The State Needs Your Help to Meet Federal Requirement for Paternity Establishment
Paternity establishment has implications for both children and their parents. Each year the state must meet the goal set by the federal government of 90% paternity establishment. Analysis of paternity establishment through June 2020 for all paternities is at 67%. The state needs to be at 90% by the end of September. We need your help to make sure an additional 1,500 paternities get established to meet the 90%.
Oregon needs facility Acknowledgments of Paternity (AOP) to be above 80% for births to unmarried mothers.
Below you will find the hospital paternity establishments for October 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020. Hospitals at 80% or higher - keep up the good work. Hospitals below 80% - every form makes a difference.
 Birth Information Specialists and Midwives are instrumental in ensuring that the state of Oregon fulfills the paternity establishment percentage.
Responsibilities of Birth Information Specialists and Midwives in a Facility:
- Ensure parents have heard the Rights and Responsibilities before completing the form.
- Check the form for accuracy and completeness before submitting to the state.
- Make sure parents have signed and dated the form.
- Check the form is witnessed and dated by hospital staff.
- Be sure the dates the parents sign the form match the witness dates.
- Mail the forms to us immediately. Do not hold in batches. They must be postmarked within 14 days of birth.
- Provide the Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity (45-31) form to parents as soon as you can. There is another option if the form can’t be signed at the hospital: you can provide the notarized form 45-21. The 60-day grace period to receive these forms is still in effect and there are now Oregon notaries that can notarize a document remotely online. Our staff will also be able to notarize this form online.
Our office can make this process easier for you by providing prepaid envelopes to return the Acknowledgment of Paternity form. Envelopes and the 45-21 or 45-31 forms can be ordered using the form found here. The paternity acknowledgment form is also available in OVERS.
Please contact us for ways to increase the number of paternities at your facility or for questions about the form. Call or e-mail: Kristen Farrell, Vital Records Specialist 971-673-1176 or e-mail chs.amendments@state.or.us.
If you would like training on AOP’s, contact Kathy Ellis, Vital Records Trainer, at 971-637-1353 or email kathy.ellis@dhsoha.state.or.us.
Deadline to Submit BIS Training Certificates:
September 30, 2020
Birth Information Specialists that have not submitted their OVERS Certificate and their CDC Certificate must do so by September 30, 2020. If we haven't received your certificates by this date, you will not be able to access OVERS to complete birth records.
Complete the training listed below to continue OVERS access. You can either print, sign and fax these certificates to 971-673-1202 or e-mail a copy of the signed certificate to kathy.ellis@dhsoha.state.or.us.
OVERS Certificate
Review the BIS Training 2020 powerpoint: Oregon laws and policies for reporting births and fetal deaths. At the end of the PowerPoint, there is a link to the OVERS training certificate.
CDC Certificate
Complete the Applying Best Practices for Medical and Health Information on Birth Certificates, an eLearning training by NCHS. The guidebooks previously provided to your facility complement this training.
If you are not sure we have your certificates on file, contact the Vital Records Trainer at kathy.ellis@dhsoha.state.or.us.
Surrogate Mothers
Hospital staff frequently ask how to complete a birth record when the mother giving birth is a surrogate for the biological parent(s). The person who gives birth must be listed on the birth record as the mother. The record must be completed with her medical information (Oregon Revised Statute 432.088 (8)). For that reason, the surrogate mother is the person who should fill out the birth worksheet.
Occasionally, biological or legal parents request to be listed on the birth certificate at the hospital when they are having a surrogate mother deliver their baby. They may feel a sense of urgency to be listed on the certificate due to travel needs. Parents from another country who used a surrogate mother in Oregon may need to obtain a passport for the baby, so they can travel to their home country with their child. Another reason for this urgency could be that the parents’ misunderstand the process for putting their names on the birth certificate. When legal parentage of the child has been decided by a court prior to the birth, the parents might present a copy of the court judgment and request that their names be put on the birth record at the hospital. They may think that the court order gives them that right. However, this is not the case. What should be done in these situations?
- Explain to the parents that under Oregon law the person who delivers the baby is listed as the "mother" of the child.
- Explain to the parent or attorney that the court order will be used at Oregon State Vital Records to put the biological or legal parent information on the birth certificate.
- If they persist, call the Vital Records office for help. Remember, we are here to support you and the work that you do. For assistance, contact Debbie Draghia, Adoption Specialist, 971-673-1152 or email deborah.l.draghia@state.or.us or Ryan Sanders, Amendment Manager, 971-673-1178 or email ryan.g.sanders@state.or.us.
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