The response to the 2020 Census by citizens in Natchitoches Parish trails the rest of Louisiana. At present the parish response rate is 44.5%. The national response rate is 59.8% and Louisiana’s overall response rate is at 54.2%.
This information was supplied by M’Lissa Harkins Smith, Census partnership specialist in North Louisiana. Harkins works in the North Louisiana Census office in Shreveport. Smith is originally from Natchitoches.
Here is the current situation:
National Response Rate: 59.8%
Louisiana Response Rate: 54.2%
Natchitoches Parish Response Rate: 44.5%
Ashland: 15.2%
Campti: 34.1%
Clarence: 23.7%
Natchez: 17.6%
Powhatan: 9.4%
Provencal: 8.6%
Robeline: 17%
This week the census takers started going out to deliver census packets in rural areas. The packets have a code so that people won’t be double-counted. The code corelates to the person’s physical address, and not a post office box. Census workers are beginning the process of going out to all rural areas in Louisiana to get an accurate census count.
WE MUST DO BETTER
COMPLETE THE 2020 CENSUS HERE: https://my2020census.gov/
How do we know if they received it in the mail or not?
Wish I had a better answer for you, but the best I can offer is if you are not contacted soon then, yes, they have received your mail-in survey form. If for some reason it got lost in the mail then a representative from the Census Bureau will contact you and conduct the survey directly.
I looked on their website but didn’t see a link that allows you to type in your address and get a status report. The census is based on physical addresses.
Natchitoches Parish is below the state average, by 10% points, in completing the 2020 Census. It only takes a few minutes to complete the Census form. Doing poorly on responding to the Census will have repercussions for the parish. It will ultimately cost us money in the form of grants from the state and federal government for such things as roads, schools, environmental programs, etc… Yes, the parish can and will apply for these grants and apply for other programs. All such applications are judged on their merits and many are competitive. But, should the parish win such a grant the amount of the award is partially determined by POPULATION! Parishes with 100,000+ people get larger grants than smaller parishes since it is determined that more people (taxpayers, VOTERS) are impacted.
Most awards have a formula that includes the population count, always based on the most recent Census data. It would serve Natchitoches better if that number is the true 38,000+ vs. a lesser number. Now, some people will immediately want to know “What grants!?” Well, on the Census Bureau’s website it states that 132 programs use population as part of determining how much the recipient will receive.
From the website:
The Highway Planning and Construction Program also relies on annually updated Census population estimates to distribute funding for the National Highway System, a major transportation initiative. Funds support the planning, construction, and maintenance of highways and bridges. Funding depends on annual census population estimates, as well as the classification of urban and rural areas, which also depend on decennial census population counts.
Bottom line is this…Natchitoches Parish will not be helping itself to under-report its population. Take a few minutes and complete the 2020 Census.
Thanks.
Thank you, Jim, for much-needed info. Hope this inspires more people to fill out that little form.