February 09, 2007

LUCA Program Integral Part of 2010 Census

The Local Update of Census Addresses program, also known as LUCA, is a decennial census partnership program that allows the Census Bureau to benefit from local knowledge in developing its Master Address File (MAF) for the 2010 Census. Tribal and local governments can contribute to a more complete and accurate census for their community by reviewing and commenting on the list of housing unit and group quarters addresses that the Census Bureau will use to deliver questionnaires within their community. Accurate census data are important in a number of ways. In addition to the constitutional requirement for the decennial census to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, census data are used to allocate federal monies to state, local, and tribal governments. Census data provide the statistical support for grant applications that fund community, social, economic, and environmental programs and other needed improvements and enhancements. Census data also help communities plan for future needs. The program kicked off in January with advance notice letters mailed to the highest elected official and other contacts in all active functioning governments.

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