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Social Security reverses course, will allow Maine parents to register their newborn at hospitals

LEWISTON — Parents will no longer be able to sign newborns up for Social Security directly at the hospital due to changes in the system announced by the Department of Health and Human Services.

An email with an explanation of the changes was sent out to city clerks and maternity wards around the state Wednesday.

“Effective immediately,” the email reads, “the option for parents to participate in the enumeration at birth process will be suspended. The enumeration at birth is a Social Security Administration program that allowed parents to complete applications for Social Security numbers for their newborns as part of the hospital birth registration process.”

Instead, the email continues, parents will now need to visit a Social Security office to apply for a child’s Social Security number.

The email was sent out Wednesday by Theresa Roberts, supervisor and deputy state registrar with DHHS. Roberts did not provide any explanation of why the change was made.

Lewiston City Clerk Kathleen M. Montejo said Thursday she received the email a day before. Part of the process for obtaining a child’s Social Security number for those in Lewiston, she said, can be done at City Hall, where a birth certificate can be obtained.

With the birth certificate in hand, a parent will then have to get a copy to the Social Security office in order to receive a Social Security number.

Previously, when a child was born, the parents were given forms to acquire both birth certificates and Social Security numbers right at the hospital where the birth took place. Hospital workers would input the information into a statewide database and both birth certificate and Social Security number would be forthcoming.

The nearest Social Security Office in the Twin Cities area is at 600 Turner St. in Auburn. There are also offices in Augusta, Bangor, Portland, Presque Isle, Rockland, Saco and Waterville.

Roberts, from DHHS, did not respond to messages left late Thursday afternoon.