	Background

As you know, Mr. Chairman, the decennial census is a constitutionally  mandated enterprise critical to our nation. Census data are used to  apportion seats and redraw Congressional districts, and to help allocate  over $400 billion in federal aid to state and local governments each year. We added the 2010 Census to our list of high-risk areas in March 2008  because improvements were needed in the Bureau’s management of IT  systems, the reliability of the HHCs, and the quality of the Bureau’s cost  estimates. The Bureau Has Made Progress on the Management and Testing of Key IT Systems, but Little Time Remains to Address Outstanding Issues

Since 2005, we have reported on weaknesses in the Bureau’s management  of its IT acquisitions, and issues continue concerning the Bureau’s IT  management and testing of key 2010 Census systems. The Bureau has also made progress in end-to-end testing, but substantial  work remains to be completed. For example, the Bureau has completed  limited end-to-end tests for nonresponse follow-up and group-quarters  enumeration on the Paper-Based Operations Control System (PBOCS), a  work flow management system the Bureau developed late in the census  cycle when it moved from the HHCs to a paper-based approach to  nonresponse follow-up and other field operations. According to the CIO, the Bureau  has taken steps to address some of these findings, such as providing  additional resources for testing and development; however, resolving  problems found during testing before the systems need to be deployed will  be a challenge. The Bureau is continuing to  examine how improvements will be made. The testing and improvements the Bureau made to  the reliability of the HHCs prior to the start of address canvassing,  including a final field test that was added to the Bureau’s preparations in  December 2008, played a key role in the pace of the operation, but other  factors, once address canvassing was launched, were important as well,  including the (1) prompt resolution of problems with the HHCs as they  occurred and (2) lower than expected employee turnover. Address Canvassing Costs Exceeded Budget Because of Unanticipated Workload and Hiring

According to the Bureau’s preliminary analysis, the estimated cost for  address canvassing field operations was $444 million, or $88 million (25  percent) more than its initial budget of $356 million. The largest field operation will be nonresponse follow-up, when the  Bureau is to go door to door in an effort to collect data from households  that did not mail back their census questionnaire. Accurate cost  estimates are essential to a successful census because they help ensure  that the Bureau has adequate funds and that Congress, the administration,  and the Bureau itself can have reliable information on which to base  decisions. Officials said  that DBiT is capturing actual fiscal year 2009 costs, which will be used to  estimate the life cycle cost for the 2020 census. Bureau Needs to Improve Its Policies and Procedures for Fingerprinting Temporary Employees

To better screen its workforce of hundreds of thousands of temporary  census workers, the Bureau plans to fingerprint its temporary workforce  for the first time in the 2010 Census. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is to  provide the results of a name background check when temporary workers  are first recruited. The Bureau stated that it has taken steps to improve image quality for  fingerprints captured in future operations by refining instruction manuals  and providing remediation training on proper procedures. Concluding Observations

The Bureau has made remarkable progress in improving its overall  readiness for 2010, with substantial strides being made in the management  of its IT systems and other areas. That said, as I noted throughout this  statement, considerable challenges and uncertainties lie ahead. While the  decennial is clearly back on track, many things can happen over the next  few months, and keeping the entire enterprise on plan continues to be a  daunting challenge fraught with risks.
Why GAO Did This Study

The decennial census is a constitutionally-mandated activity that produces data used to apportion congressional seats, redraw congressional districts, and help allocate billions of dollars in federal assistance. In March 2008, GAO designated the 2010 Census a high-risk area in part because of information technology (IT) shortcomings. The U.S. Census Bureau (Bureau) has since strengthened its risk management efforts and made other improvements; however, in March 2009, GAO noted that a number of challenges and uncertainties remained. This testimony discusses the Bureau's readiness for 2010 and covers: (1) the delivery of key IT systems, (2) preliminary findings on the results of address canvassing and the lessons learned from that operation that can be applied to subsequent field operations, and (3) the Bureau's progress in improving its cost estimation abilities. The testimony is based on previously issued and ongoing GAO work.

What GAO Found

The Bureau continues to make noteworthy gains in mitigating risks and in keeping the headcount on-track, but a number of challenges remain. Specifically, over the last few months, the Bureau has made important strides in improving oversight of testing key IT systems. For example, the Bureau named a testing officer to monitor the testing of census-taking activities. The Bureau has also made progress in system testing, but faces tight timeframes in finalizing the paper-based operations control system (PBOCS), which will be used to manage field operations. If any significant problems are identified during the testing phases of PBOCS, there will be little time, in most cases, to resolve the problems before the system needs to be deployed. Address canvassing, an operation where temporary workers known as listers go door-to-door to verify and update address data, finished ahead of schedule, but was over budget. Based on initial Bureau data, the preliminary figure on the actual cost of address canvassing is $88 million higher than the original estimate of $356 million, an overrun of 25 percent. A key reason for the overrun is that the Bureau did not update its cost estimates to reflect the changes to the address canvassing workload. Further, the Bureau did not follow its staffing strategy and hired too many listers. The Bureau's efforts to fingerprint employees, which was required as part of a criminal background check, did not proceed smoothly, in part because of training issues. As a result, over 35,000 temporary census workers--over a fifth of the address canvassing workforce--were hired despite the fact that their fingerprints could not be processed and they were not fully screened for employment eligibility. The Bureau is refining instruction manuals and taking other steps to improve the fingerprinting process for future operations. GAO is unable to verify the accuracy of the $14.7 billion estimated cost of the 2010 Census because key details and assumptions are unavailable. However, the Bureau is taking steps to improve its cost estimation process for 2020, including training its staff in cost estimation skills. While the Bureau has taken a number of actions to mitigate risk and its overall readiness for 2010 has improved, much work remains to be done. Many things can happen over the next few months, and keeping the entire enterprise on-plan will continue to be a daunting challenge fraught with risks. High levels of public participation, and continued Bureau and congressional attention to stewardship, performance, and accountability, will be key to a successful census.