2010 Census: Communications Campaign Has Potential to Boost Participation
Published: 2009-03-23T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: A complete and accurate census is becoming an increasingly daunting task, in part because the nation's population is growing larger, more diverse, and more reluctant to participate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau). When the census misses a person who should have been included, it results in an undercount, and the differential impact on various subpopulations, such as minorities, is particularly problematic. This testimony provides an update on the Bureau's readiness to implement its Integrated Communications Campaign, one of several efforts aimed at reducing the undercount. GAO focused on the campaign's key components: partnerships with local and national organizations, paid advertising and public relations, and Census in Schools (designed to reach parents and guardians through their school-age children). GAO also discusses the extent to which the rollout of the campaign is consistent with factors important for greater accountability and successful results. This testimony is based on previously issued work, ongoing reviews of relevant documents, and interviews with key Bureau officials.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: The Bureau has made notable progress in rolling out key components of its communications campaign; if implemented as planned, the campaign will help position the Bureau to address the undercount. For example, to help promote the census and convince individuals--especially hard-to-count groups--to respond, the Bureau plans to partner with state, local, and tribal governments; religious, community, and social service organizations; and private businesses to secure a more complete count. According to the Bureau, it has thus far secured partnership agreements with more than 10,000 organizations for 2010. The Bureau intends to focus its efforts on hard-to-count communities using data from the 2000 Census, and additional funding made available from the recently enacted economic recovery legislation will enable the Bureau to greatly expand staffing for the partnership program. Future success will depend in part on how well the Bureau communicates with partners and incorporates other best practices from 2000, as well as on how well it monitors the progress of the partnership efforts and whether it uses results-oriented measures so as to deploy resources as needed. The Bureau updated its paid media and public relations strategy from 2000 to meet a changing media environment and plans to focus its efforts on hard-to-count populations. In addition to traditional outlets such as television and radio, the Bureau also intends to employ on line media, such as podcasts and blogs. Currently, the Bureau plans to devote 55 percent of its advertising resources to national media, which provides the broadest reach, and 45 percent to local media, which better targets specific hard-to-count communities. The Bureau has also completed research on factors affecting census participation, which could help the Bureau address the long-standing issue of converting awareness of the census into actual participation. The Census in Schools program is also moving forward. Like the other components of the communications campaign, the Bureau plans to target its efforts to those schools where data from the 2000 Census suggest that the program will have the most impact: school districts in hard-to-count communities and kindergarten through 8th grade. In general, the design of the Bureau's communications campaign appears to be comprehensive, integrated, shaped by the Bureau's experience in the 2000 Census, and targeted to hard-to-count populations. The programs GAO reviewed are in the planning or early implementation phases, and future success will depend on how well the Bureau moves from the design to operational phases. Further, while the extra money the Bureau received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will help augment its outreach efforts, it does not necessarily follow that additional activity will yield higher response rates. Therefore, consistent with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the Bureau will need to identify, among other things, (1) cost estimates of the activities being funded, (2) the objectives and outcome-related goals of the planned spending, and (3) how the spending will help achieve those goals.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the U.S. Census  Bureau’s (Bureau) efforts to improve participation and reduce the  undercount in the next national headcount. As you know, the census is  mandated by the U.S. Constitution and provides data that are vital to the  nation. These data are used, for example, to apportion and redistrict the  seats of the U.S. House of Representatives, realign the boundaries of the  legislative districts of each state, and allocate federal financial assistance.
Counting everyone in a country as large and diverse as the United States is  a significant challenge, in part because people are becoming increasingly  difficult to find and reluctant to respond to the census. When the census  misses a person who should have been included, it results in an  undercount; an overcount occurs when an individual is counted in error.  Such errors are particularly problematic because of their differential  impact on various subgroups. Minorities, renters, and children, for  example, are more likely to be undercounted by the census while more  affluent groups, such as people with vacation homes, are more likely to be  enumerated more than once.
