The Census Bureau is looking to fill thousands of positions in support of the 2020 Census.
"If you're a person who can maybe work a few hours, a few days a week, and then maybe a couple hours on the weekend, that's perfect. Because we just need people from every community that's willing to work," said New York Regional Census Center Deputy Regional Director Ian Hull.
"We often say that the Census is a national event, but in order for it to be effective, it needs to be conducted at the local level. And that means we need to hire people from every neighborhood and every community to ensure that we can successfully conduct our operations."
To help with the effort, New Haven City Hall held a job fair on Wednesday. It's one of many that'll take place across the state. Officials say it's a part-time job with flexible hours that'll last from six to 12 weeks. The starting pay is $23.50 an hour.
"I seen it online, and I see the money is right. So that's why I came," said West Haven resident Earl Durham, who came to the job fair to apply.
"Very important to make sure everyone is counted and participate because it has a lot to do with how resources are distributed in communities," said New Haven resident Germano Kimbro who also came out to apply.
At a news conference, the lieutenant governor said the group most likely to be undercounted is children under the age of five. That can come at a cost.
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"For every person we undercount in our state, we lose $2,900," said Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.
The census helps determine how billions of dollars in federal funding are doled out from medicare to roads to grants.
When it comes to the 2020 Census, Hull says what's new this year is that along with the traditional paper form, people will be able to fill out the census online or over the phone. If doing it by phone, officials say there are 12 non-English languages available.
He and many other officials stress that filling out the census is easy, safe, and important.
"There is no question about citizenship or any questions about immigration on the census form. They do not exist on the census form," said Hull. "
Hull says federal law also prevents the census bureau from releasing any information that could be used to identify an individual or housing unit.
"We can never release individual information that is provided to the census bureau," said Hull.
Officials say people should start getting information to complete the census March 12. If you are interested in more information about the census, click here.
If you want to apply for a temporary census job, click here.
