Informant’s Relationship to Child
We have received several questions about the appropriate title for the informant on birth records for the following scenario: The person completing the birth worksheet is the biological father but is not married to the biological mother. The mother is married to someone else. Because of this, the biological father cannot sign the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity.
In this case, the title for the informant cannot be listed as “Father” as the paternity has not yet been legally established.
In OVERS, there is the option of Other (Specify) in the Relationship of Informant to Baby drop-down list. “Partner” or “Friend” can be used as the title for the informant until a point at which paternity has been legally established. Once paternity is established, a request can be made to update the title of the informant to "Father."
If you have questions about entering informant information into OVERS, please contact CHS.Registration@dhsoha.state.or.us. If you have questions about changing the informant relationship, contact the Amendments Unit at CHS.Amendments@dhsoha.state.or.us.
Occupation and Industry Information Resource
A decedent’s occupational and industry information is important data used to detect and monitor relationships between a person’s job and their cause of death. The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) has created an informative web page to help funeral directors correctly record a decedent’s occupation and industry.
Occupation refers to the decedent’s job title. This term is specific to the decedent. For example, “Pediatric Nurse”.
Industry refers to the function of the business itself. This term is specific to the business. For example, “Pediatric Healthcare”.
The following instructions for collecting occupation and industry information on death certificates is sourced directly from NIOSH's Information for Funeral Directors webpage.
Get the Best Occupation and Industry Information
- Fill out the occupation and industry information for every decedent ever employed in their life. If you determine that were never employed, please indicate "Never worked."
- Do not enter retired or disabled.
- If a person was retired, that generally indicates they had an occupation at some point. Record the longest-held occupation and corresponding industry.
- People who had a disability often still worked with their disability or had a job before the disability. If having a disability prevented them from ever having a job, please enter "Never Worked."
- It is better to ask what the decedent’s occupation was first and then ask their industry. This is because more people are familiar with a person’s job and may be confused about their industry.
- If you get a vague answer, follow-up with a prompt.
- For occupation, ask, "What was their job title?" or if they still provide a vague response like "consultant," ask "What type of consultant were they?"
- For industry, if they give a vague answer such as "business" or "manufacturing," ask, "What type of business was it?' or What did their company do or make?" Even "healthcare" is not quite specific enough. Ask "What type of healthcare? A hospital? A doctor's office? A dentist's office?"
- It is important to collect both occupation and industry. Job hazards for the same occupation can vary depending on the industry where a person worked. Please do your best to get both.
For more detailed information on collecting this data, including examples for decedents who were students or homemakers, see the Guidelines for Reporting Occupation and Industry on Death Certificates published by NIOSH.
If you have questions regarding a decedent's occupation or industry, please contact the Registration Department at CHS.Registration@dhsoha.state.or.us.
Meet Your New County Liaison, Derrick Patterson
Derrick Patterson has joined CHS as a member of the Partner Services Team.
While Derrick is new to Partner Services, he is no stranger to CHS or the Public Health Division. Derrick served in the Amendments Unit as an Amendment Specialist from 2016-2018. For the past three and a half years he has been a Program and Data Specialist with Maternal and Child Health.
Derrick’s duties in Partner Services will include serving as the County Liaison. He will be the contact person for all county questions, lead County Triennial Reviews, help with trainings, manage county workgroups, and keep in regular contact with County Vital Record Offices. Derrick will also be helping evaluate and monitor administrative rules and legislation for CHS and writing and editing monthly newsletter articles.
Derrick shares the following about himself: I’m originally from rural Idaho and have lived in Hawaii, Utah, Israel, and China but Oregon is the home of my heart. I like exploring the outdoors, science fiction, bouldering, tending to my aquariums, growing plants, and trying delicious new foods. I live in Portland with my partner, two cats, and twenty fish.
Welcome back to CHS, Derrick. We are glad you are here!
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Spot Check Tool
A Spot Check document has been created as an initial pre-review tool as part of the County Triennial Review process. The purpose of the Spot Check document is to highlight areas of compliance that will be evaluated. The county will be sent the document one month before the chosen review date. They will have that time to address any identified items that are out of compliance.
The spot checks are for different factors of two random birth orders and two random death orders in the previous year’s period. The items evaluated for each order are:
- Does the order show as Completed in the status line?
- Does each issuance of the order include the intaglio paper number?
- Does the order in Event Search exactly match what is on the order form, field-for-field?
(Example of Order Form)
(Information that should appear in Event Search in OVERS)
The Spot Check document also assesses birth and death record turnaround times, births and deaths per year, and the status of the county’s 24-hour notice of death queue. The county’s Vital Records webpage is also assessed for listing Vital Records hours, fees, forms and contact information.
Counties will be given instructions on correcting these issues before their review. This is an opportunity to ask questions to the Partner Services Team and clarify compliance issues.
Questions may be directed to: CHS.PartnerServices@dhsoha.state.or.us.
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