To help reduce the undercount for the 2010 Census, the Bureau developed  the Integrated Communications Campaign aimed at hard-to-count  populations. Its components include partnerships with government,  private sector, social service, and other organizations; paid advertising;  public relations; and Census in Schools (a program designed to reach  parents and guardians through their school-age children). Funding for the  communications campaign received a substantial boost under the recently  enacted economic stimulus legislation. The conference report  accompanying this legislation provided “up to $250,000,000 shall be for  partnership and outreach efforts to minority communities and hard-to- reach populations,” a 61 percent increase over the $410 million the Bureau  had originally budgeted for its communications effort.
Importantly, the communications campaign is just one example of the  tremendous effort the Bureau puts forth to improve participation and help  reduce the undercount. Other activities include building a complete and  accurate address list, using special enumeration programs, and offering  language assistance guides in 59 languages.
Although the Bureau has made considerable progress in gearing up its  communications campaign for the 2010 Census, encouraging traditionally  hard-to-count populations, such as minorities, renters, and linguistically  isolated households, will be difficult. Besides such long-standing  challenges as the nation’s cultural diversity, the Bureau also faces newly  emerging issues, such as local anti-illegal immigration campaigns and a  post-September 11 environment that could heighten some groups’ fears of  government agencies. At the same time, the Bureau’s communications  campaign must not only raise public awareness of the census, it must also  motivate people to respond—a far thornier task.
At your request, this statement focuses on the Bureau’s readiness to  reduce the undercount through its Integrated Communications Campaign,  paying particular attention to the partnership, paid advertising and public  relations, and Census in Schools programs. We will also discuss the extent  to which the rollout of the campaign is consistent with various factors that  we believe will result in greater accountability and more successful  results. These factors include the extent to which the various components  of the communications campaign (1) were informed by lessons learned  from the 2000 Census and other evaluations, (2) are implemented on  schedule, (3) receive appropriate funding and staffing, and (4) are targeted  to where they are most needed. Likewise, it will be important for the  Bureau to have the ability to monitor response rates and other  developments at the national and local levels, and to quickly deploy  components of the campaign as needed to address contingencies that  could undermine the completeness and accuracy of the count.
My testimony today is based on our ongoing and recently completed work  (please see the Related GAO Products section at the end of this statement  for a list of products we have issued on the Bureau’s efforts to reach hard- to-enumerate populations). To review the readiness of the Bureau’s  communications campaign, we analyzed planning, funding, and progress  reports. We also interviewed Bureau officials responsible for designing  and implementing the communications program. This work was  conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing  standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to  obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for  our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe  that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings  and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
In summary, the Bureau has made notable progress in rolling out key  components of its communications campaign, and if implemented as  planned, it will help position the Bureau to address the undercount. For  example, the Bureau’s plans reflect some key lessons learned from the  2000 Census, and the economic stimulus package makes more money  available to the Bureau than what it had originally planned to spend.
The programs we reviewed are mainly in the planning or early  implementation stages; therefore, moving forward, it will be important for  the Bureau and Congress to continue to monitor the campaign’s rollout to  ensure that it proceeds as planned. Further, while the extra funds available  to the Bureau under the economic stimulus legislation will help the Bureau  expand its outreach efforts, it does not necessarily follow that increased  funding will affect response behavior. As a result, and consistent with the  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, it will be important for  the Bureau to develop a spending plan for the money, identifying, among  other things, (1) cost estimates of the activities being funded, (2) the  objectives and outcome-related goals of the planned spending, and   (3) how the spending will effectively achieve those goals.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: Although the Bureau goes to great lengths to conduct an accurate count,  some degree of coverage error in the form of persons missed or counted  more than once is inevitable. Historically, undercounts have plagued the  census, although Bureau efforts to evaluate count accuracy have indicated  that undercounts have generally diminished since 1940. For the 2000  Census, for the first time in its history, the Bureau reported a slight net  overcount of approximately 0.5 percent or about 1.3 million people.  However, as shown in figure 1, coverage errors are not always evenly  distributed through the population. For example, the Bureau reported an  overcount of non-Hispanic Whites, and an undercount of non-Hispanic  Blacks. Figure 1 also shows how the Bureau made strides in reducing the  undercount in the 2000 Census compared to 1990.
