Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 4, 1 April 2010 — Pa ʻahao -- countina the incarcerated population [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Pa ʻahao -- countina the incarcerated population

By Momi Imaikalani Fernandez Asincere mahalo for the letters received from Native Hawaiians incarcerated in other states, some as a result of Hawai'i's overflow prison population. Eaeh letter expressed a sincere desire to participate in Census 2010 as a Native Hawaiian and to be informed of the process. This last census eolumn is dedicated to the pa'ahao in and outside Hawai'i, reaching out to their 'āina. How ean pa'ahao participate in the census? Here's the scoops summarized. The Group Quarters Operation, whieh oversees census counts in places such as college dorms, military installations/housing and prisons, is implemented in three phases. First, a validation process, followed by an advance visit and then enumeration, whieh is the distribution and completion of the Census 2010 survey by eaeh pa'ahao. (Phone calls to Arizona, Texas and a small private prison in Colorado began to confirm eomplianee with these federal guidelines.) The incarcerated in Hawai'i will receive their surveys in April. They will have three days to complete them. Staff will retrieve and confirm that all envelopes are accounted for and they will be mailed to the Census Bureau. Correctional staff are swom in to adhere to strict confidentiality rules. By conducting the survey in April, these responses will be counted in the first response rate. Any surveys completed after April will be counted in the follow-up responses. Some states housina Hawai'ipa'ahao

will distribute surveys later, thus missing the iniīial response rate that relates to

funding. The group quarters survey has seven questions instead of 10 questions that the general puhlie will complete. Questions 4 and 5 on the group quarters survey are Questions 8 and 9 on the general puhlie survey. These are the race questions, in whieh people are asked to identify their race or mixture of races (you ean mark more than one).

If the choices do not identify you, a line is provided to write in your race. Remember the one drop-one million campaign forNative Hawaiians that encourages Hawaiians and partHawaiians to acknowledge even a "single drop of koko" by marking the Native Hawaiian category. I also encourage Native Hawaiians to honor more than one if appropriate. Questions 6 and 7 on the group quarters survey ask where you live MOST OF THE TIME. If you answer "yes" to question 6 then the survey ends and the state in whieh you are incarcerated receives your count and funding. If you answer "no" to question 6, then you move forward to question 7 and aive your home state and

address. The address given will determine where you get counted and funded. This applies to "temporary" residents such as short-term students and patients in care homes, for example. Census workers cannot instruct how these questions are answered. But consider this: congressional representation and federal funding are directly hinged to the population count. For every 500,000 people counted, a congressional seat is provided. There

are states proposing resolutions and advocating change to end prisonbased census count. Check out prisonpolicy.org and prisonersoft hecensus.org. Hawai'i's overflow prisoner population housed in Arizona alone is just under 2,000 inmates as of Jan. 31,2010. Hawai'i loses federal funding for inmates housed in other states. The breakdown of Census funding is worth approximately $1,200 per person. Currently, the national prison population is upward of 2 million. As of Jan. 31, there were 5,949 inmates under the jurisdiction of the State of Hawai'i Department of Puhlie Safety, or DPS. This number includes pa'ahao who are physically present at one of the correctional facilities operated by DPS, housed in

an out-of-state or contracted facility, on furlough or in a medical facility. That's a relatively large population when compared to estimates of homeless on the heaeh and in the bush ranging from 5,000 to 7,000, the population of Lāna'i approximately 3,000 and the population of Moloka'i approximately 8,100. During the next 10 years, men and women will be released from incarceration. They will need jobs, heahh programs, access to schools and federal funding for higher education. Census data is the haekhone for these funding mechanisms. They will have access to all puhlie services and infrastructure that census data funds. Doesn't it make sense to prepare in advance? Participatina in Census 2010 is

mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. Many Native Hawaiian pa'ahao who are incarcerated outside Hawai'i have few links remaining to their 'āina. Isn't this one opportunity to keep this link intact? Mahalo nui for the opportunity to share Census 2010 information with the readers of Ka Wai Ola. Nāu Ke Kuleana! ■ Momi Imaikalani Femandez is the director ofthe Data and Information/Census Information Center at Papa Ola Lōkahi. The Hawai'i Government Compiete Count Committee and RaeDeen Keahialalo Karasuda, a Kamehameha Schools senior research associate in strategic planning and implementation, contributed to this pieee.

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CENSUS 2010 Census forms for

the general population were maileel to most households in midMarch. Replacement orextra questionnaires were made available through Apnl 10 at sign-up centers and othercommunity sites, including 7-11. Between now and July, census takers will visit households that didn't return a questionnaire by mail.

TALKING CENSUS I OHA welcomed leaders of the U.S. Census Bureau to the boardroom on March 9 for an update on the ongoing 201 0 Census. Rebecca Blank, undersecretary of commerce for eeonomie affairs, who visited Hawai'i to promote participation in the census, metwith OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona, executive leadership and staff in Research and Advocacy. OHA conveyed the unique social circumstances Native Hawaiians face and how census data is used to help 0HA's advocacy efforts. Pictured from left are: Jamey Christy, director of the Census Bureau's Los Angeles regional office; Rebecca Blank; Jeri Green, chief of the Census Advisory Committee Office; Julie Lam, assistant regional manager for the Census Bureau's Los Angeles office; Stanton Enomoto, OHA Chief Operating Officer; and OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona. - Photo: John Matsuzaki