Releasing pre-adoption birth records: the impact of Oregon's experience on its vital records department.
OBJECTIVE
In November 1998, Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 58, which allowed Oregon adoptees > or = 21 years of age access to their original birth records, which are sealed at adoption. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of the measure on the Oregon Health Division (since renamed Oregon Health Services) by assessing procedures used and resources needed after implementation of Measure 58.


METHODS
Vital records employees were interviewed about processing, storage, and archive retrieval procedures for pre-adoption birth records before, during, and after the implementation of Measure 58 and the effect on their usual workload. Personnel time, space, and fiscal resources used to process requests for pre-adoption records were also calculated.


RESULTS
The Oregon Health Division began to receive requests from adoptees immediately following the passage of Measure 58 in November 1998, but due to legal challenges, they could not be processed until May 31, 2000. From June 2, 2000, through October 20, 2000, 12 staff members and two supervisors issued more than 4,700 pre-adoption birth records while also processing their normal workload, which averages more than 135,400 vital record orders annually. Due to the need for retrieval from archives, requests for pre-adoption birth records were estimated to take 75 hours to process vs. 2-3 minutes for standard requests. Each batch of approximately 75 pre-adoption birth records required approximately 12.5 person-hours from vital records staff and 3-4 person-hours from archive personnel; in addition, supervisors spent time responding to incomplete orders, informing the public and the media, and responding to concerns of adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents. Fewer than 1% of requests went unfilled.


CONCLUSIONS
Implementation of Measure 58 utilized substantial resources of the Oregon Health Division. States contemplating similar legislation should consider increasing personnel and resources, preparing for intense public and media interest, and reorganizing the storage of adoptees' original birth records so they are easily retrieved.
Barfield
Wanda D
WD
Applied Sciences Branch, Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA. wjb5@cdc.gov
Rhodes
Julia C
JC
Kohn
Melvin A
MA
Hedberg
Katrina
K
Schoendorf
Kenneth C
KC
D022126:Access to Information / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000300:Adoption / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D000328:Adult; D001719:Birth Certificates / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003219:Confidentiality; D005260:Female; D005568:Forms and Records Control / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D019451:Information Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009922:Oregon; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D011635:Public Health Administration; D014798:Vital Statistics