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. 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.