Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 2012 — U.S. Census Bureau: Native Hawaiian and other Pacific lslanders R.E.A.C.... Job well done [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

U.S. Census Bureau: Native Hawaiian and other Pacific lslanders R.E.A.C.... Job well done

Fo ē nā 'ōiwi 'ōlino nā pulapula a Haloa mai Hawai'i a Ni'ihau a puni ke ao mālamalama. 2012 signals change as

Native Hawaiians and other Paeihe Islanders press on to impact the work of the U.S. Census Bureau. Census 2020 is eight years away as the bureau transforms the nearly 40-year-old Race and Ethnic Advisory Committee (REAC) system of community leaders advising solely on the decennial census, into a combined REACcommunity and scientist-led

national panel, partnering with designated "working groups" to oversee a diverse menu of bureau initiatives, not just limited to the decennial census. The charter for this national panel starts in 2012. The Census Bureau established the Race and Ethnic

A d v i s o r y Committees in 1975 to assist the bureau in planning for the 1980 Census with the goal to reduce census undercount in hard-to-count communities. The Census Bureau REACs for African A me r i e a n ,

A m e r i e a n Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander were updated following amendments in 1997 to OMB Directive 15, whieh by administrative policy implemented the fifth REAC for Native Hawaiian and Other Paeihe Islanders (NHOPI). All five REACs (African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic, Asian and Native Hawaiian and Other Paeihe Islanders) will sunset in 20 12. The Native Hawaiian and Other Paeihe Islanders REAC, past Chairs and members, current Chair Sela Panapasa,

Ph.D., and members Victor Ka'iwi Pang, Shawn Kana'iaupuni, Ph.D., Guy Ontai, Faye Untalan and Kawen Young are to be congratulated for the

decade of diligent work and advocacy on behalf of our NHOPI populations, through this recent 2010 Census. Census 2010 results find that: Native Hawaiian and Other Paeihe Islanders make up 0.4 percent of the nation's population,totaling 1.2million people; the Native Hawaiian and Other Paeihe Islander alone or in combination

populahon grew by 40 percent between the 2000 Census and 2010 Census; 14 percent of single-race Native Hawaiians and Other Paeihe Islanders 25 and older had at least a bachelor's degree in 2009; and, Native Hawaiian- and Other Paeihe Islander-owned businesses grew by 30.6

percent from 2002 to 2007, totaling 37,809 businesses. But there remains mueh to do. NHOPI social s e i e n t i s t s Panapasa, Crabbe and Kaholokula note in the AAPI Ne.xus Journal Fall 2011: "While

most federal agencies are taking appropriate steps to comply with the revised OMB standards many are having less success reporting disaggregated information on NHPIs. This suggests that increased efforts to obtain robust samples of NHPIs warrants immediate attention in order for federal agencies to fully comply with the revised OMB standards." Census 2020 must be one of the targets for continued focus. Continuing advocacy for NHPIs must rise to the level of the national panel that the Census Bureau establishes in 2012 to replace the REACs. 37/48 ■

Haunani Apnlinna, MSW TrustEE, At-largE

Trustee Haunani Apoliona, center, with members of the Census Bureau's advisory committee on Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific lslander populahon: Kawen Young, left; Victor Ka'iwi Pang; Faye Untalan; Dr. Sela Panapasa, Chair; Dr. Shawn Kana'iaupuni; and Guy Ontai. - Photo: Courtesy of the Census Bureau