What if:

(1)    The Social Security Death Index were no longer available online or

(2)   Birth certificates in every state were not made public for 125 years, nor death certificates, marriages and divorce records available until after 75 years?

These and similar proposals further limiting genealogical access to “public” records are  being actively considered by policy-makers at the state and federal levels.

Recent posts here at the RPAC Blog at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/  give additional information.

We expect to have a significant announcement to make on Valentine’s Day, the 14^th of February.  Please plan to check back at the RPAC Blog at that time.

In the meantime, what can individual genealogists and local societies do?  In essence, our message is “Get Involved!”

Start by asking these two questions:

(1)  Do I know who my legislators (state & federal) are?

(2)  Do they know who I am?

Talking Points on Why Genealogists need the SSDI

Jan Meisels Allen, vice president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) and chairperson of the IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee, is the IAJGS representative to the Records Preservation and Access Committee and was one of three featured guests on the edition of GeneaBloggers Radio hosted by Thomas MacEntee  Friday Evening, the 6^th of January entitled:

Genealogy New Year’s Resolutions for 2012

 We anticipate having audio of her segment in a few days but in the meantime she can be heard in the last twenty-five minutes of the full program found at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/geneabloggers/2012/01/07/genealogy-new-years-resolutions-for-2012

 Added RPAC Audio Segment:  RPAC segment on GeneaBloggers

 Jan covered the history and role of the Records Preservation and Access Committee and the genealogical organizations that support its efforts to preserve our access to the records we need.   

She discussed the need for RPAC State Liaisons in the twenty-one jurisdictions not currently represented as reflected in the Liaisons Needed list found on the Publications link on this blog.

RPAC has developed resources such as the Tool Kit also found on the Publications page.  With thanks to FamilySearch, Jan Allen’s presentation was videotaped after the RPAC session at the NGS Conference in Charleston and is available at:

http://broadcast.lds.org/elearning/FHD/Community/EN/RPAC/Tool_Kit_for_State_Liaisons/Player.html

Jan also reviewed some of the pending legislation which might adversely affect our access to the Social Security Death Index (aka Master Death File) and other resources.  The initial link at the beginning of this post and here gives background and lists legislators with an interest in this topic with whom genealogists may wish to correspond.  Talking Points on SSDI

IAJGS maintains a particularly valuable online resource of US and Canadian Government Legislative Websites where you can go to find your representatives and how to reach them at:  http://www.iajgs.org/pramc/legisites.html

Pending legislative initiatives of concern to the genealogical community can also be found at the IAJGS Legislative Alert page of their website at:  http://www.iajgs.org/pramc/legislation.html  

What can individual genealogists and local societies do?  In essence, Jan’s message is “Get Involved!”

Start by asking these two questions:

(1)  Do I know who my legislators (state & federal) are?

(2)  Do they know who I am?

Dear Colleague 11 14 11

Throughout the fall, members of the Records Preservation and Access Committee have been monitoring new threats to our access to the Social Security Death Index (also known as the  Death Master File) and seeking to share the concerns of the genealogical community with key decision-makers and staff.

 Many of us also began to see this fall redactions of parental names (or outright rejections) of requested copies  of the Social Security Administration Form SS-5 prepared when a person first applies for a Social Security number.   The regulations implementing a new, more-restricted policy are found at:  http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0203350005

(Scroll down to Section I for the provisions on redaction of  parental information.)

The Scripps Howard Article found the following URL has been widely picked up by newspapers across the country:  http://www.dailyrepublic.com/apnews/social-security-death-list-enables-dead-childrens-id-theft/

 Congressman Sam Johnson (R-TX) has been outraged by these and other  press reports of abuses of the Master Death File and has introduced legislation (H.R. 3475) to limit access to the DMF and SSN’s in general.  His press release announcing this initiative is found at:  http://www.samjohnson.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=269671 .

H.R.3475:  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3475ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3475ih.pdf

The issue has been active in both houses of the Congress and has prompted a number of legislative proposals of which S.B. 1534, H.R 3482, & HR 3215 are additional examples.

SB 1534 :  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s1534is/pdf/BILLS-112s1534is.pdf

HR 3482:  http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3482ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3482ih.pdf

HR 3215 :

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3215ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3215ih.pdf

Senator Sherrod Brown, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and others have joined in urging family history web sites to take down the DMF or limit the information displayed.  Senator Brown’s “Dear Colleague” letter organizing that effort is attached.

The genealogical blogs have been burning up over these developments for several weeks.  One of the most detailed accounts is found on the blog of  internationally recognized genealogist, Megan Smolenyak at :  http://megansmolenyak.posterous.com/are-we-going-to-lose-the-social-security-deat

We expect to have some additional developments to report shortly after the 9th of January 2012.  Please stay tuned.

Memorandum to the Genealogical Community (Part 3)

The attached memorandum from Peter Broadbent reports on the results of the 22 November meeting of the Virginia Joint Commission on Health Care which considered a number of options possibly impacting our access to Virginia Vital Records.  Among the proposals addressed by the Commission included initiatives by the Virginia Genealogical Society to improve genealogical access to those records.

The results of this session are preliminary and only partially addressed issues of concern to us.  Additional action on the part of the full legislature will be required to implement the recommendations of the Commission.

In Peter’s words:

“On the positive side, the genealogical community generated over 400 comments to legislators
in the last few weeks, and VDH’s attempts to lengthen the “closed” periods were rejected by the
Commission. Reducing the “closed” periods for death and marriage records to 25 years would by
itself be a major accomplishment.”

We will continue to work with our colleagues with the Virginia genealogical community in an effort to improve access to the resources we need.  We expect to have more information to share after the Legislature convenes in January.

