Decennial Census: Methods for Collecting and Reporting Data on the Homeless and Others without Conventional Housing Need Refinement

Highlights

The Bureau of the Census partnered with local governments, advocacy groups, and other organizations to help it enumerate people without conventional housing. Counting this population--which includes shelter residents and the homeless--has been a longstanding challenge for the Bureau. A number of organizations put substantial resources into an operation the Bureau called Service-Based Enumeration. In return, some expected the Bureau to provide data that would help them plan and deliver employment, health, and other services. However, the Bureau did not release the data as planned, which raised questions about the Bureau's decision-making on data quality issues. In response to a congressional request, GAO examined the Bureau's decision-making process behind its change in plans.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Commerce	To ensure that the 2010 Census will provide public data users with more complete, accurate, and useful information on the segment of the population without conventional housing, the Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Bureau of the Census to ensure that all procedures for enumerating and estimating segments of the population without conventional housing are properly tested and evaluated under conditions as similar to the census as possible.	Closed – Implemented The Bureau agreed with the recommendation. The Bureau has initiated development of research and testing plans for enumeration of persons without conventional housing in the 2010 decennial census. The Bureau noted that, although it is not possible to replicate fully the environment and conditions of an actual census, it will use site tests and special-purpose tests to approximate these conditions. It will conduct site tests in 2004, 2006 and a dress rehearsal in 2008. Plans for research on and testing of enumeration methods for persons without conventional housing are still being developed. The development of the enumeration methods for this segment of the population will rely on a combination of focus groups, special purpose tests, and the 2006 site test. The Census Bureau will provide regular updates about these activities to GAO.
Department of Commerce	To ensure that the 2010 Census will provide public data users with more complete, accurate, and useful information on the segment of the population without conventional housing, the Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Bureau of the Census to develop agencywide guidelines for Bureau decisions on the level of quality needed to release data to the public, how to characterize any limitations in the data, and when it is acceptable to suppress the data for reasons other than protecting the confidentiality of respondents; and ensure that these guidelines are documented, transparent, clearly defined, and consistently applied.	Closed – Implemented The Census Bureau concurred with the recommendation. In response, the Associate Director for Methodology and Standards, the Chairperson of the Census Bureau's Methodology and Standards Council, formed the Inter-Directorate Quality Framework Standards Working Group to examine this issue and develop/codify guidelines as recommended. The Working Group's guidelines, "Dissemination of Census and Survey Data Products", became effective on May 19, 2005.
Department of Commerce	To ensure that the 2010 Census will provide public data users with more complete, accurate, and useful information on the segment of the population without conventional housing, the Secretary of Commerce should direct the Director of the Bureau of the Census to ensure that the Bureau's plans for releasing data are clearly and consistently communicated with the public.	Closed – Implemented The Bureau agreed with the recommendation. It developed plans for outreach and communication efforts to involve the relevant public not only in the development of enumeration methods, but also in plans for tabulation and release of counts of persons without conventional housing. The Bureau will work extensively with advocates and service providers throughout the decade to review evaluations from the 2000 census and begin developing the research and testing efforts for the 2010 census.