Nearly 500 census-help offices will open statewide this week

Article by: Star Tribune
Updated: March 16, 2010 - 8:24 PM

With representation in Congress and federal aid at stake, Minnesota officials are launching a campaign to encourage and help people fill out the census forms that have started arriving in people's mailboxes.

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As census forms have started landing in Americans' mailboxes, Minnesota officials are gearing up to help the state's residents fill them out.

The state's Department of Administration will open hundreds of centers Friday, which will field residents' questions and hand out replacement forms.

Altogether, 222 assistance centers will be available to help people complete the forms. An additional 245 locations, called Be Counted Centers, will provide replacement forms.

Guides to the census will be provided in 59 languages, along with large-print forms and devices for people with visual and hearing impairments. The centers also will provide reading and comprehension assistance to individuals needing help.

State officials have been aggressively pushing Minnesotans to fill out census forms, largely because Minnesota is teetering on the edge of losing one of the eight U.S. House seats it has held since the 1960s. Population totals derived from the census are used to apportion House districts.

Census data also are used to determine how nearly $400 billion is distributed annually for 170 federal programs; a city stands to lose $1 million over the next decade for every 100 residents not counted, the Census Bureau estimates.

The help centers can be found on an interactive online map at www.mn2010census.org.

BOB VON STERNBERG