The Census Bureau is required by law to deliver a complete Census count of the population to the President by Dec. 31.  The Census Bureau has suspended field operations, hiring, onboarding and training until April 15.

The Census Bureau reported it is “…taking this step to help protect the health and safety of the American public, Census Bureau employees and everyone who will go through the hiring process for temporary census taker positions.”

The Bureau has announced a revised schedule to adjust or extend certain operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those steps include but are not limited to: 

• Self-response online is extended through Aug. 14
• Front-door drop off to more than 5 million households have been delayed
• Household enumeration interviews are suspended and extended
• Group Quarters enumeration is delayed through June 19. 

The Census Bureau said these delays and other changes would result in extending the deadline for collecting responses from July 31 to August 14.

NJHA provides Census resources, including group quarters information, on its website.