	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. LUCA Submissions Generated a Small Percentage of Additions to the MAF

Under the LUCA program, the Bureau partners with state, local, and tribal  governments, tapping into their knowledge of local populations and  housing conditions in order to secure a more complete count. Between  November 2007 and March 2008, over 8,000 state, local, and tribal  governments provided approximately 42 million addresses for potential  addition, deletion, or other actions. Address  canvassing confirmed the existence of around 2.4 million addresses  submitted by LUCA participants that were not already in the MAF (or  about 7 percent of the 36 million proposed additions). The Bureau Generally Completed Address Canvassing Ahead of Schedule but Went Over Budget

The Bureau conducted address canvassing from March to July 2009. 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. The Bureau’s address list at the start of address canvassing consisted of  141.8 million housing units. Listers added around 17 million addresses and  marked about 21 million for deletion because, for example, the address did  not exist. All told, listers identified about 4.5 million duplicate addresses,  1.2 million nonresidential addresses, and about 690,000 addresses that  were uninhabitable structures. Validating the Group Quarters Address List Is Important for Reducing Potential Duplicates and Other Errors

To help ensure group quarters are accurately included in the census, the  Bureau is conducting an operation called Group Quarters Validation, an  effort that is to run during September and October 2009, and has a  workload of around 2 million addresses in both the United States and  Puerto Rico. If the dwelling is in fact a group quarter, it must then be determined what  category it fits under (e.g., boarding school, correctional facility, health  care facility, military quarters, residence hall or dormitory, etc. Concluding Observations

The Bureau recognizes the critical importance of an accurate address list  and maps, and continues to put forth tremendous effort to help ensure  MAF/TIGER is complete and accurate. The  operations we included in this review generally have proceeded as  planned, or are proceeding as planned. Nevertheless, accurately locating  each and every dwelling in the nation is an inherently challenging  endeavor, and the overall quality of the Bureau’s address list will not be  known until the Bureau completes various assessments later in the census. Moreover, while the Bureau has improved its management of MAF/TIGER  IT systems, we continue to be concerned about the lack of finalized test  plans, incomplete metrics to gauge progress, and an aggressive testing and  implementation schedule going forward. Given the importance of  MAF/TIGER to an accurate census, it is critical that the Bureau ensure this  system is thoroughly tested.
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. A complete and accurate master address file (MAF), along with precise maps--the U.S. Census Bureau's (Bureau) mapping system is called Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER)--are the building blocks of a successful census. If the Bureau's address list and maps are inaccurate, people can be missed, counted more than once, or included in the wrong location. This testimony discusses the Bureau's readiness for the 2010 Census and covers: (1) the Bureau's progress in building an accurate address list; and (2) an update of the Bureau's information technology (IT) system used to extract information from its MAF/TIGER? database. Our review included observations at 20 early opening local census offices in hard-to-count areas. The testimony is based on previously issued and ongoing work.

What GAO Found

The Bureau has taken, and continues to take measures to build an accurate MAF and to update its maps. From an operational perspective, the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) and address canvassing generally proceeded as planned, and GAO did not observe any significant flaws or operational setbacks. Group quarters validation got underway in late September as planned. A group quarters is a place where people live or stay that is normally owned or managed by an entity or organization providing housing and/or services for the residents (such as a boarding school, correctional facility, health care facility, military quarters, residence hall, or dormitory). LUCA made use of local knowledge to enhance MAF accuracy. Between November 2007 and March 2008, over 8,000 state, local, and tribal governments participated in the program. However, LUCA submissions generated a relatively small percentage of additions to the MAF. For example, of approximately 36 million possible additions to the MAF that localities submitted, 2.4 million (7 percent) were not already in the MAF. The other submissions were duplicate addresses, non-existent, or non-residential. Address canvassing (an operation where temporary workers 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. The testing and improvements the Bureau made to the reliability of the hand held computers prior to the start of address canvassing played a key role in the pace of the operation, but other factors were important as well, including the prompt resolution of technical problems and lower than expected employee turnover. The Bureau's address list at the start of address canvassing consisted of 141.8 million housing units. Listers added around 17 million addresses and marked about 21 million for deletion. All told, listers identified about 4.5 million duplicate addresses, 1.2 million nonresidential addresses, and about 690,000 addresses that were uninhabitable structures. The overall quality of the address file will not be known until later in the census when the Bureau completes various assessments. While the Bureau has made some improvements to its management of MAF/TIGER? IT such as finalizing five of eight test plans, GAO continues to be concerned about the lack of finalized test plans, incomplete metrics to gauge progress, and an aggressive testing and implementation schedule going forward. Given the importance of MAF/TIGER? to an accurate census, it is critical that the Bureau ensure this system is thoroughly tested.