Census invitations hit Tennessee mailboxes starting on March 12 through March 20, and since that time close to a million of the state’s 2.6 million households have responded. As of March 30^th, 35.2% of households replied – 27.8% using Internet response and 7.4% opting for paper forms or responding via phone.

Although self-response continues, the COVID-19 pandemic required the Census Bureau to adjust field operations to help prevent further spread among both employees and the public. The Bureau announced an initial two-week delay to field operations on March 18^th, which was followed by another announcement on March 28^th further delaying operations until April 15, 2020.

Status of Current Operations

Self-Response Phase

The public is strongly encouraged to respond online at my2020census.gov. All Tennessee households who have not responded by early April will receive a paper questionnaire between April 8^th and 16^th.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
March 12-July 31	Extended	March 12-August 14

Risk:  Low – The extension provides additional time for Tennessee households to respond, but historically self-response rates plateau after May.

Update Leave

Address issues may prevent successful postal deliveries at 5 million households across the U.S., so Census takers will drop off invitations at the doorstep instead. In Tennessee, these households generally are in sparsely populated areas but there are exceptions.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
March 15-April 17	Delayed	March 29-May 1

Risk:  Low – Overall, a small fraction of Tennessee households had been scheduled to be received their invitation from a Census worker and households have the opportunity to respond online now. The Town on Norris, in Anderson County is included in Update Leave. The Grundy County communities of Altamont, Coalmont and Tracy City are also included and total 48.8% of the county’s total housing units. This delay pushed Grundy to the bottom of the list of the county’s response rate rankings.

Mobile Questionnaire Assistance (MQAC)

The Census Bureau identified Low Response Score census tracts to launch this new program that uses temporary booths/tables at public locations such as grocery stores and community centers to collect online responses. Later, locations for MQAC are selected based on tracts with low 2020 response rates.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
March 30-July 31	Delayed	April 13-August 14

Risk: Moderate – The prospect of providing shared devices, such as laptops and iPads, at public events amid the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain. This could impact similar efforts by other census partners and advocacy groups proposing similar strategies.

Early Nonresponse Followup (NRFU)

Around colleges and universities, early door-to-door follow-up is conducted to collect responses from college students living off-campus. These student responses may be hard to collect because they move at the end of the spring semester in late April and early May, if they have not already moved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
April 9-July 31	Delayed	May 7-August 14

Risk: High – The current proposal to delay to E-NRFU until May 7^th is past the date when many colleges in the state have concluded their semester. Further, given the suspension of in-person classes, some students have likely returned to a family member’s home. The number of students who have already left these areas is unknown. Because many live in rental units, the use of proxy interviews with landlords may need to be promoted.

Nonresponse Followup (NRFU) and NRFU Reinterview

Census takers will interview households in person that have not responded online, by phone, or by mail.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
May 13-July 31	Delayed	May 28-August 14

Risk:  To be determined – Risk associated with this operation is a function of the pandemic situation in late May and response rate of Tennessee households. The greater the load on NRFU load, the greater risk of incomplete counts and the greater the need for the Census Bureau to rely on administrative records.

Group Quarters Enumeration

Nursing homes, prisons, and student housing are counted in this operation. Options to make eResponses using facility rosters are an option for counting their residents that requires less in-person contact.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
April 2-June 5	Delayed	April 16-June 19

Risk:  Moderate – Concerns about Census Bureau staff entering facilities will require administrators to utilize eResponse option. Although the counts collected at these facilities should generally be accurate, the amount of demographic detail will be limited. Concerns related HIPPA and the higher education equivalent, FERPA, may limit some facilities willingness to respond.

Service-Based Enumeration

We’re working with service providers at soup kitchens, shelters, and regularly scheduled food vans to count the people they serve.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
March 30-April 1	Delayed	April 29-May 1

Risk:  Low – The total number of people experiencing homelessness living in sheltered facilities has fallen steadily to around 4,900 people statewide. If efforts to count individuals at these locations occurs in late April as currently planned, the resulting impact should be minimal.

Census counts people experiencing homelessness outdoors

Based on local input about where people experiencing homelessness will be counted at places like overpasses and bridges, in parks, in all-night businesses and other locations.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
April 1	Delayed	May 1

Risk:  Low ­– The total number of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in the state has fallen steadily and was around 2,600 people statewide. If efforts to count individuals at these locations occurs in early May as currently planned, the resulting impact should be minimal.

Enumeration of Transitory Locations

Census takers count people staying at campgrounds, RV parks, marinas and hotels if they do not usually live elsewhere.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
April 9-May 4	Delayed	April 23-May 18

Risk: Undetermined.

Deliver apportionment counts to the President

By law, the Census Bureau will deliver each state’s population total, which determines its number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
By December 31	On Schedule	By December 31

Deliver redistricting counts to states

By law, the Census Bureau will deliver the local counts each state needs to complete legislative redistricting.

Planned Schedule	Adjustment	Revised Schedule
By April 1, 2021	On Schedule	By April 1, 2021