This week’s episode hosted by Thomas MacEntee is entitled Genealogy and the Vital Records Access Crisis. Our guest will be Frederick E. Moss, FGS Legal Advisor  and member of the Records Access and Preservation Committee, a joint committee of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the National Genealogical Society, and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. Fred will help us understand how access to vital records is currently being threatened and what you can do to ensure access for all genealogy and family history researchers.

To access this and past episodes of FGS Radio see the FGS home page at  http://www.fgs.org/ .

Major points:

(1)  Please support the call for letters from the Virginia Genealogical Society re SB 865.

(2)  Watch for the public comment period re the 2011 Revision of the Model State Vital Statistics Act.  Check RPAC Blog often.

The National Association of for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS) website includes a centralized resource with vital statistics statutes and regulations collected from the jurisdictions.

http://www.naphsis.org/index.asp?bid=1351

NAPHSIS Resolution

The preceding file describes the current status of the 2011 Revision of the Model State Vital Statistics Act.

The vital statistics of the United States are collected and published through a decentralized, cooperative system.  Responsibility for the registration of births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, divorces and annulments and the reporting of induced terminations of pregnancy is vested in the 57 vital registration jurisdictions.  The degree of uniformity necessary for national statistics has been achieved by periodic issuance of recommended standards which take the form of model laws and regulations, definitions, and reporting forms.  

The Model State Vital Statistics Act and Regulations (Model Law) was developed to serve as a model for states in preparing their own laws and regulations.  The Model Law has been designed to improve the quality and uniformity of state data by establishing standard reporting requirements, definitions, and procedures for registering vital events.  The Model Law has an impact on how vital statistics data are collected at the state level, which in turn impacts on national vital statistics.  The 1992 Revision also contains provisions limiting public access to birth records for 100 years after the date of birth or 50 years after the date of death, marriage, or divorce. 

The first Model Law was developed in 1907 by the Bureau of the Census and has been revised periodically through a cooperative process between the appropriate federal agency responsible for national vital statistics and state vital statistics offices.  The last revision of the Model Law and regulations was in 1992.

In the near future, we anticipate that an opportunity will be provided for public comment on the draft of the 2011 Revision of the Model Act.  We have opened a channel into those offices at the Centers for Disease Control currently responsible for finalizing the 2011 Revision.   Once the draft becomes available for review and comment, the Records Preservation and Access Committee will broadly notify the genealogical community and strive to develop a coordinated response.

Once the draft is made available, your comments and suggestions should be forwarded to access@fgs.org .  After analysis and coordination we will seek to provide a recommended response and appropriate suggestions for the genealogical community to consider.

The provisions of this revision could well influence our access to vital records for another twenty years.  Check back to this blog regularly for the latest developments in this issue.

 VGS Newsletter–Call for Letters

The preceding file is a newsletter article from the Virginia Genealogical Society  entitled:

WILL THERE BE IMPROVED – OR EVEN MORE RESTRICTED –ACCESS

TO VIRGINIA’S VITAL RECORDS?

Even though the official comment period to the Commission has closed, individual legislators will still pay attention to your emails received before November 22.

            Please take the time to send an email to the legislators who are on the Commission (at the email addresses below), emphasizing the need for reform of Virginia’s vital records.

            Messages to legislators should mention SB865, and ask legislators to support reform of Virginia’s vital records, at the November 22 meeting namely:

1.                  Family members (liberally defined) should be granted liberal access to “closed” records. 

2.                  Death certificates should become “open” public records immediately, not after 50 years (or longer).  There are no legitimate identity theft or privacy reasons to keep death certificates “closed”.

3.                  Once vital records held by VDH are no longer “closed”, VDH should turn over these public records of LVA and make them available to researchers.

4.                  Please thank Senator Blevins for leading this important reform effort.

This study may be the only opportunity for Virginia vital records reform in a generation; and there is a real risk that if enough genealogists or societies do not write Commission members and their own legislators, that the “closed” periods could actually be lengthened.

Additional background and the addresses of appropriate members of the Virginia Legislature are to be found by clicking on the link at the beginning of this post.

VA Staff Report SB865

The preceding file is the staff summary of comments received by the Joint Commission on Health Care (JCHC)  on the options spelled out in the Staff Report on SB865 prior to the comment deadline of 6 October.

Approximately 150 genealogists or genealogical societies (and others)  provided comments in the two week period for which comments were open.  The majority of comments supported not further restricting access to vital records, but to expand public access.

The letter from the Virginia Department of Health found at pp.17-19 of the attachment represents the most interesting support for lengthening the period for all closed records, urges keeping “immediate family” disclosure only in place, and says that effective November 1, 2011, Virginia’s death records will no longer appear in the Social Security Death Index.

Although the comments subject to staff analysis had to be received prior to 6 October 2011,  the Virginia Genealogical Society will be encouraging letters to the Senators and delegates making up the JCHC prior to the next meeting of the full Commission now set for 22 November.  Specific suggestions for the content of your letters will be provided by a separate post to this blog.

Memorandum to the Genealogical Community (Part 2)

An additional suggestion from Peter Broadbent for appropriate action by  individual members of the genealogical community and Societies:

“Several of you have asked me what else you can do, or who else you can write, besides the
JCHC designated staff contact for comments.
It would be helpful if you could write directly to the members of the Commission,
particularly if you have stories of VDH denying you or a client access to a grandparent’s records,
etc. (or email a copy of your comments to the Commission staff). ”

The attached memorandum identifies Senators and members of the House of Delegates who serve on the Joint Commission on Health Care, listing their areas and appropriate email addresses.

It would be appropriate for you to share directly with these members the comments on SB 865 you have provided to the Commission staff, particularly if you live in their district.