Transcript Slide 1
205: Interstate Compact on the Placement
of Children
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Learning Objectives
• Participants will be able to:
– Define what an interstate compact is as well as
characteristics of an interstate compact.
– Identify circumstances in which the Interstate Compact on
the Placement of Children must be utilized.
– Identify and utilize laws, regulations, and other mandates
that impact the movement of children and youth across
state lines.
– Identify ways in which the Interstate Compact on the
Placement of Children benefits all stakeholders.
– Identify with whom jurisdiction lies under various
circumstances.
– Utilize appropriate procedures to place a child/youth
across state lines.
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Agenda
• Day One
– Brief Introductions and Workshop Overview
– What is an Interstate Compact?
– History of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of
Children
– What Safeguards are Provided by the Compact?
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Agenda (cont’d)
• Day One (cont’d)
– Who is Required to Use the ICPC and Under What
Circumstances They are Required to Use It
– Interstate Compact on Juveniles
– Who has Jurisdiction?
– Referral Process
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Agenda (cont’d)
• Day Two
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Referral Process (cont’d)
During Placement
Case Closure
Putting the Pieces Together
Evaluation and Closing
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What is an Interstate Compact?
• A formal agreement among and between states that
has the characteristics of both statutory law and
contractual agreements.
• Similar to a contract between individuals or
corporations, compacts are binding to member states.
Once enacted, no member state is able to amend it on
its own.
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Characteristics of a Compact
• They usually focus on one issue that affects multiple
states and generally include policies, regulations, and
standards agreed to by its members;
• States can act jointly on issues with or without the
existence of federal authorization or consent;
• States which are members to a compact generally adopt
it by legislation so that identical law exists in each
participating state;
• Compact law differs from uniform state law whereby the
latter permits different interpretations by courts; and
• Compact law supersedes state law when a conflict exists
within or between states.
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History of the ICPC
• Created in 1960
• New York was the first state to adopt the ICPC
• By 1990, all states plus the District of Columbia and
the Virgin Islands had adopted it.
• Although Puerto Rico is not a member, all cases with
them must go through Pennsylvania’s Interstate
Compact Office
– Cases with Puerto Rico may also be directed through
International Social Services
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Current Legislation
• Laws that will impact the number of placements
– Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children
Act (2006)
• Sets time limits for completing home studies
– Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act (2008)
• Requires intensive family finding efforts
• Within 30 days after removal, the child’s adult relatives
must be notified and informed of their options to become
a permanent resource for the child.
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Benefits to Children
• Safety;
• Improve likelihood of achieving timely permanency
with the Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of
Foster Children Act;
• Access to appropriate services;
• Ensures that family is able to meet the child’s needs;
• Maintained agency support and oversight following
placement; and
• Child can remain with family.
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Benefits to Families
• Keeps families intact;
• Ensures child’s safety;
• Child may be returned to biological parent in another
state;
• Access to appropriate services;
• Family supports;
• Maintain agency support; and
• Protection of legal rights.
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Benefits to Children and Youth Agencies
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Ensures child’s safety;
Defines roles and responsibilities;
Ensures ongoing supervision/services to child;
Improved likelihood of achieving timely permanency
with the Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of
Foster Children Act;
Timelines;
Ongoing support from OCYF;
Provides Protocol;
Encourages collaboration between member states; and
Maintains court involvement.
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Who Must Use the ICPC?
• A state party to the Compact, or any officer or
employee of a party state.
• A subdivision, such as a county or any officer or
employee of the subdivision.
• A court of a party state.
• Any person (including parents and relatives in some
instances), corporation, association, or charitable
agency of a party state.
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Regulation 3130.41 ICPC
• § 3130.41. Requirements relating to interstate
compacts.
• The county agency shall comply with:
– the requirements of the Interstate Compact on
Juveniles; and
– the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.
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Interstate Compact for Juveniles
• The Interstate Compact on Juveniles was created in
1955.
