Census 2000 - Ancestry Unknown
What You Can Do What you can do- Adoptive Parent who is Not Person 1
For those who want to register the adopted status of a person in the home who is the biological child of Person 1 and the adopted child of Person 2, 3, 4, etc., consider filling out the form showing the adoptive parent as Person 1.
- Adoptees (Long Form)
To indicate adopted status as well as lack of knowledge about heritage or ethnic origin, answer Question #10 (Ancestry/Ethnic Origin) with"UNKNOWN - ADOPTEE (OR ADOPTED)"
- All Others
For those with other questions or concerns about the best way to provide truthful and accurate answers:
- Complete your form online (option offered for the short form only). If there's an answer that the Census Bureau has questions about, you should receive a visit from a census-taker to whom you can elaborate on your answers;
- Complete your form in person. The Census Bureau has set up 27,000 Questionnaire Assistance Offices around the nation.
- Call the Census Helpline at 1-800-471-9424. It's a free call and you can ask about your specific circumstance.
Census-takers are being hired by the tens of thousands to help with door-to-door visits to those who have submitted errors on the online forms, those who may not have received forms, and those who do not return the form.
Actions We Can All TakeIf you would like to register a complaint or concern about adoption and the census, write -
don't call or email - the Census Bureau:
US Census Bureau
Decennial Management Division
Suitland Federal Center
Building 2, Room 2002
Washington, DC 20233We can also highlight those questions that are difficult or impossible for us to answer truthfully and send photocopies of them to our elected officials, accompanied by a letter of explanation.
Biggest DisappointmentWhile I would love to be able to refer to figures distilled from this census providing better "guesstimates" than now exist about the total number of adopted persons in this country, I know that won't happen. But my greatest disappointment is that the number of kids under the age of 5 with disabilities is not being recorded.
On the long form, Question #15 instructs us to skip to Question #33 if the child is under 5. Questions #16 and #17 concern disabilities.
If the census purports to be a mechanism to deliver federal funds for needed services, the future needs of these kids are being overlooked. Maybe this oversight will be corrected in the next census... in 10 years.
It affects us all: This doesn't apply only to adopted kids... it applies to
all children with disabilities under the age of 5.
A Final QuestionThe information received by mail, and information at the Census 2000 Web site includes prominently displayed details about the privacy of our answers. So... what happens if the census-taker who comes to your home discovers, during completion of the form, that he/she is biologically related to you?
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