The rate of response to the 2020 census in Canton Township has reached 75.4 percent, according to Amy Hughesdon, the township operations coordinator.
Hughesdon said that the self-response level in 2010 was 77.8 percent, although the total response rate in Canton in 2010 was 90 percent. Hughesdon explained that total was due to the field work done by census workers following the self-response effort.
She said she is hoping that the township will exceed that 90 percent compliance this year. Field work is expected to begin in October, she said, although she was unsure of the exact specifications of the effort this year.
“They have extended the self-response period through June so if anyone asks, they can still respond to the census online, by mail, or by phone. You can refer to Canton's Census page to answer questions -https://www.canton-mi.org/1276/US-Census. The timeline on the page will be adjusted to provide the new information we received about self-response extension and field visits,” Hughesdon said in a prepared statement.
“I am now working with the Census Bureau to get an idea of what areas of the community have low response rates. They have a mapping tool that is supposed to be easy to use, but apparently since we are a township the data is harder to get - they have promised to call me back once their IT department fixes the issue for townships. Please continue to spread the word and post about it, every little bit helps. We at least need another 2.4 percent,” she continued.
Hughesdon expressed her gratitude to those with whom she has spoken personally during the past three weeks in attempts to “use creative ways to spread the word.”
“The work you did as a result of those conversations increased our response by 7.5 percent,” she said.
