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205: Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children. Learning Objectives. Participants will be able to: Define what an interstate compact is as well as characteristics of an interstate compact.
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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.
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?
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
Agenda (cont’d) • Day Two • Referral Process (cont’d) • During Placement • Case Closure • Putting the Pieces Together • Evaluation and Closing
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Benefits to Children and Youth Agencies • 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Receiving Agency Responsibilities • 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.
Receiving State ICO Responsibilities • 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.
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.
Sending Agency Responsibilities cont’d • 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.
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.
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.
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.
