LAPLACE — As of April 2010, 64 percent of St. John the Baptist Parish residents had returned their 2010 Census forms. Locally, the Census Bureau employs over 70 parish residents.

These workers began their door-to-door efforts on May 1, gathering information to ensure an accurate count is obtained. Parish President Natalie Robottom is urging all residents who have not yet participated to provide their information to the census takers.

Robottom said there are several ways to verify the identity of a census taker who comes to your door. All census workers have an ID badge that must be visible at all times; the badge contains a commerce watermark and expiration date.

All Census workers have passed an FBI background check and can provide you with supervisor contact information and/or the local census office phone number for verification if asked.

A census worker will make up to six attempts to reach residents either in person or by phone.

“Our goal is to count every single person living in St. John the Baptist Parish. The only way for our parish to get its fair share of funding for critical services such as schools, hospitals and infrastructure improvements is for the Census Bureau to know that each and every one of us is counted in that final number,” said Robottom.