 

had available to co-brand the national census materials with their own city logos 

and slogans. 

A common strategy was to ask every business to donate money or other types of 

support for census promotion activities and then acknowledge them as a sponsor. 

However, this approach has limited effectiveness because businesses are often 

reluctant to contribute. It was pointed out that businesses in small towns are 

asked to sponsor all kinds of activities and the census is not “a pet project for 

businesses.” 

These are some of the other approaches that focus group participants described 

and feel could be used again for the 2010 Census: 

• A Speakers Bureau was developed using the philosophy that it is most 

effective to convince people with one-on-one contact. Speakers were 

recruited from various segments of the community, including those who 

spoke different languages. Eight 2-hour training sessions were provided 

for the speakers. The training sessions included such topics as warm up 

activities, short versus long forms, how to answer the race question, 

confidentiality, and “what’s in it for me.” Speakers were given a manual, 

talking points, and materials and promotional items to hand out at 

meetings. 

• Businesses with large signs, such as car washes, were asked to put census 

messages on their signs until the community was saturated with messages. 

• A CCC coordinator ordered a banner in English and Spanish that was larger 

than she expected, so she had to consider a place to put it. She put it on 

the transit center where the city has both buses and trains. 
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• Census posters were put in storefronts. 

• Slides were put in movie theaters before the movie begins. 

• A city that is home to many celebrities, including a professional football 

team, writers and musicians, asked these individuals to help promote the 

census. They would go to public places, for example to autograph books, 

and census information would be handed out at the same time. The 

celebrities drew people to the event and the media provided free 

advertising. 

Orientation for CCC Members 

(Question 7: Do you feel an orientation or training session would be beneficial for CCC 

members for 2010?) 

Focus group participants thought that orientations were very important. They 

distinguished between two types of orientations. The first would be provided by 

the Census Bureau to train elected officials and the city coordinator for the CCC. 

The second would be provided by the city for CCC members. 

Two approaches were discussed for the Census Bureau orientation for the elected 

officials and CCC coordinators. The first approach involves having the Census 

Bureau representative come to the city and explain why the census in important 

and explain the support the Census Bureau will provide to the city. The second 

approach is a meeting involving several local governments in a geographic area, 

which would provide the same types of information, but also allow local 

governments to share their experiences and coordinate their activities. The 

regional meetings could also cover a variety of topics related to the census, such 

as geography programs. In addition, it was suggested that there be training 

about how to do outreach to ethnic minorities. 

With either approach, the focus group participants said that they want the Census 

Bureau to take the leadership to get things started for CCC census activities. 

They said that elected officials may not have the buy-in needed to begin planning, 

budgeting and organizing CCCs. With turnover in elected officials and their staff, 

small and medium sized cities may not have continuity from one census to the 
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next. They need the orientation as a reminder to start the process and to 

motivate city officials to provide the leadership needed for CCCs to be successful. 

One of the motivations cited for small and medium size cities to obtain a 

complete census count is that population size is used in the formula for dividing 

sales tax revenues between local city and county governments. Another 

motivation is representation in state legislatures. A focus group member said her 

city become more motivated to participate when the mayor received telephone 

calls from U.S. Senators stressing the importance of the census. 

A focus group participant shared the agenda for the orientation that was provided 

for CCC members in Census 2000. The topics included the importance of the 

census to the city government with regard to representation in Congress and 

funding for the city, confidentiality, and a description of national and regional 

campaigns. 

Evaluation of CCC Handbooks 

(Question 8: How many of you saw the handbook during Census 2000? 

Question 9: Those of you who are raising your hands, did you find the handbook useful? 

Question10: For all of you, what do you think of the handbook?) 

In this three part question, eight of the focus group participants said that they 

had seen the CCC Handbook during Census 2000. Some focus group participants 

said that it went to the highest elected official and it did not get passed along to 

the CCC coordinator in a timely way. They said it would be better to send a letter 

to the mayor and then wait until a CCC coordinator is appointed and send the 

handbook to that individual. 

Another approach suggested was to send out two copies of the handbook – one 

to the mayor and another to the CCC coordinator. 

It was also suggested that the state demographer could be a better channel for 

communication than mayors. There was general agreement that mayors are too 

busy to read such a large booklet and that it slows things down if he/she wants to 

review it before sending it to the designated census staff person. 
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One participant said that the handbook was “too prescriptive.” She said, “It makes 

you feel like you are out of compliance if you don’t do it that way.” Others said 

that they selected what would work for their community, but “didn’t use the 

whole cookbook.” One person said they used only two pages of the handbook. 

Another said that “the timelines in the handbook scared us because we started 

too late.” 

There was a general perception that the handbook was designed to be used by 

large cities. It would be more helpful if different handbooks were prepared for 

different sizes of municipalities. 

It was recommended that the handbooks be more user friendly by making them 

more visual with more graphics. People thought that 46 pages was too long. 

They want a quick read, condensed version with the “nuts and bolts.” Also, 

people would like to see success stories from other communities of similar size 

included. A spreadsheet with timelines and suggested activities in a graphic 

presentation was recommended. 

There was strong support in this focus group for putting the CCC Handbook on 

the Internet. The format could be interactive, allowing users to select information 

appropriate for their size of community. There could be links to success stories. 

A chat room was also suggested for people to share their questions and ideas. 

If the Internet is used, then there could be a very small printed summary that is 

sent to mayors and CCC coordinators that directs them to the website. 

Assistance Needed from Census Bureau for CCCs 

(Question 11: In addition to the handbook, what other kinds of assistance do CCCs need 

from the Census Bureau staff in order to successfully plan and implement their activities?) 

Focus group participants wanted the Census Bureau to maintain the same level of 

support that they received from Partnership Specialists in Census 2000. 

Promotional items (give-aways) were important to this group. Their comments 

included: “People like things,” “it gets the message everywhere in front of 

people,” and “it motivates people to come to events.” Occasionally they found 

problems with products, such as markers that were dried up. They said that the 

timeliness of getting materials was excellent. 
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The focus group participants identified two areas where they would like additional 

assistance from the Census Bureau: 

• The Census Bureau should work with social studies teachers associations 

early (before CCCs are formed) to assure that census education is included 

in the school curriculum. 

• Cities need to know if funding opportunities are available earlier in the 

process. 

Alternative Methods of Communication 

(Question 12: Given that the Census Bureau staff member cannot attend every CCC meeting, 

what alternative methods of communication could substitute for the face-to-face meeting?) 

Focus group members liked having Partnership Specialists at their CCC meetings. 

They regarded their role as “cheerleading” and said they brought “momentum” 

and “energy” to the CCC. 