Participation in the census, as measured by the mail return rate, also  affects the accuracy of census data. The Bureau calculates mail return  rates as the percentage of questionnaires the Bureau receives from  occupied housing units in the mail-back universe. Although the Bureau  attempts to count individuals who fail to mail back their census forms  during a subsequent operation called nonresponse follow-up, high mail  return rates are critical to quality data. A Bureau evaluation of the 2000  Census found that questionnaires returned by mail tend to be more  accurate than those obtained during nonresponse follow-up. Higher mail  return rates also help save considerable taxpayer dollars, since a  questionnaire returned by mail obviates the need for enumerators to make  costly in-person visits to households to collect information.
The Bureau designed its Integrated Communications Campaign to help  increase census participation. The campaign’s objectives are to raise the  mail response rate, reduce the workload in follow-up operations, and  improve cooperation with enumerators. Combined these efforts could help  reduce the undercount and thus enhance the overall accuracy of the  census.
In September 2007, the Bureau awarded its communications contract to  DraftFCB, a communications firm that will orchestrate its key  components. The campaign includes the following milestones (see table  1).
DraftFCB delivered its final communications plan, which includes a  specific focus on undercounted populations, in December 2008. As one  example, the contractor worked with the Bureau to segment the  population into distinct groups or “clusters” using socioeconomic,  demographic, and other data from the 2000 Census that are correlated  with a person’s likelihood to participate in the census. Each cluster was  given a hard-to-count score, and the Bureau’s communications efforts are  to be targeted to those clusters with the highest scores. The four clusters  with the highest hard-to-count scores made up 14 percent of the nation’s  occupied housing units based on data from the 2000 Census, and included  the following demographic characteristics: renters, immigrants, non- English speakers, persons without higher education, persons receiving  public assistance, and persons who are unemployed.
The campaign strategy will be based on the theme “It’s in Our Hands” and  will target the clusters mentioned above. According to the Bureau, this  approach reflects a marketplace trend where communications are  becoming more two-way or participatory, and can be seen, for example, in  people creating their own content on the World Wide Web. The goal of the  strategy is to encourage personal ownership and involvement that spreads  the word about the census. Further, the generic theme will be tailored to  specific groups. For example, outreach targeted to families might carry the  message, “The education of our children. It’s in our hands,” while the  economically disadvantaged might receive, “The power to matter. It’s in  our hands.”
Although the effects of the Bureau’s communication efforts are difficult to  measure, the Bureau reported some positive results from its 2000 Census  marketing efforts with respect to raising awareness of the census. For  example, four population groups—non-Hispanic Blacks, non-Hispanic  Whites, Asians, and Native Hawaiians—indicated that they were more  likely to return the census form after the 2000 Census partnership and  marketing program than before its onset. However, a Bureau evaluation  demonstrated a limited linkage between the partnership and marketing  efforts and improvements in actual census mail return behavior for these  or other groups. Put another way, while the Bureau’s marketing activities  might raise awareness of the census, a remaining challenge is motivating a  specific behavior, namely completing and returning a census  questionnaire.
section_title: Key Practices Are Helping to Enhance the Effectiveness of the Partnership Program
paragraphs: To help promote the census and convince people to respond, the Bureau  plans to partner with state, local, and tribal governments; religious,  community, and social service organizations; and private businesses. The  program stems from the Bureau’s recognition that “trusted voices”  representing organizations with high credibility in a particular community  could help convince otherwise reluctant individuals to participate in the  census. According to the Bureau, it partnered with around 140,000  organizations during the 2000 Census.
The program will be implemented largely by partnership specialists who  are to reach out to key government and community leaders and gain their  commitment to support the census. Other partnership staff include graphic  designers, media specialists, and clerical employees. The Bureau had  initially planned to hire 680 partnership staff for the 2010 Census, and  achieved that level in January 2009. However, the American Recovery and  Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided additional funding that allowed for the  Bureau to hire around 2,000 additional partnership staff, and the Bureau  plans to ramp up to this new level by June 2009. By comparison, for the  2000 Census, the Bureau hired around 600 partnership staff. The additional  staffing levels will help the Bureau better support the partners’ efforts, and  help address concerns expressed by some local census office managers  following the 2000 Census that the partnership specialists were spread too  thin.
