A few years ago the Census Bureau realized that a lot of non-responses in the past could be chalked up to the language barrier. And for the Bureau, non-responses can be costly: for every one percent increase in the number of people who mail back forms, the Bureau saves $80 million.

However, a recent Census analysis found that a decrease in mailed-back forms could lie ahead — the analysis found that recent increases in government mistrust, identity theft, and foreclosure rates could lead to a 3 percent drop in the number of households that mail in their forms without visits from census takers.

In another attempt by the Bureau to boost participation, this year a replacement form will also be sent out this year to households that do not initially respond by mail.

The changes do not end with the form. Around 140,000 census workers — hailing from communities nationwide — last spring used handheld technology for the first time in the bureau's history as they canvassed the country to identify each residential address, in essence, compiling the most comprehensive address book the country has ever seen.

In the coming months, work will pick up. Recruitment is now under way for census takers the bureau will employ during the peak workload next year. In all, more than 1 million employees — nearly all of them short-term and temporary — will work to gather information to make this census possible.

Then, in January, the Bureau will launch a communications campaign to let people know the census is coming. A large chunk of the $326 million outreach campaign will be spent on media buys. Then in the middle of March, census forms will be sent to households.

On April 1 comes National Census Day, the date Americans have been told to use as a reference point for sending back their completed forms. People who do not return their completed forms on time should expect a visit from census takers sometime in April, May, June, or July.

After the Census Bureau has compiled all the information, the final report will be submitted by director Robert Groves to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who will deliver the final census consisting of the total national and state counts to President Obama by Dec. 31, 2010.

In March 2011, a full year after census forms are delivered to households nationwide, local counts will be finalized.

But before 2010 has even arrived, the upcoming census has already started to make headlines and not necessarily for the right reasons.

Law enforcement officials are investigating the September death of a census worker in Kentucky. Bill Sparkman, 51, was found hanging from a tree with the word "fed" written on his chest.

Although the Census Bureau is an apolitical and nonpartisan agency, the census is always a politically charged issue, with controversy swirling from all angles.

Three weeks ago a Republican senator failed in his effort to exclude non-U.S. citizens from the census count that determines how Congressional districts will be apportioned among states.

The proposal from Sen. David Vitter, R-La., would likely have saved Louisiana from the loss of at least one Congressional seat, while at the same time causing other states such as Texas and California to lose a number of seats.

Last month a report from a government watchdog found that a flawed fingerprinting system could have caused the bureau to employ up to 200 workers with criminal records. Four Republican lawmakers, citing the Government Accountability Office report released Oct. 7, then wrote to Groves asking him to assure Americans that no criminals would be knocking on people's doors next year.

But the Census Bureau does use a number of security checks as they go through the process of hiring over one million people. For instance, FBI background checks are conducted on potential employees with offenses involving violence, identity theft, and voter fraud leading to automatic disqualification.