By CANDY NEAL
cneal@dcherald.com

Those who have not yet responded to the 2020 Census will likely find a census worker at their door next month.

August is when workers will start going to households that haven’t filled out the form, to make sure people who were living at the residence as of April 1 are counted.

“Census takers will now go into the field in August and continue through October,” said Tim Swarens, a U.S. Census Bureau media specialist for Indiana. “The pandemic forced delays in the operational timelines, including an extension of the deadline to respond — from July 31 to Oct. 31.”

A census taker will have a valid government ID badge with their photograph, a U.S. Department of Commerce watermark and an expiration date on the badge, according to information from the Census Bureau. Residents should ask to see the taker’s badge for verification. Census workers may also carry Census Bureau bags and other equipment with the Census Bureau logo.

To confirm a census taker’s identity, call the regional census center at 312-579-1500 and speak with a bureau representative.

All census takers will be trained on social-distancing protocols, Swarens confirmed. They will be issued PPE and will follow local guidelines for its use. They will follow local public health guidelines when they visit; if masks are required in the area, census takers will wear them. The workers must complete a virtual COVID-19 training on social-distancing protocols and other health and safety guidance before beginning their work in neighborhoods.

All census takers speak English, and many are bilingual, the bureau stated. If a census taker does not speak the resident’s language, the household may request a return visit from a census taker who does. Census takers will have materials on hand to help identify the household’s language.

If no one is home, the census taker will leave a notice of their visit with information about how to respond online, by phone or by mail.

As of Thursday, 78.5% of households in Dubois County had filled out the 2020 Census, keeping the county at No. 1 in the state and No. 20 in the country for its response rate.

Madison Township is the top township in Indiana, with its response rate at 86.4%. Three other local townships are in the state’s top 10: Boone is No. 4 at 85%, Jackson is No. 5 at 84.9%, and Hall is No. 6 at 84.2%.

Here are the latest percentages for the other townships in the county:

• Ferdinand: 82.1%

• Bainbridge: 79.5%

• Cass: 78.3%

• Harbison: 77.8%

• Jefferson: 74%

• Marion: 72.5%

• Patoka: 72.4%

• Columbia: 69%

The latest response rate percentages for Dubois County municipalities are:

• Jasper: 79.8%

• Ferdinand: 78.6%

• Huntingburg: 69.7%

• Holland: 69.6%

• Birdseye: 62.7%

Indiana is No. 11 among all states, with a 66.3% response rate.

National, state and local response rates can be found at https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html.

Households can still respond now by completing and mailing back the paper questionnaire, filling out the form online at 2020census.gov, or completing the 2020 Census by phone at 844-330-2020 for English or 844-468-2020 for Spanish.