What is the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children?
The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children ensures protection and services to children who are placed across state lines for foster care or adoption. The Compact is a uniform law enacted by all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands. It establishes orderly procedures for the interstate placement of children and fixes responsibility for those involved in placing the child. The Compact applies to 4 types of situations: • Placement preliminary to an adoption; • Placements into foster care, including foster homes, group homes, residential treatment facilities and institutions; • Placements with parents and relatives when a parent or relative is not making the placement; and • Placements of adjudicated delinquents in institutions in other states.
The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) established a uniform law to provide an orderly procedure for the placement of children between jurisdictions. When the interstate placement is being considered, ICPC requires that the prospective sending agency submit a written notice of proposed placement to the Compact Administrator in the receiving state. Almost all party states further require that this notice be submitted to the sending state Compact Administrator, who then forwards it to the prospective receiving state. Upon receiving notice of the proposed placement, the Compact Administrator will forward the documents to the “appropriate party” in the receiving state for further action. The “appropriate party” will usually be a local public or private child welfare agency or the residential facility which is being asked to accept the child. The “action” needed on any particular request will vary depending upon the nature of the proposed placement, and may include a hom
