Daley Preps, Encourages Residents for 2010 Census

While forms for the 2010 U.S. Census don't go out for almost another year, that didn't stop local officials, including Mayor Daley, from starting the campaign to encourage participation. Playing up the fact that results help determine how much money local governments receive, Daley said, "If we shortchange any part of the area, you're really shortchanging yourself. Everyone's reluctant to tell the government anything ... We have to reassure people that it is confidential."

According to the Trib:

For every person in Illinois who does not send their Census questionnaire back, the state misses out on hundreds of dollars per year, he estimated. The Brookings Institution puts that figure at $12,000 per person over the next ten years.

The Joyce Foundation announced Wednesday that it and nine other groups have pledged a combined $1 million to improve Census participation in poor, minority, rural and high-rise communities.

"This is the first time that I was able to get foundations to actually give money to organizations to help me take the census," [Chicago Regional Census Bureau directorStanley D.] Moore said.

During the last census in 2000, Chicago had one of the worst form return rates in the nation at 55 percent. [Tribune]