Alabama is now selling keepsake birth certificates, a project that will help abused and neglected children.

The Alabama State Council on the Arts, the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama Department of Child Abuse Prevention/Children’s Trust Fund have collaborated to offer three types of specially designed keepsake birth certificates for those born in Alabama.

Part of the fee collected will be paid into the Children’s Trust Fund, which supports programs and activities for the education and prevention of child abuse and neglect.

The Alabama artists commissioned to create the colorfully illustrated designs were Bethanne Hill, the late Woodie Long and Cyd Moore.

The birth certificates are available now from Public Health’s Center for Health Statistics for anyone born in Alabama for whom there is a record on file.

Under Alabama law, birth certificates are confidential for 125 years from the date of birth and can only be issued to the person named on the certificate or to an immediate family member. Others must have signed permission from an authorized individual.

The keepsake birth certificate is not a document that can be used for legal purposes; it is intended only as a keepsake for framing or display. The fee for a keepsake birth certificate is $45. Designs, featuring kites, rabbits, nature, are available.

Sample keepsake birth certificates can be viewed and applications downloaded at the Keepsake Birth Certificate at http://adph.org/vitalrecords/index.asp?id=4210 page or they can be requested by contacting the Alabama Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics, P.O. Box 5625, Montgomery, AL 36103-5625 or by calling (334) 206-5418.

For more information on the Alabama Department of Child Abuse Prevention/Children’s Trust Fund visit the Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention at http://ctf.state.al.us or the Alabama State Council for the Arts http://www.arts.alabama.gov.