Census 2010: Up to 800 Canvassers With
Criminal Records
biggovernment.com ^ | 02/13/10 | Bob McCarty
Posted on Friday, February 12, 2010
10:24:36 PM by
American Dream 246
Despite reports last fall that the Census Bureau had severed ties
with community-organizing group known as ACORN, Americans might want to
think twice before opening their doors to canvassers for the 2010 Census
after reading what I discovered this morning.
According to a report issued by the Government Accountability Office
Oct. 7, approximately 785 employees with disqualifying criminal records
could still end up working for the Census Bureau this year. Excerpts
(below) show the exact wording of the agency’s frightening information
about the people who go door to door conducting interviews and
collecting information for the 2010 Census:
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.
…of the prints that could be processed, fingerprint results
identified 1,800 temporary workers (1.1 percent of total hires) with
criminal records that name check alone failed to identify. Of the 1,800
workers with criminal records, approximately 750 (42 percent) were
terminated or were further reviewed because the Bureau determined their
criminal records — which included crimes such as rape, manslaughter,
and child abuse — disqualified them from census employment.
…we estimate that approximately 785 employees with unclassifiable prints
could have disqualifying criminal records but still end up working for
the Bureau In addition to the news about the criminal element aspect of
the 2010 Census, the 2009 report contained an estimate of the total cost
of the 2010 Census being some $3.4 billion higher than the estimate in a
2006 GAO report.
Compared to ex-cons knocking at my door, I guess I can live with cost
overruns. But I digress.
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