How America Knows What America Needs! Something big is coming! The questions asked represent the best balance between your community's needs and our commitment to reduce the time and effort it takes you to fill out the form. A census is only as good as the people who participate in it. Census 2000 Will Be the Largest Peacetime Effort in the History of the United States. Hundreds of thousands of census takers and support personnel will be needed to account for the anticipated 118 million housing units and 275 million people across the United States. But it isn't its size that makes Census 2000 important. It is all the things that we will learn about ourselves that will help America succeed in the next millennium. The census is as important to our nation as highways and telephone lines. Federal dollars supporting schools, employment services, housing assistance, highway construction, hospital services, programs for the elderly and more are distributed based on census figures. Your Answers Are Important. About a week before Census Day-April 1, 2000-most households will receive a questionnaire by mail. Census takers will deliver forms to the remaining households. The Census 2000 questionnaire will be easy to read and simple to fill out. The Census 2000 questionnaire that most people will get will ask about only seven subjects: name, sex, age, relationship, Hispanic origin, race and housing tenure (whether home is owned or rented.) Nationwide, five out of six housing units will receive this short form. It will be the shortest short form in 180 years! The longer form will ask about the same seven subjects plus 27 more, including education, ancestry, employment, disability and house heating fuel. One out of six housing units will receive a long form nationwide. In some rural areas, as many as every other housing unit may receive this long form - because a larger sample is needed to ensure that these towns and counties get the same detailed information as more densely populated areas. This Is Your Future. Don't Leave It Blank. Census 2000 will help decision-makers understand which neighborhoods need new schools and which ones need greater services for the elderly. But they won't be able to tell what your community needs if you and your neighbors don't fill out your census forms and mail them back. Once the U.S. Census Bureau receives your questionnaire, our work has only begun. If the questionnaire is incomplete, a census employee must contact you to obtain the missing information. Then the answers on your questionnaire are combined. It is these combined numbers-not your individual answers-that are published and put to work for your community. Your participation in Census 2000 is important, safe and easy. Just complete the form and mail it back. Your Anwers Work for You. * The federal government uses census numbers to allocate over $100 billion in federal funds annually for community programs,and services including education programs, housing and community development, health-care services for the elderly, job training and many more. * State, local and tribal governments use census information for planning and allocating funds for new school construction, public buildings such as libraries, highway safety and public transportation systems, new roads and bridges, location of police and fire departments and many other projects. * Community organizations use census information for developing social service programs, community action projects, senior lunch programs and child-care centers. * Businesses use the numbers to decide where to locate factories, shopping centers, movie theaters, banks and offices-leading to the creation of jobs in your area. * The U.S. Congress uses the census totals to determine how many seats your state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. Likewise, states use the numbers to allocate seats in their legislatures. The Law Protects Your Privacy. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share your answers with others, including welfare agencies, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Internal Revenue Service, courts, police and the military. Anyone who breaks this law can receive up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines. The law works-millions of questionnaires were processed during the 1990s without any breach of trust. The Census Bureau Can Help You Participate. * To help you fill out your census questionnaire, Questionnaire Assistance Centers will open in your community. * To answer your questions, a toll-free telephone number will be provided on the form. * To make sure you're included, we'll make additional forms available to people who did not receive one in the mail. For additional information about Census 2000, visit the Census Bureau's Internet site at http://www.census.gov or call one of our Regional Census Centers across the country: Atlanta 404-331-0573 Boston 617-424-4977 Charlotte 704-344-6624 Chicago 312-353-9759 Dallas 214-655-3060 Denver 303-231-5029 Detroit 248-967-9524 Kansas City 816-801-2020 Los Angeles 818-904-6522 New York City 2l2-620-7702 or 212-620-7703 Philadelphia 215-597-8312 Seattle 206-553-5882 U.S. Department of Commerce An Equal Opportunity Employer Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau BUREAU OF THE CENSUS D-3240 (Rev. 10-99)