Initially, when the focus group discussed the essential ingredients for the 

successful CCC, one ingredient cited was have a Partnership Specialist as every 

CCC meeting. However, when they were told that Partnership Specialists may not 

be able to attend every CCC meeting and asked about alternative methods of 

communication, there was a shift in attitude. The focus group participants said 

that the Partnership Specialist should “kick-off” the CCC and then “stay by the 

telephone.” 

So many good ideas were presented by participants in the focus group, that there 

was a growing enthusiasm for peer-to-peer assistance. At the end of the focus 

group, people were exchanging telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. They 

expressed the opinion that they could work closely with nearby CCC coordinators 

to get technical assistance if the Partnership Specialist was not available. 
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Names for the CCC 

(Exercise and Question 13: Would you prefer these suggestions, or do you think it is better 

to stick with the name “Complete Count Committee”?) 

Focus group members participated in an exercise in which they identified key 

words and arranged them to form alternative names for the CCC. Using these key 

words, they formed the following combinations for possible names: 

Census Community Count 

Complete Count Committee 

Information Partnership Outreach 

Community Partnership Committee 

Census Community Partnership 

Community Census Participation Committee 

Community Census Involvement Committee 

Census Leadership Committee 

Information Outreach Partnership Community 

Everyone Counts 

When these ideas for names were compared to Complete Count Committee, there 

was little enthusiasm for changing the name. One person said that the word 

“community” is important for the title. However, most people thought that CCC 

was branded and it should not be changed. 

They felt that they could change it at the community level, or add a tag line that 

would customize it for their community.

Confidentiality 

(Question 14: How can the Census Bureau best communicate its commitment to 

confidentiality to respondents in a way that they can understand and believe?) 

There was consensus that confidentiality was a “major challenge” in getting 

people to respond to the census. Focus group participants expressed the opinion 

that confidentiality was a greater problem for the long form compared to the 

short form. They wondered how the American Community Survey will change 

things. 
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Focus group participants said that illegal immigrants have too much at risk to 

answer the census. They are scared and don’t believe that the information will be 

kept confidential. 

They talked about general trends in society, including media reports of 

supposedly secure data bases being compromised. One person said, “The media 

demonstrates almost daily that secure information isn’t secure.” They related this 

to the Patriot Act and the perception that the government will get information if 

they want it. 

They said that people perceive the federal government to be a monolith without 

distinctions, so it is hard to convince them that the Census Bureau is different. 

Furthermore, when Congressmen make negative comments about personal 

information in the census (as happened in Census 2000), it hurts the process. 

Utilizing Experienced CCCs to Assist New CCCs in 2010 

(Question 15: How can veteran CCCs best assist other CCCs who are considering 

participating or are participating for the first time?) 

There was enthusiasm for utilizing experienced CCCs to assist new CCCs. Focus 

group participants offered the following suggestions to accomplish this goal: 

• Develop a mentorship program. 

• Hold regional or sub-regional “focus groups” to share information in the 

manner that was done with this focus group. 

• One participant said that she is part of a consortium of 21 cities in her area 

that have monthly luncheons rotated between the cities to share ideas 

about their census activities. 

• Use the Internet for networking to connect people with others from similar 

size cities. Have a national bulletin board with success stories. 

• Develop a directory with names and e-mail addresses of people who have 

successful experience to share. 

• Hold teleconferences. 
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• The Census Bureau should have an evaluation process that identifies 

successful programs. 

• Use people who were in this focus group to participate in the training for 

CCCs.
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Focus Group Participation

Eight people were scheduled to attend this focus group; however, three people 

were unable to attend at the last minute. The group was comprised of five 

participants, four people from one city and one person from another city. 

Four of the focus group participants had been members of community CCCs in 

Census 2000 and at least one had also participated in the 1990 census. One 

focus group member had been a Community Partnership Specialist during Census 

2000. 

Three people were executive directors of non-profit organizations that provide 

services to people from specific ethnic groups. One person was a director of a 

museum. One person was involved with media, including hosting a bilingual 

television show and publishing a bilingual newspaper. 

The ethnic groups represented by the focus group participants included Chinese, 

Korean, Thai and African American. There were three women and two men. They 

ranged in age from 34 to 61 with an average age of 52. Four of the five focus 

group participants spoke language in addition to English, including Thai, Chinese, 

Korean, and French. 

The names of participants and their cities are confidential. 

Location: Chicago, IL

Hotel Monaco

Date: September 20, 2005

Moderator: Marilyn Stevens

C

Assistant Moderator: Mim Dixon

ommunity 

No. of Participants: 5

Community CCC Focus Group
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CCC Success during Census 2000 

(Question 1: What worked well for your CCC during Census 2000?) 

Focus group participants felt that they had done a good job of outreach to their 

communities during Census 2000. 

They felt that they had good networks within their communities that were utilized 

effectively. Bringing groups together to design outreach plans worked well and 

had the added benefit of promoting collaboration among people who don’t 

usually work together. 

They felt that the community groups brought resources to the table to assist the 

census outreach process. 

There was good communications between the community CCCs and the Census 

Bureau, according to focus group participants. They appreciated the Partnership 

Specialists. The Partnership Specialists had good training by the regional office of 

the Census Bureau to clarify their mission and give them skills to do their job. 

Focus group participants felt that weekly press releases from the Census Bureau 

were helpful. The census items to give away and banners were effective. They 

said that having an advertising budget for newspapers was important. The 

advertising campaign was needed to address “security issues” (i.e., 

confidentiality). 

Focus group participants said that it worked well to hire bi-lingual census 

enumerators and to have the census forms translated into languages other than 

English. 

CCC Improvement Areas 

(Question 2: What needed improvement with your CCC?) 

According to this focus group, many of the things that worked well in Census 

2000 could be improved. Some of the suggestions and comments are listed 

below. 
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• Community groups need more resources. One participant said they need 

“working capital.” Another said that they depend on local businesses for 

contributions, but those businesses are asked too often to sponsor 

community activities. Focus group participants said that they need more 

money for advertising. 

• The Census Bureau should use community input as they hire bilingual 

enumerators. While bilingual enumerators were a successful aspect of the 

2000 census, the Census Bureau was perceived as acting too slow to hire 

them. Focus group members perceived that one obstacle to hiring bilingual 

enumerators was the tests used in the hiring process. They said the tests 

that the Census Bureau has to screen enumerators are not adequate to 

identify the people who would be most effective working in the communities. 

• The Census Bureau needs more Partnership Specialists that speak more 

languages. One suggestion was to have a Partnership Specialist for each 

ethnic group that speaks their language. 