• The Interstate Compact for Juveniles was introduced
to the states in 2003 and enacted in 2008.
• Regulates the movement of juveniles who are under
court jurisdiction when moving across state lines.
• It is used mostly by the Juvenile Justice System but is
used by the Child Welfare System when a juvenile has
run away to another state without consent or has a
pending court proceeding.
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Regulation 3130.41 ICJ
• § 3130.41. (1) Requirements relating to interstate
compacts.
• (1)Under the provisions of the Interstate Compact on
Juveniles, the county agency shall:
– Provide the services necessary to return a nondelinquent
juvenile who has run away from home or other
placement to a county within this Commonwealth.
– Return to the county alleged or adjudicated dependent
children who are under the supervision of the county
agency or the court and who have run away or
absconded to other states.
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Potential Runaway Scenarios
• a youth who is willing to return to their home state
voluntarily and
• a youth who is unwilling to return to their home
state voluntarily.
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Jurisdiction Defined
• Regulation 3 of the ICPC defines jurisdiction as:
– “the established authority of a court to determine
all matters in relation to the custody, supervision,
care and disposition of a child.”
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Who Has Jurisdiction?
• Johnny was placed with his aunt in Maryland, by a
Pennsylvania County Children and Youth Agency.
Who is responsible to maintain custody?
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Who Has Jurisdiction? (cont’d)
• Carly was placed with her biological father in
Pennsylvania, by the Department of Human Services
in Florida. Who is responsible for matters regarding
disposition of the case?
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Who Has Jurisdiction? (cont’d)
• Josh is currently placed in a foster home in
Pennsylvania and is awaiting completion of a home
study on his mother’s home in Maine. With whose
laws must the home study comply?
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Who Has Jurisdiction? (cont’d)
• Suzy was placed with her aunt and uncle in Ohio, by a
Pennsylvania County Children and Youth Agency.
Suzy needs reading glasses and the insurance will only
cover a portion of the cost. Who is responsible for the
remainder of the cost?
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Who Has Jurisdiction? (cont’d)
• Zack was placed with relatives in Pennsylvania by New
Jersey Department of Children and Families, due to
ongoing drug abuse by Zack’s mother. New Jersey
Department of Children and Families wishes to return
Zack. Do they have this right?
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Who Has Jurisdiction? (cont’d)
• Chris was placed with her biological father in Ohio, by
a Pennsylvania County Children and Youth Agency, via
ICPC. She was recently arrested for stealing a car.
Does Ohio have jurisdiction to remove Chris from her
father’s home for purposes of placement in a juvenile
detention center?
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Who Has Jurisdiction? (cont’d)
• Eugene was placed in an adoptive home in
Pennsylvania, by an Ohio County Children’s Services
agency. Termination of Parental Rights has been
completed and the adoption is to be finalized in Ohio.
Which state’s laws govern the adoption process?
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Who Has Jurisdiction? (cont’d)
• Cody’s mother is a Pennsylvania resident and is being
incarcerated for one year. Cody has no other relatives
in the area. Children and Youth Services has Cody
placed in a foster home and was in the process of
making a home study request for an maternal aunt in
California, when Cody’s mother informed them that
Cody is affiliated with the Delaware Indians from New
York. Who has jurisdiction?
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Levels of Activity
• Sending Agency
– Agency where child resides
• Sending State
– ICPC Compact Administrator in child’s state
• Receiving State
– ICPC Compact Administrator in prospective guardian’s
state
• Receiving Agency
– Agency where prospective guardian resides
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Cause for Delay
• According to a report by the American Public Human
Services Association in 2002, titled Understanding
Delays in the Interstate Home Study Process, many
states reported that obtaining criminal background
checks was either the leading or in the top three causes
of delay.
• Delays from two to four months in obtaining the
checks were reported.
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ICPC Checklist Quiz Instructions
• The left column of the handout contains all possible
“required” items that may be included in any given
home study request packet. (All items are not required
for every home study packet.)
