San Mateo County Community College District Partners with 2020 Census to Train 2,000 New Enumerators

The Census is the largest peacetime mobilization of people in the United States. This year the 2020 Census is preparing to contact more than 100,000 housing units in San Mateo County that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. To accomplish this our local Area Census Office needs to train 2,000 new employees – called enumerators – to conduct these face-to-face interviews.

The three colleges of the San Mateo County Community College District—Cañada College, College of San Mateo, and Skyline College—are providing sanitized classroom space for the training program.

“The Census is critically important in determining funding for critical educational, social, housing and transportation services and resources for our county,” said SMCCCD Chancellor Mike Claire. “I cannot think of a more important use of our college facilities than for training the people who will do this important work to ensure that everyone in our county is counted in the Census.”

The Census enumerator training program entails eight days of face-to-face, in-home, and online instruction. Workers begin with a three-hour session in which they take a required oath and receive training on the digital devices used in the Census interviews. That three-hour session is the component being held at the college campuses. 

“We are so grateful for this partnership with the San Mateo County Community College District. The enthusiasm from the District, and district staff in helping to ensure we have a successful count in San Mateo County is unparalleled,” said Sonny Le, Partnership Specialist. “This allows us to run a safe, efficient training program that will prepare our enumerators to go into the field so San Mateo County can receive their fair share of federal resources.”

So far, San Mateo County’s Census response rate is 73.2%. The average for California counties is 63.4%. Census workers must interview individuals in more than 100,000 housing units in San Mateo County in eight weeks.

Training will take place from July 31 to August 5. About 200 trainees will be on each campus each day, using five classrooms on each campus in order to maintain social distancing. Trainees and instructors will wear face coverings and undergo health screening before entering campuses. College staff will sanitize each classroom at the end of each day.

There is still time for those who would like to self-respond online. Go to 2020census.gov.