• The Census Bureau should put out more press releases and stories, 

particularly as the time for the census draws closer. Promotional materials 

should be sent out earlier to the community to have a wider distribution. 

• There needs to be more work with children and more community education. 

Census in the Schools should be an ongoing program. “Young people need 

to understand the power of the census and the history of the census early 

on,” said one focus group participant. Promotional materials should have 

more faces of local people who are known and respected in the community. 

• People need more examples of the impact of the census and the success 

stories that come from a complete count. One museum that did an exhibit 

on the history of the census could have had a more effective exhibit if it also 

included information about “why I should do this,” the impact of the census 

on the community in both numbers and dollars, and the success of the 

census for the community. 

• Participants said that the CCC should start earlier. Fear that confidentiality 

would be violated was also identified as an area for improvement. 
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Essential Ingredients for an Effective and Successful CCC in 2010 

(Question 3: Based on your successes and challenges, what do you think are the essential 

ingredients for an effective and successful CCC in 2010?) 

Size, composition, subcommittees, and timing are the essential ingredients 

identified by this focus group for an effective and successful CCC in 2010. 

Size

Focus group participants said that the size of the CCC depends on the size of the 

community. Larger communities need larger CCCs. One person said the size 

could range from 10 to 30 people. Another participant suggested that 30-45 

people were needed to reach her community. “More is better to complete the 

job,” said a focus group member. 

Composition

A focus group member said that “all points of touch” should be included in the 

CCC. Representation from the following groups was recommended: 

Youth 

Education 

Religious institutions 

Women 

Athletic groups 

Media 

Business (entrepreneurs, small business, chambers of commerce) 

Subcommittees

A focus group participant from an organization that serves several different 

ethnic groups suggested organizing subcommittees by ethnic group so that 

people could participate by speaking their own language. For example, a CCC for 

an Asian advocacy organization could have a Chinese Subcommittee and a Korean 

Subcommittee. 

Timing

Participants felt that they should start “yesterday” to work on the 2010 Census. 

“Sooner is better,” they said. They felt that they should start now with training, 

planning their workload, and identifying the resources that would be needed. 
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They saw the census activities as occurring in phases, with the first phase being 

the start up phase, followed by another phase, and then the “full court press.” 

A focus group participant said that she thought she should start now to 

communicate with her constituency: “Every opportunity I have to speak about it, I 

will.” 

Roles and Responsibilities of CCC Members 

(Question 4: What do you think should be the roles and responsibilities of CCC members?) 

According to this focus group, the Community CCCs should have both “do-ers” 

and “leaders.” The “do-ers” are the “worker bees who get things done.” The 

leaders get others involved. Leaders are expected to appoint someone to attend 

the CCC meetings regularly to speak for them, and to implement ideas. Leaders 

are needed to access volunteers and bring in more help. 

The CCC is envisioned as a “multi-level marketing” arrangement, in which CCC 

talk to others, who in turn talk to others. “We need tentacles to go out into the 

community,” explained one focus group member. For example, there might be a 

representative from a Senior Council and a representative from a Youth 

organization on the CCC. Each of those CCC members would go back to their 

respective organizations to share information and organize volunteers. CCC 

members should be strong leaders who can reach out and make things happen. 

There was some discussion about how people can help with census outreach 

without being a CCC member. For example, some first generation immigrants are 

working many hours and do not have enough time to serve on a CCC. University 

students may be better able to help. 

It was pointed out that CCC members should receive recognition for their efforts. 
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CCC Activities 

(Question 5: Please share just one item that you added to the bottom of the list that you 

consider to be innovative activities. 

Question 6: What specific awareness, outreach and promotional activities can be planned 

with limited or no financial resources for 2010?)

Feedback about CCC activities was sought by asking focus group participants to 

rank activities and through further focus group discussions. Below is a summary 

of the results of the ranked activities and individual comments. 

Ranking List of Activities

Focus group participants were provided with a list of activities that were carried 

out by CCCs during Census 2000. They were asked to indicate the five most 

effective activities for their communities. 

The activities that received the most votes are: 

• Arrange to have census awareness/promotional materials translated into 

other languages as needed and distributed in the community. 

• Develop, produce and distribute public service announcements. 

• Arrange with local newspapers and publications to feature community 

leaders promoting participation in the census. 

• Include census promotional materials on the importance of the census in 

mailings to community residents. 

• Arrange to have census banners, posters, billboards, and benches in 

public places in the community. 

• Distribute census promotional materials in all government and 

community agencies that have public contact services and programs. 

• Encourage faith-based organizations to motivate participation in the 

census among their members by using census developed materials for 

faith-based organizations. 

• Write letters to school districts encouraging the use of the Census in 

Schools materials in the classroom. 
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• Call special public meetings to help increase community awareness of 

participation in the census. 

 The activities with no votes are: 

• Hold press conferences to talk about the importance of responding to the 

census. 

• Work with tenant and homeowner associations to distribute materials and 

encourage return of the questionnaire. 

• Hold ceremonial kickoff to publicize the mail-out of the census 

questionnaire. 

Innovative Activities

In addition to the list of usual activities, focus group participants were asked to 

identify innovative activities undertaken by their city in Census 2000. These are 

the activities they described: 

• A Korean Census Newspaper was produced using advertising funds from 

local businesses. 

• A party was held at a senior center with food and games. One game was 

like musical chairs: an envelope like the envelope people receive with 

their census forms was passed around until the music stopped. The idea 

was for everyone one see the envelope and handle it, so they would 

recognize it when it came in the mail for them and not throw it away or 

refuse it. 

• An African American Museum was asked to distribute census information. 

They expanded their role and developed historical information about the 

census and the African diaspora. 

• Senior citizens and youth from a Chinese community were paired 

together in an intergeneration “Ambassador” program to go door-to-door 

to provide census information. Seniors were “scared” to do this without 

the youth because they were afraid they would knock on the door of a 

non-Chinese person in their neighborhood and would be unable to 

communicate. 
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• Contests were held in grade schools, middle schools, and high schools to 

develop bilingual drawings, essays and slogans to promote the census. 

Local businesses donated cash prizes for the winners. There was media 

coverage and the winning slogans were used in the community. 

An idea that was suggested in the focus group, although it was not attempted in 

Census 2000, was to ask cell phone companies to put a census message on the 

start-up screen that people would see when they got a new cell phone. 

Low or No cost Activities

The focus group identified many of the activities that were included in the list as 

low or no cost activities, such as putting messages in paychecks and utility bills, 

and having booths at festivals. 

They also identified the following places to reach out with translated information 

to people who are recent immigrants or non-English speaking citizens: 

• English classes; 

• Citizenship classes; 

• Drivers License offices; 

• Voter Registration offices; 

• New citizen swearing-in ceremonies; 

• Back-to-school nights and day care meetings; and 

• Enclose in mailings from agencies that serve ethnic groups. 