• There are five different possible placement
settings/scenarios. These options are listed in the top
row of the handout.
• Place an “X” in the boxes under each placement
setting/scenarios that correspond with an item in the
far left column that is “required” in a home study
packet for that particular setting/scenario.
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ICPC Checklist Quiz Scoring Instructions
• A perfect score is 95 points, as there are 95 blocks on
the grid.
• Subtract one point for each block answered incorrectly.
An incorrect answer is one in which the block was
either
– checked and should not have been checked
0r
– left empty and should have been checked.
• Add the number of incorrect answers and subtract that
number from 95 to find your final score.
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ICPC Form 100-A
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Form CY-935 (Financial/Medical Plan)
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Cause for Delay
• According to a report by the American Public Human
Services Association in 2002, titled Understanding
Delays in the Interstate Home Study Process, 53
percent of those surveyed identified resolving financial
and medical responsibilities prior to placement in
another state as the primary contributor to delays from
a sending state’s perspective.
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Possible Home Study Outcomes
• Prospective family approved;
• Prospective family tentatively approved pending
completion of training and education;
• Prospective family tentatively approved pending
outcome of background checks; and
• Prospective family disapproved because of child abuse
or criminal history exists or because the family failed
to complete the training and educational
requirements.
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Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical
Assistance
• Established in 1986 to safeguard and protect the
interstate interests of children covered by an adoption
assistance agreement when they move or are adopted
across state lines.
• Enables members to coordinate the provision of
medical benefits and services to children receiving
adoption assistance in interstate cases.
• Provides a framework when a child with special needs
is adopted by a family in another state, or the adoptive
family moves to another state.
• www.aaicama.org
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Receiving Agency Responsibilities
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Supervision;
Supervision reports to ICO;
Ensure Safety and Well-being;
Treat case as your own;
Maintain a strong line of
communication/collaboration with the sending agency
caseworker;
• For adoptions, make sure that who is going to finalize
the adoption is clear;
• Recommendations for change; and
• Monitor progress on the CPP/FSP.
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Receiving State ICO Responsibilities
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Review and approve ICPC Form 100-B;
Monitor periodic progress reports;
Review any recommendations; and
Concurrence for case closure must be in writing from
both State ICO’s.
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Sending Agency Responsibilities
• You are not done when the child moves;
• ICPC Form 100-B;
• Maintain a strong line of
communication/collaboration with the receiving
agency caseworker;
• Make sure there is a clear goal;
• Ongoing service planning;
• Ongoing concurrent planning;
• Ensure Safety and Well-being; and
• Risk assessments.
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Sending Agency Responsibilities cont’d
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Face-to-face visits every 180 days;
Court reviews;
Make sure you are getting quarterly reports;
Maintain records (Medical, educational,
psychological, etc.);
• For adoptions, make sure that who is going to
finalize the adoption is clear; and
• For adoptions, complete and submit ICAMA Form
6.01.
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Sending State ICO Responsibilities
• Monitor periodic progress reports;
• Review any recommendations; and
• Concurrence for case closure must be in writing from
both State ICO’s.
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Circumstances that Allow for Case Closure
• …until the child
– is adopted,
– reaches majority,
– becomes self-supporting,
– or is discharged with the concurrence of the
appropriate authority in the receiving state.
The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
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ICPC Form 100-A
The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
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Form CY-935 (Financial/Medical Plan)
The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
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ICPC Home Study Request Activity
• Some items required for the ICPC request packet are
provided in the handout, while some of the items are
not provided. It is also possible that some of the items
provided are not necessary. You will need to:
– identify which proposed placement setting, from the
ICPC Checklist, applies to this scenario;
– determine which items you will need to keep and which
items you can discard, as well as why; and
– if any items are missing, you will need to create them.
Do not create anything from scratch; rather identify
what is missing and ask the trainer to provide those
missing items to you.
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Question and Answer
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