According to the Bureau, it will allocate the partnership staff among and  within the Bureau’s 12 regions using a formula that incorporates the hard- to-count score, as well as other data, including population size, geographic  information, language needs, and local knowledge. Officials emphasized  that they are using census data to focus resources on hard-to-count  populations.
In our previous work, we highlighted best practices for both the Bureau  and partners that appeared to be key to successful engagements. In  addition to these best practices we also included several  recommendations aimed at making the partnership program more  accountable and performance-oriented—all of which the Bureau  implemented. Best practices for partners outlined in our previous work  include (1) identifying “census champions” or advocates who will actively  support the census and encourage others to do so, (2) integrating census- related efforts into partners’ existing activities and events, and (3)  leveraging resources by working with other partners and customizing  census promotional materials to better resonate with local populations.  Best practices for the Bureau include (1) providing adequate and timely  information, guidance, and other resources to local partners on how they  can support the census; (2) maintaining open communication with  partners; and (3) encouraging the early involvement of partners in census  activities.
While it is premature to obtain a complete picture of how our best  practices have been used thus far, to date it appears that the Bureau has  incorporated some of the best practices we identified in the design and  early implementation of the 2010 program. For example, with respect to  obtaining early involvement of partners, the Bureau hired a core of 120  partnership staff in mid-2008 who, among other activities, secured early  commitments with state, local, and tribal governments; as well as with  various community organizations. The Bureau reports that it has obtained  partnership agreements with over 10,000 organizations as of February  2009.
Moreover, as noted above, according to the Bureau, the full complement  of 2,680 partnership staff should be aboard by June 2009. By comparison,  for the 2000 Census, the full complement of partnership staff—around a  third of the roughly 600 hired—did not come aboard until fiscal year 2000,  with just a few months remaining until census day. The near quadrupling  of the planned size of the partnership staff could help the Bureau expand  its outreach efforts. However, it will be important for the Bureau to have  in place the appropriate management infrastructure to hire, train,  organize, deploy, and supervise the additional personnel, as well as to  ensure that guidance, information, and other material provided to partners  are communicated in a clear and coordinated manner.
In addition to the paper-based promotional materials that will be available  for use by all partners through Bureau staff, the Bureau plans to use the  Internet to better communicate with partners and disseminate material  and information. The Bureau expects this to be a significant enhancement  and far more efficient than the strategy employed in 2000, which relied  solely on paper-based mailings and hand-delivery of materials. For  example, the Bureau plans to mass e-mail newsletters and other  information to partners, and has set up a “partnership and  communications area” on its Web site. Partners can use this portal to  receive updates and the latest program information. Likewise, Bureau staff  can use the Internet to contact and provide newsletters, promotional  materials and other forms of information to national organizations directly  rather than through a contractor as was done in 2000. The Bureau expects  that national organizations will in turn share the information and materials  with their local affiliates.
At the same time, if the Bureau shifts too much responsibility for sharing  and reproducing materials to its partners, the partners could see it as a  burden akin to an unfunded mandate. Indeed, local groups may not have  the budget, staff, or time to execute the Bureau’s partnership efforts. The  Bureau received this type of feedback from small rural counties following  the 2000 Census.
Importantly, the Bureau will need timely information to track and monitor  progress of partnership activities. For 2010, the Bureau introduced a new  system, the Integrated Partner Contact Database to track and monitor  activities of partner organizations. The database became available in  January 2009 and, according to the Bureau, includes real-time information  on the number of partner organizations, populations served,  demographics, value added contributions, and constituent reach. The  Bureau believes this will enable it to evaluate the partnerships in real time  and redirect or reallocate staff as needed. Bureau officials have noted that  the 2010 partnership tracking system is an improvement over the 2000  system, which was cumbersome and not user-friendly.
That said, as the Bureau monitors the progress of the partnership efforts, it  will be important for the Bureau to develop specific performance metrics  linked to the goals of the partnership program and the census itself. In  contrast, according to a former senior Bureau official who was responsible  for the 2000 partnership program, success was based more on the number  of partnership agreements secured rather than the quality of work the  partners performed.
section_title: The Bureau Updated Its Paid Media and Public Relations Strategy to Meet a Changing Media Environment
paragraphs: The Bureau will use numerous paid media sources, such as TV, radio, the  Internet, and magazines, to reach individuals from all clusters and ethnic  audiences. The Bureau plans to devote 55 percent of its advertising  resources to national media, which provide the broadest reach, and 45  percent to local media, which better target specific hard-to-count  communities. The role of the public relations effort, which is to include  news releases, media briefings, special events, podcasts, and blogs, is to  support all aspects of the census.
