More generally, now that the census has moved to the operational phase, it  will be important for the Bureau to stay on schedule. Key IT Systems Continue to Experience Significant Performance Issues

Although the Bureau has made progress in testing and deploying IT  systems for the 2010 Census, significant performance issues need to be  addressed with both PBOCS, the work flow management system, and  DAPPS, the automated system the Bureau is using to process applicants  and handle the payroll of the more than 600,000 temporary employees who  are to work on the census during peak operations. The  limited amount of time to resolve what are, in certain cases, significant  performance issues creates a substantial challenge for the Bureau. Those activities include procedures for  fingerprinting temporary employees; the rollout of key marketing efforts  aimed at improving the participation of hard-to-count populations; the  Bureau’s plans for mailing a second, follow-up questionnaire and the  removal of late mail returns; activities aimed at including the homeless and  people residing in nonconventional dwellings; and the Bureau’s plans to  secure a complete count of those in the hurricane-affected areas along the  Gulf Coast. Bureau Has Taken Steps to Reduce the Number of Unclassifiable Fingerprints of Temporary Workers

The Bureau plans to fingerprint its temporary workforce for the first time  in the 2010 Census to better conduct background security checks on its  workforce of hundreds of thousands of temporary census workers. Under the  revised policy, the Bureau plans, wherever operationally feasible, to  digitally capture a third and fourth set of fingerprints if the FBI cannot  classify the first two sets. Further, the Bureau targeted the paid advertising messages based on  market and attitudinal research. Also, the  Bureau plans to mail approximately 12 million replacement questionnaires  to nonresponding households in other census tracts that had low-to- moderate response rates in 2000 (known as targeted replacement). To help ensure that these individuals are counted, the Bureau plans to  employ several initiatives. For example, Service Based Enumeration (SBE)  is designed to count people who lack permanent shelter at soup kitchens,  regularly scheduled mobile food vans, and other locations where they  receive services. Moreover, the Bureau’s Be Counted program is designed to reach those  who may not have received a census questionnaire, including people who  do not have a usual residence, such as transients, migrants, and seasonal  farm workers. 2). To ensure a quality count in the hurricane-affected areas, the Bureau is  hand delivering an estimated 1.2 million census questionnaires in these  areas through the Update Leave operation, where census workers update  addresses and provide a mailback census questionnaire to each living  quarters in their assigned areas. 3). The Bureau Has Revised Its Cost Estimate for Nonresponse Follow- up but Needs to Complete Additional Updates as Planned

In 2008, we reported that the Bureau had not carried out the necessary  analyses to demonstrate that the then life-cycle cost estimate of about  $11.5 billion for the 2010 Census was credible, and we recommended that  the Bureau better document and update the estimate, to which it generally  agreed. Although we have not fully assessed the Bureau’s analysis, our preliminary  review shows that the Bureau provided a range of possible NRFU cost  estimates, with $2.3 billion being the midpoint. According to the Bureau, two cost drivers—workload, based on the mail  response rate, and productivity—are uncertain and could have a  significant effect on the ultimate cost of NRFU. However, the Bureau’s  analyses of cost are not complete. Concluding Observations

Mr. Chairman, with a week remaining until Census Day, the Bureau’s  readiness for the headcount is mixed. On the one hand, with data  collection already under way, the ability of key IT systems to function  under full operational loads has not yet been demonstrated. On the other hand, certain operations, such as the communications  campaign and efforts to enumerate group quarters, generally appear to be  on track and more robust compared to similar efforts for the 2000 Census,  better positioning the Bureau for a complete and accurate headcount. 2010 Census: Census Bureau Continues to Make Progress in Mitigating  Risks to a Successful Enumeration, but Still Faces Various Challenges. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the  United States.
Why GAO Did This Study

In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Census a high-risk area in part because of information technology (IT) shortcomings and uncertainty over the ultimate cost of the census, now estimated at around $15 billion. The U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) has since made improvements to various IT systems and taken other steps to mitigate the risks to a successful census. However, last year, GAO noted that a number of challenges and uncertainties remained, and much work remained to be completed under very tight time frames. As requested, this testimony provides an update on the Bureau's readiness for an effective headcount, covering (1) the reliability of key IT systems; (2) a broad range of activities critical to an effective headcount, some of which were problematic in either earlier 2010 operations or in the 2000 Census, and (3) the quality of the Bureau's cost estimates. The testimony is based on previously issued and ongoing GAO work.

What GAO Found

Overall, the Bureau's readiness for a successful headcount is mixed. On the one hand, performance problems continue to plague a work flow management system essential for the Bureau's field operations and a payroll processing system that will be used to pay more than 600,000 temporary workers. Both systems have not yet demonstrated the ability to function reliably under full operational loads, and the limited amount of time that remains to address their shortcomings creates a substantial challenge for the Bureau. Aside from the mail response, which is outside of the Bureau's direct control, the difficulties facing these two automated systems represent the most significant risk, jeopardizing the cost and quality of the enumeration. On the other hand, the rollout of other key enumeration activities is generally on track, and the Bureau has taken action to address some previously identified problems. For example, the Bureau has taken steps to reduce the number of temporary workers with unreadable fingerprint cards, a problem that affected an earlier field operation. Among other actions, the Bureau plans to digitally capture a third and fourth set of fingerprints if the first two sets cannot be read for background security checks. The Bureau's 2010 Census communications campaign is also more robust than the one used in the 2000 Census. Key differences from the 2000 campaign include increased partnership staffing, expanded outreach to partner organizations, targeted paid advertising based on market and attitudinal research, and a contingency fund to address unexpected events. To increase participation rates, the Bureau plans to mail a second, replacement questionnaire to census tracts that had low or moderate response rates in the 2000 Census. To help ensure that hard-to-count populations are enumerated, the Bureau plans to employ several initiatives. For example, Service Based Enumeration is designed to count people who lack permanent shelter at soup kitchens, mobile food vans, and other locations where they receive services. The Be Counted program is designed to reach those who may not have received a census questionnaire. To help ensure a complete count of areas along the Gulf Coast, the Bureau is hand delivering an estimated 1.2 million census forms in areas that were devastated by hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike. In addition, the Bureau re-examined its cost estimate for Nonresponse Follow-up, the largest and most costly field operation where census workers follow up in person with nonresponding households. The Bureau provided a range of estimates, with $2.3 billion as the mid-point. However, the Bureau's analyses of cost are not complete. According to the Bureau, it continues to reexamine the cost of two other operations related to nonresponse follow-up. Moving forward, it will be important for the Bureau to quickly identify the problems affecting key IT systems and test solutions. Further, given the complexity of the census and the likelihood that other glitches might arise, it will be important for the Bureau to stay on schedule, monitor operations, and have plans and personnel in place to quickly address operational issues.