Improve paternity establishment in Ohio.

Paternity establishment has been a focus of efforts since 1992. In 1998, Ohio made additional efforts by adopting a Paternity Enhancement Program (PEP), a joint effort of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Service and the Ohio Department of Health. The project contracted with a vendor and depended on the cooperation of state and county child support agencies, state and local health departments, hospitals, birthing facilities, Vital Statistics, and the courts.

The project was designed to assure the following—regardless of the method used to establish paternity:

Accomplishment of the three processes would help to improve the statistical reliability of data about births to unmarried parents and data about paternity establishment as well as simplify the paternity establishment process for parents.

Key elements of the program include the following:

Central Registry staff receive the original documents, enter data about the paternity establishment into the paternity database and forward the original documents to Vital Statistics. Vital Statistics checks the new paternity document against the birth certificate. If there are changes, the old birth certificate is pulled and sealed and a new birth certificate is prepared reflecting the new information.

In addition to entering information about new paternity determinations, the Ohio Department of Jobs and Families Services has automated 11 years worth of Vital Statistics birth certificate information. Whether there is a voluntary acknowledgment or other determination of paternity, workers can go back to the birth record to see who was listed as the father on the original birth certificate. Until 1998, a father could be listed on the birth certificate without legally establishing paternity of the child. The Registry is available online to both the Department of Jobs and Family Services and the Department of Health. It is regularly used by both TANF and child support staff to determine a child's paternity status.

Paternity was established for 55,990 children in Ohio in calendar year 2000. Voluntary acknowledgment of paternity affidavits were completed for 37,037 children; the paternity of additional children was also established in calendar 2000 through administrative orders (13,067) and court orders (5,484). Together this totaled more than the number of children born to unmarried parents in Ohio that year. Thus, Ohio's Paternity Establishment Percentage was well over 100%! (paternity was established for many children born prior to 2000 hence a number which is over 100%). 66.9% of all paternities were established through the affidavit procedure.

Statewide in Ohio.

Regular IV-D funding.

Ginny Williams, a Supervisor within the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, advises:

"Dedicated paternity personnel, able to concentrate 100 percent of their time on this function, makes all the difference in the world. I would recommend that states consider using a vendor for at least a portion of this process because of their ability to concentrate on just one function."

"Having personnel dedicated solely to paternity makes it possible to create highly specialized reports - and to tailor them as needed. They can keep track of what each hospital and each local child support agency is doing each month - and offer technical assistance when needed."

"In Ohio, there would have been no way to have done an initiative of this size without significant vendor support. It is amazing how much data is involved in this process ... We would not have been able to do the necessary hiring ... we simply could not have accomplished as much with the same speed."

Ginny Williams, Supervisor, Office of Child Support, Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, ODHS, Office of Child Support, 30 East Broad Street, 31^st floor, Columbus, Ohio, 43266-0423.

phone: 614-752-6561; fax: 614-752-9760; e-mail: willig@odjfs.state.oh.us