Bureau officials indicated that technological changes and society’s  evolving media habits prompted the Bureau to update media strategies  employed in 2000 so as to be effective for 2010. For example, there is far  greater access to the Internet, social networks, blogs, satellite radio,  podcasts and Web-enabled phones than in 2000; some of these did not  exist at all. The Bureau believes these new forms of digital media  represent new ways to educate the public about the census. Last fall, the  Bureau completed market research to gain an understanding of people’s  feelings about the census and the factors that inspire or hinder  participation. According to the Bureau, the research will help it determine  which communication medium works best for different ethnic groups.
The Bureau will also retain greater control of its paid advertisements so  that they can be shared with other organizations. In 2000, a number of  entities, such as state and local governments and private organizations,  wanted to use census ads but were unable to because the Bureau only  retained limited use of its licensed advertising content. As a result, ads  with similar content had to be purchased by partners for their use.
Additionally, the Bureau plans to create some of its informational material,  including posters, flyers, and brochures, as electronic templates. This will  enable the Bureau’s 12 regional offices to easily change out photos and  languages that better suit a particular area. Partnership materials are to be  available in 19 languages and advertising materials are to be available in 14  languages.
One of the Bureau’s recent challenges is getting promotional materials  developed and distributed to regions. The Bureau has experienced delays  in procurements for its promotional items because it is encountering  difficulty in identifying small and minority-owned businesses that have the  capacity to produce large quantities of printed materials. The Bureau is  revising its plans and noted that the delays have not significantly affected  its ability to deliver promotional materials to regional staff.
section_title: Census in Schools Program Will Be Targeted toward Younger Students
paragraphs: The goal of the Census in Schools program is to improve participation in  the census by giving the schools lesson plans and teaching materials to  support existing curricula so that (1) the students can be introduced to the  purpose and importance of the census, and (2) the students will take home  information about the census. The Bureau believes that weaving  information about the census as well as census data into lesson plans  helps get the message home to parents and guardians that answering the  census is important and confidential.
For the 2010 Census, the Bureau plans to reduce the Census in Schools  budget because they believe they can leverage materials developed in 2000  and better target its efforts to students. In 2000, the Census in Schools  budget was $17 million, and for 2010, the Bureau plans to spend $11.3  million. According to Bureau officials, the reduced funding will not  significantly affect the program since the Bureau will use previously  developed materials thereby saving on development costs and making  more of the materials available electronically through the Bureau’s Web  site rather than providing printed copies. Similar to what was noted  earlier, however, the level of resources schools may need to disseminate  material is not clear, and it will be important that the schools do not  perceive this approach as an economic burden.
For 2010, the Bureau has contracted with Scholastic Publishing to develop  lesson plans for schools nationwide. According to Bureau officials some  stakeholders have expressed concern because the program is not as  extensive as it was in 2000. However, the Bureau reduced the goal of the  number of participating schools based on its conclusion following the 2000  census that the program is most effective and receives the greatest return  on investment in hard-to-count areas and with younger grades  (kindergarten through 8th).
section_title: Stimulus Funds Provide Additional Money for Outreach to Hard-to-Count Populations, but Planning Is Not Yet Complete
paragraphs: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $1 billion  in funding for the 2010 Decennial Census. The conference report  accompanying this legislation, directed the Bureau to spend up to $250  million for the partnership program and outreach to “minority  communities and hard-to-reach populations.” As noted above, the Bureau  has said that it will use the stimulus funds to recruit as many as 2,000  additional partnership staff this year (costing around $120 million) and  expand advertising, especially in areas with historically low mail response  rates (costing around $100 million). The Bureau is making plans for how to  allocate the remaining funding.