Other ideas suggested included: 

• Have Community CCC members volunteer as spokesperson to be 

interviewed on cable television programs that are broadcast in the 

languages of the target group. 

• Provide Non-English language newspapers with a corner for a Questionand-Answer column about the census on a regular basis. 

• Show videos produced by the Census Bureau in community meetings. 

• Hold a potluck party in a park and provide census materials. 

• Conduct slogan contests in the schools. 
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Orientation for CCC Members 

(Question 7: Do you feel an orientation or training session would be beneficial for CCC 

members for 2010?) 

For the most part, focus group participants did not recall orientations for 

Community CCCs during Census 2000. A focus group member said she had no 

training last time, “but I think we need it.” Others said they could have used ideas 

regarding the “nuts and bolts” of CCCs. 

These were some of the topics suggested for an orientation for community CCCs: 

• Leadership training; 

• How to think as a group and work as a team; 

• How to speak with the same voice and deliver the same message; 

• Examples and strategies to mobilize communities; 

• How to develop strategies for community outreach; 

• Roles and responsibilities of CCC members; and 

• Frequently asked questions about the census and their answers. 

It was suggested that an orientation could bring communities together to share 

what they are doing and provide an opportunity for different groups to 

collaborate. 

Evaluation of CCC Handbooks 

(Question 8: How many of you saw the handbook during Census 2000? 

Question 9: Those of you who are raising your hands, did you find the handbook useful? 

Question 10: For all of you, what do you think of the handbook?) 

Two of the people participating in the focus group had seen the handbook during 

Census 2000. 

Other focus group participants received the handbook prior to the focus group 

and offered these observations: 

• It needs page numbers and a table of contents. 
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102

• It is too “wordy”, too thick. 

• To make it more readable, the font should be larger, there should be 

more graphics and pictures, and darker print should be used. 

To stress the point that it should be smaller, one person said, “Good things come 

in small packages.” 

Several alternative approaches were suggested for the handbook. One was to 

create separate handbooks for different ethnic groups with strategies that have 

been proven to work in their communities. Another approach was to include 

information designed for specific ethnic groups as an addendum to the 

handbook. 

Another person suggested that the Census Bureau provide a CD with all the 

resources and a sample of all the materials available from the Census Bureau, 

because “We don’t know what’s out there until the very end.” 

The discussion of handbook concepts began with focus group questions 

specifically about the handbook and continued through the discussions related to 

assistance from the Census Bureau and alternative forms of communication. 

As the focus group progressed the concept of a handbook was transformed from 

a written document to a website where handbook-related information is shared, 

as well as materials, including translations. 

Assistance Needed from Census Bureau for CCCs 

(Question 11: In addition to the handbook, what other kinds of assistance do CCCs need 

from the Census Bureau staff in order to successfully plan and implement their activities?) 

The first type of assistance mentioned was additional funding for census outreach 

activities. 

Focus group members suggested that the Census Bureau have a secure website 

for people who help to coordinate CCC activities. They said that community 

residents who are CCC members may not have access to computers, but all of the 

non-profit agencies have computers and Internet access. 
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CCC coordinators could go to the website to get information, such as the 

information that was in the handbook. The website could serve as a 

clearinghouse for materials that the CCCs could download and print. It could 

help communities find out what others are doing. They could also use the website 

to provide feedback to the Census Bureau about what is happening with their 

CCCs. 

This focus group represented different groups that do not speak English and was 

especially interested in having access to bilingual translations of census materials 

done by other regions. They said that other communities are producing materials 

locally and they don’t want to “reinvent the wheel.” Currently, they don’t know 

who to ask for these materials. A website could solve that problem, according to 

the focus group participants. 

Overall, focus group participants said that organizations with more experience 

need less help from the Census Bureau, while organizations that are new to 

census outreach need more help. 

One type of assistance that was discussed by this focus group was help for the 

CCCs to be able to “roll out the results to the community.” There needs to be a 

data dissemination plan so that community members can see the results of their 

census activities. This should be a “celebration” and the community should 

regard the results as a “win.” To do this effectively, there needs to be timely 

feedback from the Census Bureau. 

Alternative Methods of Communication 

(Question 12: Given that the Census Bureau staff member cannot attend every CCC meeting, 

what alternative methods of communication could substitute for the face-to-face meeting?) 

This discussion was really about supplemental methods of communication. The 

focus group participants said that the Community CCCs must have strong 

leadership and enough training to give them the skills to conduct meetings to 

function without Census Bureau staff present. They said that “a strong CCC 

needs less support.” 

If the Partnership Specialist cannot attend the CCC meeting, then there should be 

telephone calls before and after the meetings to assure that the agenda stays on 

course and to arrange follow-up. The focus group participants said that the 
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Partnership Specialist should initiate these phone calls. Furthermore, the phone 

calls are needed regardless of whether the Partnership Specialist attends the CCC 

meetings. E-mails and conference calls were also suggested between CCC 

meetings. Another suggestion was that the Partnership Specialist could call in 

during the CCC meeting if he/she could not be there. 

A focus group member pointed out that a representative of the Census Bureau 

should be present to hear concerns and answer/respond so there is not a delay of 

action items before the next meeting. Another person said that they didn’t want 

to have every CCC meeting have the refrain repeated, “We have to check with the 

Census Bureau.” This would create a negative climate in which they would lose 

volunteers. 

“I don’t want this discussion to end with the conclusion that we don’t need more 

Census Bureau staff,” a focus group participant said. 

Names for the CCC 

(Exercise and Question 13: Would you prefer these suggestions, or do you think it is better 

to stick with the name “Complete Count Committee”?) 

Focus group members participated in an exercise in which they identified key 

words and arranged them to form alternative names for the CCC. Using these key 

words, they formed the following combinations for possible names: 

Participation Numbers Count 

Community Counting Itself 

Community Counting Itself Fair and Complete 

United Results Benefit 

Community Counting Accurate 

When asked whether it was better to keep to old name or use a new name, one 

person advocated for keeping the old name because it was familiar. Three people 

advocated changing the name to be more descriptive and to create more 

excitement and curiosity. One person suggested linking the old with the new to 

achieve both continuity and excitement, similar to a “new season” or the “NEW 

Oprah Show.” 
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Confidentiality 

(Question 14: How can the Census Bureau best communicate its commitment to 

confidentiality to respondents in a way that they can understand and believe?) 

This focus group tended to use words like “privacy” and “security,” rather than 

“confidentiality.” 

