The Salvation Army vs. The Census Bureau
On Friday, MyTwoCensus obtained a Salvation Army directive (click HERE for it) that details the circumstances in which the religious/charitable organization will and will not be cooperating with the Census Bureau. Highlights from the directive are as follows:
- Census takers will not be permitted to visit “group quarters” like Adult Rehabilitation Centers, Harbor Light Centers, transient lodges, residential facilities for children, and other temporary housing facilities “such as shelters for men, women, or families, in which the confidentiality of the beneficiaries is important to, and maintained by, the Salvation Army.”
- Though the Census Bureau wants to count individuals at “soup kitchens” and mobile food vans, the Salvation Army will NOT allow the Census Bureau to enter such facilities due to confidentiality concerns. Census-takers will be directed to contact the Salvation Army’s national headquarters and/or their legal counsel.
Tags: census takers, children, directive, enumeration, Group Quarters, homeless, mobile van, rehab, Rehabilitiation Centers, Salvation Army, shelter, shelters, temporary housing, transient, transients
March 6th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Wowser! SalArmy, what a way to look out for your clients’ best interests.
March 7th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
This is too much gotcha journalism on your part. If you read the Salvation Army letter, their group quarters population is being enumerated and in non-group quarters Salvation Army housing, the Census Bureau enumerators will have access to these units just like they would in a neighborhood.
How do you think university dorms are enumerated? The Census Bureau does not traipse up and down the halls of dormitories doing follow up of dorm residents. But, maybe you should sensationalize how university dorm residents are covered:
NRFU enumerators denied access to dorms
Forms not mailed to dorm residents on March 15th
March 8th, 2010 at 4:47 am
I’m wondering how this is “gotcha journalism” when I was merely quoting the report word for word and not offering analysis? This post made no reference to how dorms were enumerated. However, universities would understandably have accurate records about how many people live in each dorm, yet homeless shelters are home to a more transient population. – SRM
March 8th, 2010 at 11:55 am
It appears that the Salvation Army is going to ‘Self-Enumerate’ the populations of their shelters, which is perfectly acceptable once they are trained and sworn. It puts more work on the Salvation Army employees, but so be it.
More troubling is the lack of access to soup kitchens and mobile food vans, since those clients may not be counted in an other location.
March 17th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Shouldn’t the concern also be that we could count someone multiple times by taking the census in soup kitchens and dormitory residences? If dormitory residence don’t know they are counted already, couldn’t they be counted again at the soup kitchen or similar feeding ministry?
May 11th, 2011 at 6:47 am
That means here is a deep comparative relation between Salvation Army and Census Bureau.
June 24th, 2011 at 6:34 am
census operation need finding people of all walks of life. they may be categorized in groups.