This is for informational purposes only. This entire process occurs at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. It is not a Child Support Services process.
- When a completed Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP) form is received at Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) Division of Vital Records, it is sent to OSDH’s Financial Management section. OSDH Financial Management reviews the packets to determine if money is included. Once it is determined there is no money, the AOPs are sent to the New Birth Desk.
- Once at the New Birth Desk, clerks file stamp the AOPs with the “date received” stamp. After that process is completed, the clerk then makes copies of the AOPs and sends them to the Center for Coordinated Programs at Child Support Services (CSS).
- The AOPs are then sorted into two groups: ROVER babies (born after 4/1/2009) and pre-ROVER babies (born prior to 4/1/2009). Each stack of AOPs then goes to its correct clerk for processing.
- ROVER babies. The assigned clerk goes into each child’s online birth record in the ROVER system and double checks what is listed in ROVER against what is listed on the AOP. All information is checked with the exception of addresses.
- The clerk checks each AOP for the following: the marital status of the mother, signatures of the parents, signatures and addresses of the witnesses, and the parent’s and child’s names. The clerk also checks to see if a Denial of Paternity was received if the mother indicated on the birth record the husband was not the father of the child.
- If the birth clerk determines the AOP is to be rejected, a blank AOP is mailed to the parents along with a letter of explanation. If a Denial of Paternity is received with no matching AOP, it is returned to the parents with a letter of explanation.
- The State File Number (SFN) is hand-written on the top left corner of the AOP. The AOP is then filed in the physical files.
- If the parents completed a multi-carbon form version of the AOP and mail in the entire packet without retaining the pink copy for the mother and the gold copy for the father, OSDH Division of Vital Records will not forward the pink and gold copies to the mother and father due to lack of staff in their unit.
- AOPs are also completed at OSDH Division of Vital Records at the window. Parents are given a blank AOP.
vi. The volume of AOPs CSS receives from OSDH Division of Vital Records is in direct correlation with the amount of AOPs OSDH Division of Vital Records receives from birthing facilities. - AOPs completed late (more than 7 days after the child is born) are marked “fee due,” and the parent(s) must pay this fee before receiving a copy of the birth certificate. Their highest volume time periods are tax time and the period before school starts.
- Pre-ROVER babies. The birth clerk is often two or more months behind in processing AOPs for pre-ROVER babies because the clerk also processes adoptions and court ordered paternities.
- The birth clerk pulls the original birth certificate from the Vault and makes the necessary corrections. A photocopy is then made (or the yellow copy of the multi-carbon form is removed) and sent to the ROVER birth clerk so it can be sent to CSS. The original is then rescanned and put in a sealed envelope with the father’s name on the outside. Birth records in the Vault are then filed by father’s name within sections for each birth year.
- The birth clerk assigned to pre-ROVER children employs a hierarchy when processing documents. Overnight express envelopes are processed first. If the AOP is brought to the reception area and dropped off, it is processed within 5-7 days. Finally, if it was mailed in, it is “first in, first out.”
- ROVER babies. The assigned clerk goes into each child’s online birth record in the ROVER system and double checks what is listed in ROVER against what is listed on the AOP. All information is checked with the exception of addresses.