There are a number of comments included below on how this group felt the 

Census Bureau could best communicate its commitment to confidentiality. 

- One focus group participant said that the Privacy Act would have a 

positive impact on encouraging people to complete the 2010 Census. 

Another said that the Privacy Act had impact because the word “Act” gives 

more power to it. One suggestion was to change the words used by the 

Census Bureau to discuss this issue from “confidentiality” to “privacy.” 

- When asked how the Census Bureau could communicate its commitment 

to confidentiality to the public, one focus group member said halfjokingly, “Arrest some people!” 

- One focus group participant said, “I don’t recall people not understanding 

confidentiality, but some don’t believe it.” She added that meetings and 

events help people to believe it. Educating people and making them 

aware of the history of the Census Bureau was one approach suggested. 

- A focus group participant said that the census information was used to 

put Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II and that 

the government should make a statement that “this history will never be 

repeated again.” 

- Another person pointed out that it is a matter of benefits versus 

perceived risks. She said that people have no problem giving their name 

and address for a contest they might win. 

- The community organizations that were represented in the focus group 

were interested in obtaining and using the information from the long 

form and the American Community Survey. Some of their constituents, 

however, probably prefer the short form. 

- A focus group participant said that the immigrant populations they serve 

operate on “blind faith.” They need to lean on community organizations 
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and leaders that they trust for advice. Census advertising should be 

bilingual and the speaker should be a person they trust. 

- At the end of the focus group, one person suggested a button be given to 

people who complete the census that says: “I was counted – and it was 

confidential.” 

Unlike other focus groups, this focus group did not mention the Patriot Act or the 

concerns of illegal immigrants in their discussions of confidentiality. When 

questioned about this during the summary of the focus group, they said that the 

groups they serve are mostly (but not entirely) documented immigrants from Asia 

and there are fewer undocumented immigrants than in the Hispanic population. 

Utilizing Experienced CCCs to Assist New CCCs in 2010 

(Question 15: How can veteran CCCs best assist other CCCs who are considering 

participating or are participating for the first time?) 

A focus group member pointed out that CCC members from Census 2000 would 

be 10 years older in the next census and that there should be an appeal to them 

to “prepare the country for the next generation to do the count.” It was 

suggested that this is a “legacy job” that involves “mentoring the next 

generation.” 

The focus group suggested that advisory groups be formed at both the national 

and local levels for experienced people who don’t want to be “hands on” in the 

2010 Census. They would provide a connection to the past without actually 

serving on a CCC. 

Some roles that were envisioned for these advisors included being speakers in a 

Speakers Bureau, and answering questions for the CCCs based on their past 

knowledge of the process. 
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Focus Group Participation

The focus group was comprised of seven people who represented counties in six 

states in three different regions of the country. The population size of the 

rural/counties represented ranged in size from 14,000 to 1.7 million with a mix 

of participants representing each. 

Three of the focus group participants are women and four are men. They range 

in age from 29 to 63 years old, with a median age of 50. English was the first 

language for all the participants; however, one reported speaking another 

language as well. 

During Census 2000, two of the focus group participants served as members of 

their CCCs, while five provided staff support. The focus group included one 

elected official, one county administrator, a planning director, two planners, a 

special projects coordinator, and a contractor. 

The names of participants and rural areas/counties represented are confidential. 

CCC Success during Census 2000 

(Question 1: What worked well for your CCC during Census 2000?) 

The largest counties had very different experiences compared to the smallest 

counties. Most of the successes that were recounted in the focus group came 

from the largest counties. These are the areas that focus group participants from 

some counties said worked well: 

Location:

Chicago, IL

Omni Ambassador 

East Hotel

Date: September 22, 2005

Moderator: Brenda August

Assistant Moderator: Mim Dixon

Rural/County 

No. of Participants: 7

Rural/County CCC Focus Group
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• The Census Bureau had good staff and provided needed support to many of 

the counties. Census Bureau promotional materials (give-a-ways) increased 

the participation in events. Canvas bags were cited as an example of a give-away that was effective. The media, including television and radio, were 

considered effective, particularly for the largest counties. 

• Many of the county CCCs had support from the county government and other 

institutions in the county. There was support from elected county officials, 

including a budget for CCC activities for the largest counties. In smaller 

counties, the county staff was able to penetrate the community. In some 

counties, the elected officials got constituents involved. 

• Some counties had support from teachers and principals and were able to use 

materials provided by the Census Bureau in the schools. The CCCs had 

support from the largest employers in the county. One county that included 

American Indian tribal governments had good participation from the tribal 

governments. Maps from the Census Bureau helped in this process. Some 

counties were effective in getting the involvement of businesses, faith-based 

organizations, and cultural groups. 

• Most of the participants reported improvements in reaching hard to count 

populations. In the largest counties, grants to community-based 

organizations created more effective outreach. In one county, the Hispanic 

count went from 1% in 1990 to 11% in 2000. When this information was 

shared with the community, it validated the usefulness of the Census and the 

CCC. 

• Several people said that Census 2000 data was better utilized by their 

counties. One county reported that it had hired a demographer and was 

better able to use census data. 

CCC Improvement Areas 

(Question 2: What needed improvement with your CCC?) 

The diversity in counties represented led to the identification of problems that 

were specific to types of counties and not universal. Here are some examples: 
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• In small, rural counties, the value of the census was not understood by local 

officials and it was not a priority for them. They regarded the CCC as an 

“unfunded mandate” and they resented the additional workload. One person 

who reported that the county “did not appreciate the benefits of the census,” 

stated that they “saw it as a burden, not an opportunity.” “The federal 

government needs to understand that rural communities have no money to 

put into the census,” a participant stated, adding that they resent using local 

money for state and national mandates. “You can’t get blood out of turnips,” 

she said. Only a few of the departments in county governments actually use 

census data, such as the planning department and the health department, so 

there is little bottom-up support. At the time of Census 2000, one of the 

counties represented was concerned with cutting budgets. A focus group 

participant said the CCC “was passed around by county staff like a hot 

potato.” 

• One focus group participant stated that it did not receive adequate support 

from the Census Bureau. The participant did not know about materials that 

were available to them. One focus group member said the only thing their 

county got from the Census Bureau was five posters. 

• Another focus group representative said that their county did not have a 

formal CCC, so they had “no common mission” and “no esprit de corps.” 

• The smallest counties represented in the focus group never heard of Census 

in the Schools. 

• Another small county without resources did not know about grants from the 

Census Bureau. 

• Small county governments do not have a lot of staff or a lot of depth in the 

staff. When the elected officials do not follow through, the staff has to do the 

work. However, the staff were “not encouraged to spend time on the census” 

because it was not a local issue. One focus group member said nobody had 

time for the CCC and it “died on the vine.” 

