Census Bureau in Guam for preliminary COFA enumeration work

A team from the U.S. Census Bureau is on Guam verifying household addresses that have been selected to be part of its upcoming 2018 Survey of Compact of Free Association migrants. The Cooperative Extension & Outreach program of the University of Guam’s College of Natural & Applied Sciences and the Guam Bureau of Statistics & Plans are assisting with this first phase, which is estimated to take about three weeks.

The survey, required every five years by the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-188), will ultimately collect data to produce estimates of how many migrants from the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau are living in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The enumeration is the basis for allocating funds to Guam and NMI to help offset the economic and social impacts of the migrant population. Data will be collected in Hawaii and American Samoa as well.

The first phase entails verifying and updating the addresses of residences selected to be surveyed, which will later ensure the best estimate of COFA migrants. The Census Bureau scientifically selected approximately 5,000 housing units to represent the populations of Guam and the NMI. The work group will be systematically visiting the streets, side roads, and paths of these housing units to compare them as they currently exist with the official COFA maps.

The address listing work group will include three U.S. Census Bureau officials, three authorized staff members from Guam’s Bureau of Statistics & Plans, and an authorized staff member from UOG’s Cooperative Extension & Outreach program. The team members will be recognizable by signage on their vehicles. They will also have their official agency IDs on them during this phase, and when the enumeration begins, they will each have official COFA IDs.

The work group will not yet be surveying the residents until the enumeration phase begins. That date is yet to be determined but will be before the end of the year. The survey will be voluntary and confidential.

About UOG Cooperative Extension & Outreach

The University of Guam’s Cooperative Extension & Outreach program works to increase collaborations between the public and government agencies, private entities, and non-governmental organizations. Its partnerships foster its mission of extending research-based knowledge through outreach education programs for positive engagement of individuals and communities. It specializes in agriculture and natural resources, consumer and family sciences, 4-H youth development, and community development. (PR)