To date, a fraction of the money for the communications campaign has  been obligated; as of February 28, 2009, the Bureau reported obligating $48  million out of the $216 million to be spent for this campaign. According to  Bureau officials, the funds have been obligated for a variety of  communications activities, including research initiatives such as the  Census Barriers, Attitudes and Motivator Surveys; promotional materials  for partnership specialists and regions; and Census in Schools.
section_title: Concluding Observations
paragraphs: The design of the Bureau’s communications campaign appears to be  comprehensive and integrated. Further, the Bureau generally appears to  be addressing some of the factors that will be important for success,  including (1) incorporating lessons learned from 2000 and (2) targeting  resources to where they are most needed. The Bureau also plans to track  response rates in 2010 and quickly deploy resources to those areas in need  of a boost. If each of the various components of the communications  campaign is implemented as planned, they will help position the Bureau to  improve participation in the census and address the differential  undercount.
Importantly, however, the various programs we examined are generally in  the planning or early implementation stages. While the communications  campaign has made important steps forward, considerable work lies  ahead in moving from the planning to the operational phases. Further,  while money from the economic stimulus package could help augment  marketing of the census, less clear is the extent to which these additional  funds will improve response behavior or which component of the  campaign will yield the best results.
Moving forward, to help ensure a more accountable and results-oriented  communications campaign, it will be important for the Bureau to continue  to apply lessons learned from the 2000 Census to the implementation of  the 2010 communications effort, as well as develop and meet specific  performance goals. Moreover, consistent with the American Recovery and  Reinvestment Act, it will be important for the Bureau to first develop a  spending plan for the money it receives under the act, identifying, among  other things, (1) cost estimates of the activities being funded, (2) the  objectives and outcome-related goals of the planned spending, and (3)  how the spending will help achieve those goals.
As always, we will continue to track the implementation of the Bureau’s  communications campaign as well as other key census-taking operations  on behalf of Congress, and provide Congress with regular updates.
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, this concludes my  prepared statement. I would be happy to respond to any questions you  may have.
section_title: Contacts and Acknowledgements
paragraphs: If you have any questions on matters discussed in this testimony, please  contact Robert Goldenkoff at (202) 512-2757 or at goldenkoffr@gao.gov.  Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public  Affairs may be found on the last page of this statement. Other key  contributors to this testimony include Ronald Fecso, Chief Statistician;  Signora May, Assistant Director; Thomas Beall; Steven J. Berke; Richard  Hung; Andrea Levine; Catherine Myrick; and Timothy Wexler.
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: 2010 Census: Fundamental Building Blocks of a Successful  Enumeration Face Challenges. GAO-09-430T. Washington, D.C.: March 5,  2009.  2010 Census: Little Time Remains to Address Operational Challenges.  GAO-09-408T. Washington, D.C.: March 5, 2009.  2010 Census: Census Bureau Needs Procedures for Estimating the  Response Rate and Selecting for Testing Methods to Increase Response  Rate. GAO-08-1012. Washington, D.C.: September 30, 2008.  2010 Census: The Bureau’s Plans for Reducing the Undercount Show  Promise, but Key Uncertainties Remain. GAO-08-1167T. Washington,  D.C.: September 23, 2008.  2010 Census: Bureau Needs to Specify How It Will Assess Coverage  Follow-up Techniques and When It Will Produce Coverage Measurement  Results. GAO-08-414. Washington, D.C.: April 15, 2008.  2010 Census: Diversity in Human Capital, Outreach Efforts Can Benefit  the 2010 Census. GAO-07-1132T. Washington, D.C.: July 26, 2007.  2010 Census: Census Bureau Has Improved the Local Update of Census  Addresses Program, but Challenges Remain. GAO-07-736. Washington,  D.C.: June 14, 2007.
Decennial Census: Lessons Learned for Locating and Counting Migrant  and Seasonal Farm Workers. GAO-03-605. Washington, D.C.: July 3, 2003.
Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Data on the  Homeless and Others without Conventional Housing Need Refinement.  GAO-03-227. Washington, D.C.: January 17, 2003.
Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Hispanic  Subgroup Data Need Refinement. GAO-03-228. Washington, D.C.: January  17, 2003.  2000 Census: Review of Partnership Program Highlights Best Practices  for Future Operations. GAO-01-579. Washington, D.C.: August 20, 2001.
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