• County governments have problems with coordination, particularly when the 

county has a government structure without a single person to take 

responsibility, such as a mayor. One county had about 3,400 elected 
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officials, including school board members. The elected county officials are 

rather territorial and it is difficult to coordinate with all of them. Even when 

they are represented on the CCC, they may not work well together. In one 

case the chair and the co-chair of the CCC “were not on the same page for the 

CCC.” 

• There are some structures in place to coordinate local governments, such as 

a Council of Governments, for activities such as transportation planning. The 

Census Bureau should do more to work with these types of organizations. 

• Cities and counties are separate governments and don’t necessarily work 

together well. A focus group participant said that county officials often won’t 

admit that they don’t understand issues. They said the Census Bureau should 

do more to work through states to explain the importance of the census to 

local governments. States can explain such things as the role that the census 

plays in population numbers that are used in formulas for revenue sharing. 

• Counties that perceive themselves as homogeneous with a predominantly 

white population did not appreciate the materials that were developed for 

racial and ethnic groups. They felt that the Census did not define hard-tocount populations as broadly as they could. One participant said that the 

perception in county government was that “the federal program is only 

concerned about counting minorities.” Materials and posters were “rejected 

due to multiculturalism.” 

• Larger counties experienced problems with counting the homeless 

population. One county that brought in advocates and agencies for the 

homeless to make recommendations to reach this population felt that the 

Census Bureau did not listen to their advice. As a result, the homeless count 

was “atrocious” and this affects funding for services to the homeless. 

• Counties need more help with outreach to Eastern Europeans. This is not a 

unified community with organized services. They are polarized, and people 

from various ethnic groups do not work together. They tend to be suspicious 

of government. They speak many languages and the Census Bureau does not 

provide translations of materials for them. The materials from the Census 

Bureau do not relate to them. These factors make it hard to direct CCC 

activities and count Eastern Europeans. “We don’t know how to reach them,” 

said one focus group member. 
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• Some census materials were underappreciated. One focus group member 

reported that their county received a case of pencils. “It seemed like a 

superficial approach and a waste of resources,” he said. However another 

participant indicated that they would have appreciated and utilized the case 

of pencils. 

• For relatively unsophisticated rural populations, the national media campaign 

developed by the Census Bureau felt “too polished” and “too distant.” They 

needed television ads with local scenery and local people. For both TV and 

radio ads, there needed to be local voices. The small, rural counties did not 

have resources to produce these local ads. 

• People are suspicious of government. To be motivated to answer the census, 

they need to know “what’s in it for me.” It is not enough to talk about federal 

funding for programs. 

• Concern was expressed that the American Community Survey will make it 

even more difficult to educate the public. 

• In areas with low unemployment, it is necessary to bring people from outside 

the communities to work as enumerators. The enumerators did not know the 

community, and this does not build trust. 

• There was some dissatisfaction expressed with the people that were selected 

by the Census Bureau to be Partnership Specialists. Some of the people 

selected did not understand country governments or the local communities. 

One person said that the Partnership Specialist used that position to make 

contacts to run for School Board. 
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Essential Ingredients for an Effective and Successful CCC in 2010 

(Question 3: Based on your successes and challenges, what do you think are the essential 

ingredients for an effective and successful CCC in 2010?) 

Some of the following areas are essential ingredients mentioned by this group 

that would increase the effectiveness and success of the CCC Program for the 

2010 Census. 

Clarity of Mission

Focus group members from counties both large and small said that the Census 

Bureau should do a better job to clarifying the mission of the CCC. “Is it about 

underrepresented populations? Is it everyone?” 

Leadership and Staff

Focus group members said that there needs to be buy-in from elected officials. 

To get that buy-in, they need to be educated about the census. It was 

recommended that an elected official serve as the chair of the CCC. However, it 

was also suggested that the role of elected officials should match what they do 

best. It was suggested that what they do best is work with the media and deliver 

resources to get things done. It was stated that often elected officials do not 

want to deal with details. 

For a CCC to be effective, someone needs to coordinate the efforts. In larger 

counties, this should be a dedicated person who can provide technical assistance. 

In smaller counties, it may mean a person with time to devote to the CCC to make 

it work. 

Composition

Depending on the characteristics of the county, the approach to composing a CCC 

can be very different. For example, in one county with many small communities, 

geographic representation was seen as the most important organizing element. 

For many other counties, representation was recommended from the following 

groups: 

Faith-based 

Business 

Ethnic groups 

Elected officials 
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To make the size of the CCC more manageable, it was suggested that individuals 

be selected for the CCC who can represent more than one constituency. For 

example, an individual may be selected because they can represent an ethnic 

group, a geographic area, and an organization. 

A focus group member suggested that it may be less important to select people 

by their characteristics than by their skills. Another suggested that the CCC 

include “different faces than the public sees all the time – they may stand out 

more and get more attention.” 

It was stressed that people have to be able to work together. “If we won’t get 

along in the kitchen, we won’t get along in the bedroom either,” is the way one 

focus group participant expressed it. He explained that unresolved issues 

between the county and Tribal governments unrelated to the census made it 

difficult for them to work together on the census. 

One approach suggested was to interview prospective CCC members to assess 

whether they will be cooperative and see the big picture. The goal is to select 

people who will engage others in their community. They must be “willing to step 

out of their box.” People who are trusted by their community are not necessarily 

the elected politicians. 

Some communities have leadership training programs. These offer pre-selected 

groups of individuals who understand the communities and can provide 

leadership. It was suggested that this may be a source from which to recruit CCC 

members. 

Subcommittees

Larger counties had larger CCCs with subcommittees. They recommended that 

subcommittees be organized around hard-to-count populations. One focus group 

member recommended subcommittees for hard-to-count, homeless populations, 

and ethnic groups. 

Timelines

Larger counties need longer time to plan for the census, compared to smaller 

counties. Larger counties also have more resources and are more willing to 

devote their resources to this effort over a longer period of time. 
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There was a high degree of consensus that the public involvement in the census 

should be not longer than one year. Most of this time should be for the CCC to 

receive training and plan their campaign, but the messages to the public should 

be delivered in a compressed time frame. “If you present the idea too early and 

too often, it makes people complacent and resentful.” It was suggested that a 60-

day, short intensive campaign would be more effective than a longer one. “With 

information overload in society, people tune out,” said one focus group 

participant. 

In addition to the timeline for CCC activities, the focus group discussed the need 

for on-going activities to raise the awareness of the value of the census. For 

example, there is an ongoing need to educate county commissioners about the 

importance of the census. This should be done by sharing census data and 

talking about how it is useful in land use planning and other activities. “By 

explaining the usefulness of census data, the value of the census works its way 

into people’s subconscious.” Another area recommended for ongoing activities is 

Census in the Schools. These types of activities should occur before the CCC is 

formed. The Census Bureau should also work with the Association of Counties to 

reach county elected officials and administrators. Working through these types of 

organizations will increase the credibility of the census among small, rural 

counties that currently regard it as a burden. 

Roles and Responsibilities of CCC Members 

(Question 4: What do you think should be the roles and responsibilities of CCC members?) 

Smaller counties often have a small number of employees whose job descriptions 

are fairly limited. These small counties may not have the staff who can be 

assigned to coordinate the CCC. Also, they may not have the resources to hire a 

coordinator. As a result, the small counties may have a volunteer coordinator and 

the CCC is expected to do more work. 

Larger counties are more likely to have paid CCC coordinators. They are able to 

have larger CCCs and can incorporate people who do not have time to be active. 

For example, one focus group member said that their county CCC had 60 

members and about 24 were active. 
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Elected officials have a special role in the CCCs. They can bring credibility to the 

process, chair the CCC, and motivate and empower community people. 

CCC members are expected to help recruit subcommittee members. Both the 

CCC members and the subcommittee members are expected to do outreach to 

various groups. 

CCC Activities 

(Question 5: Please share just one item that you added to the bottom of the list that you 

consider to be innovative activities. 

Question 6: What specific awareness, outreach and promotional activities can be planned 

with limited or no financial resources for 2010?)

Feedback about CCC activities was sought by asking focus group participants to 

rank activities and through further focus group discussions. Below is a summary 

of the results of the ranked activities and individual comments. 

Ranking List of Activities

Focus group participants were provided with a list of activities that were carried 

out by CCCs during Census 2000. They were asked to indicate the five most 

effective activities for their communities. 

The activities that received the most votes are: 

• Distribute census promotional materials in all government and community 

agencies that have public-contact services and programs. 

• Arrange to have census banners, posters, billboards, and benches in 

public places in the community. 

• Develop, produce and distribute public service announcements. 

• Encourage faith-based organizations to motivate participation in the 

census among their members by using census developed materials for 

faith-based organizations. 
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These activities received no votes: 

• Hold press conferences to talk about the importance of responding to the 

census. 

• Identify local sports and entertainment personalities to appear on local 

television and radio stations urging quick response to the census. 

• Recruit community leaders to organize a “telephone campaign” to be 

conducted throughout the community. 

Innovative Activities

In addition to the list of usual activities, focus group participants were asked to 

identify innovative activities undertaken by their rural CCC/county in Census 

2000. Four of the seven focus group participants could not identify any 

innovative activities by their counties. These are the innovative activities 

described by other focus group members: 

• A large county had eight subcommittees. Five of the subcommittees held 

huge events on April 1, “Census Day.” There was an American Indian PowWow, a “Day to be Recognized” sponsored by the Chinese Family Center, 

and a Latino Festival with music. Local funds were used as grants to 

community-based organizations to promote the census to historically 

undercounted populations. 

• Leaflets were printed and distributed to employers to put in paychecks. 

• A Hawaiian cultural group held a “Hula Day” and put census messages in 

coconut half shells which they distributed. 

Low or No Cost Activities

Below are comments from this group relating to low or no cost activities that 

worked for their communities. 

- The group talked about the importance of utilizing existing organizations 

and events. This worked for some counties where “there are parties every 

weekend” and “people like free things.” However, a person from an 
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agricultural county said that all the festivals are related to the harvest in 

the Fall and did not coincide with the time for the census. 

- Another type of existing structure identified is the committee structure for 

land use planning that can be tapped into for census outreach. 

- There was also discussion about the media. There was a general 

consensus that the radio is an effective media for rural counties. People 

said that it would be more effective for the Census Bureau to provide 

scripts and let local talent do the radio spots, rather than having “an 

announcement from the Secretary of Commerce.” One focus group 

participant recalled working with a local university to develop a television 

spot. 

- Some focus group participants felt that universities provided a source of 

volunteer labor for the CCCs. They are “hungry to throw people at you” for 

internships, said one participant. 

Orientation for CCC Members 

(Question 7: Do you feel an orientation or training session would be beneficial for CCC 

members for 2010?) 

Focus group members said that they needed technical assistance and education 

throughout the process, “not just dump and run.” Some people said that the 

Census Bureau needs to give direction to elected officials, because they will listen 

to the Census Bureau better than to their own staff. Others said that rural 

counties think that “federal programs don’t affect us.” 

Here are some of the topics that were suggested for orientation and training: 

• What is the CCC supposed to do? What outcome is expected? 

• How census data is used and where to find it? 

• Rural/County staff wants training in public relations, because many staff 

may not have those skills. It needs to be tailored to their situation. For 

example, there may be no local television or radio stations. 

• CCC members need training on how to “penetrate the community” to get 

the job done within the timeframe. 
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• Provide good examples, as well as examples of what not to do, and 

lessons learned. 

Orientation and training should be flexible and “not to prescriptive.” It was 

suggested that after there is an orientation, there should be a follow-up training 

session. People who come to the second session are more committed. 

Evaluation of CCC Handbooks 

(Question 8: How many of you saw the handbook during Census 2000? 

Question 9: Those of you who are raising your hands, did you find the handbook useful? 

Question 10: For all of you, what do you think of the handbook?) 

Six of the seven focus group participants indicated that they had seen the CCC 

Handbook during Census 2000. One person said that their county CCC used it to 

help decide about subcommittees and work plans. Another said it provided a 

broad understanding and what “staff wanted me to do.” Another said it was 

helpful as a guideline and suggested activities. 

The focus group had a number of suggestions to improve the handbook. These 

include: 

• Make it shorter – or make a shorter version for elected officials. A 

summary with large print was suggested. 

• Elected officials should receive it in the Fall of 2008 as they begin the 

process for the budget that will be finalized in June 2009. 

• The front cover is boring. A cover that is “too glossy” would be regarded 

as a waste of money. The title needs to speak to the intended outcome, 

with a slogan such as “A Day to be Counted.” 

• The design should be more appealing and readable, including pictures, 

bullets and headlines. It should explain “what you are asking me to do.” 

• Graphically and conceptually, the handbook should “hold people’s hands.” 

To build interest, it could include sealed envelopes with additional 

information. 
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• Handbooks need to be segmented to correspond to the size of the 

county/government. 

• Small counties need more guidance about how to recruit business 

participation in CCCs. 

• Include telephone numbers for contact people who will answer questions. 

There was extensive discussion about the problems of disseminating the CCC 

Handbook. When the top elected official receives a copy, they don’t know if they 

are getting something that everyone else is getting or if they are getting the only 

one. If they think that everyone else has it, they may be reluctant to pass it along 

to the people who need to see it. 

It was suggested that the chief administrator get it along with the top elected 

official. However, each of these individuals needs different kinds of information. 

The elected official needs a short version with information about the impact of 

the census to get their attention. The elected official needs something like a 

media kit, with “eye candy” and not too much detail. The administrator needs 

more technical information and a longer version is more appropriate for this 

individual. 

It was also suggested that a separate handbook should go to school district 

superintendents. Schools need to get it one year before the Census goes into the 

curriculum (i.e., 2008). 

Use of the Internet was considered preferable to other forms of dissemination 

because people can pick and choose the information that they need. It should 

increase access to the information and save money for the Census Bureau. 

Further more, counties can download scripts and other ideas and adapt materials 

to their local communities. 
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Assistance Needed from Census Bureau for CCCs 

(Question 11: In addition to the handbook, what other kinds of assistance do CCCs need 

from the Census Bureau staff in order to successfully plan and implement their activities?) 

The first thing that focus group participants said that counties needed from the 

Census Bureau was money. They said, “Counties do the same things as cities but 

with much less money.” 

Focus group members asked the Census Bureau to provide templates that they 

could adapt to meet their local needs. They suggested that the Census Bureau 

“empty out their warehouses” and put the materials to use. 

Focus group members said that they wanted the Census Bureau to come to 

meetings with the counties and answer questions before 2008 for the 2010 

Census. Larger counties had access to a lot of assistance from Partnership 

Specialists, but the people selected for those positions did not always understand 

the county government, the communities, and their needs. In the 2010 Census, 

they want the Census Bureau to hire people who worked on the 2000 census with 

experience, knowledge, and a more complete understanding of the process. 

There was a great deal of discussion about school districts. Often school districts 

are separate from city and county governments. The Census Bureau should 

consider school districts as a separate government entity. They need to be 

involved in the census for more reasons than inclusion of census materials in the 

school curriculum. In rural areas, the teachers are the educated part of the 

community and they are leaders in the community. One participant believed that 

teachers were perceived as a “big stumbling block” during Census 2000. The 

perception was that teachers tried to protect illegal immigrants and did not 

encourage parents of students to participate in the census. 

Alternative Methods of Communication 

(Question 12: Given that the Census Bureau staff member cannot attend every CCC meeting, 

what alternative methods of communication could substitute for the face-to-face meeting?) 

Focus group members said the Census Bureau should focus on county 

governments that did not have CCCs last time and help them get started. 
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There was consensus that the Internet should be used for communications and 

distribution of information. “Isn’t that automatic?” said one participant. Every 

participant said that they had access to computers and the Internet. They said 

that supplies should be ordered on-line. They said that it takes less time to 

communicate through e-mail than by telephone. 

It was suggested that the Census Bureau “deputize people” to act on their behalf 

to do orientations and training for the CCCs. Regional trainings were suggested 

using local people with experience coordinating successful CCCs. 

Another suggestion was monthly meetings with the Census Bureau and other 

counties in the area to share ideas. 

Names for the CCC 

(Exercise and Question 13: Would you prefer these suggestions, or do you think it is better 

to stick with the name “Complete Count Committee”?) 

Focus group members participated in an exercise in which they identified key 

words and arranged them to form alternative names for the CCC. 

Using these key words, they formed the following combinations for possible 

names: 

 

 Stand Up and Count 

 Up Funding 

Funding Together Partnership Important 

Funding Together Cooperation 

Funding Together Partnership 

Funding Together Collaborate 

Prepare Partnership Focus 

Collaborate Recognized 

Focused Relationship Contribute 

Most people thought that the Census Bureau should keep the name Complete 

Count Committee because local governments are just getting exposed to this 

name. However, they thought it should be built upon and “spiced up” by adding a 

slogan that is catchy and explains the mission. 
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Confidentiality 

(Question 14: How can the Census Bureau best communicate its commitment to 

confidentiality to respondents in a way that they can understand and believe?) 

The focus group identified issues that affect perceptions of confidentiality of 

census information. They said people think all of government is interconnected. 

Also, they believe that all government databases are interconnected. “They have 

computer systems that track everything, including what you buy,” said one 

participant. 

If the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) takes action at the same time 

that the census is occurring, then people assume that census information has 

been shared with the INS. To avoid this perception, the Census Bureau should 

work with INS to have a moratorium on INS activities during the census. The 

Census Bureau should make a clear statement that “People will not be reported to 

the INS.” One focus group participant questioned whether names have to be used 

to conduct the census. 

Focus group members said that the Census Bureau should use a “straightforward” 

approach and “be up front” about confidentiality issues. The focus group said 

that the Census Bureau should explain the penalties for violating confidentiality. 

They should cite court cases where the Census Bureau refused to release 

information. 

Utilizing Experienced CCCs to Assist New CCCs in 2010 

(Question 15: How can veteran CCCs best assist other CCCs who are considering 

participating or are participating for the first time?) 

The focus group participants suggested that the Census Bureau organize people 

from similar size counties to talk to one another. This could be done through 

regional meetings, or in conjunction with existing meetings, such as Planning 

District Commission meetings. The people with experience with CCCs could be 

invited to speak at those meetings. 

Another approach is to document examples of successful activities and lessons 

learned. 
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The U.S. Census Bureau, Partnership and Data Services, Field Division would like 

to thank all of the participants in the Complete Count Committee Focus Groups. 

They all provided valuable input that will assist the Census Bureau in developing a 

new and innovative Complete Count Committee Program for the 2010 Census. 

The Census Bureau looks forward to working closely with state, local, and tribal 

governments and community organizations on the Complete Count Committee 

Program for the next census. 

The information from this report will be used in the following ways: 

3⁄4 To motivate state, local, and tribal governments to participate in the CCC 

Program in 2010; 

3⁄4 To provide technical assistance and guidance to governments as they go 

through the CCC development and implementation process; 

3⁄4 To develop and implement a more targeted orientation/training program 

for CCCs; 

3⁄4 To help the Census Bureau develop a more realistic time line for planning 

and implementing CCC activities; 

3⁄4 To develop a more useful CCC Handbook and other support materials for 

use by governments; and 

3⁄4 To refine the dissemination process for the CCC Handbook and other 

materials. 

If you have any questions about this report or would like to request additional 

copies, please contact: 

Laura Sewell, Partnership and Data Services Staff, U.S. Census Bureau 

Phone: (301) 763-2032 

Email: Laura.A.Sewell@census.gov. 

Conclusion