THE INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT …

1 THE INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN: A Manual and Instructional Guide for Juvenile and Family Court Judges A Collaboration of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the American Public Human Services Association Fall 2001 Principal Editor: Barbara Seibel, Consultant Approved by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Permanency Planning for Children Committee, July 2001 Approved by Association of Administrators of the INTERSTATE COMPACT on the PLACEMENT of Children Executive Committee Special thanks to the following individuals who contributed to the development of this Manual and Instructional Guide: 2000 AAICPC Executive Committee 2001 AAICPC Executive Committee Christine Bailey: NCJFCJ Kate Carson: APHSA Charles Edwards: Missouri Department of Family Services Judge Leonard Edwards: Superior Court, County of Santa Clara Dennis Eshman: APHSA Barbara Glaser.

2 APHSA Donna Goldsmith: Office of Attorney General, Alaska Judge Thomas Hornsby: NCJFCJ Ursula Krieger: APHSA Mary Volpa Mentaberry: NCJFCJ Liz Oppenheim: APHSA Amy Plotnick: APHSA Betsey Rosenbaum: APHSA Patricia J. White: NCJFCJ Dr. Mitchell Wendell: AAICPC This manual has been funded by an Adoptions Opportunities Grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children, Youth & Families, Children s Bureau Grant # 90C00898. This manual also was supported by Grant No. 96-CT-NX-0001 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, Department of Justice, to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

3 The INTERSTATE COMPACT on the PLACEMENT of Children: A Manual and Instructional Guide for Juvenile and Family Court Judges Table of Contents i INTRODUCTION I. WHAT IS THE INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN? II. PURPOSE OF THIS MANUAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE III. HISTORY OF NCJFCJ AND APHSA COLLABORATION REGARDING THE ICPC IV. WHY THIS MANUAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE IS NEEDED V. HISTORY OF THE ICPC VI. ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE OF THE ICPC A. State COMPACT Administrators B. The Association of Administrators of the INTERSTATE COMPACT on the PLACEMENT of Children (AAICPC) C. The Secretariat of the ICPC VII.

4 COLLABORATING TO MAKE THE ICPC WORK FOR CHILDREN A. Why It Is Important to Children That the ICPC Be Followed B. How Judges Can Help Make the ICPC Work for Children C. The Value of Team Training D. Comments on Ex Parte Communication VIII. CURRENT JUDICIAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE ICPC A. Knowledge of the ICPC B. Timeliness C. Training Needs THE INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN: A Manual and Instructional Guide for Juvenile and Family Court Judges TABLE OF CONTENTS The INTERSTATE COMPACT on the PLACEMENT of Children: A Manual and Instructional Guide for Juvenile and Family Court Judges Table of Contents ii chapter I: ICPC PROCEDURES I.

5 WHEN THE COMPACT DOES AND DOES NOT APPLY TO A CASE A. Who Must Use the COMPACT B. Types of Cases That Are Subject to the ICPC C. Types of Cases That Are not Subject to the ICPC D. Regulations, Secretariat Opinions, and Case Examples That Help Clarify When the ICPC Does and Does Not Apply 1. Placements with parents and family free homes 2. Exempt and non-exempt relatives 3. Differences between PLACEMENT of a child and allowing the child to visit in another state 4. Determining if the PLACEMENT is a residential PLACEMENT 5. ICPC and the Indian Child Welfare Act 6. Pregnant women giving birth in hospitals in other states and surrendering the infant for adoption by persons in the state where the birth occurred 7.

6 Inter-country placements 8. Residency of military personnel 9. Determining whether to use the ICPC or the ICJ for out-of-state confinement of adjudicated delinquents 10. Relationship between the ICPC, UCCJA/UCCJEA, and the PKPA II. WHEN COURTS MUST RETAIN JURISDICTION IN ICPC CASES AND WHEN JURISDICTION CAN BE DISMISSED OR TERMINATED A. Retention of Jurisdiction B. Unilateral Dismissal of Jurisdiction III. TIME FRAMES AND PRIORITY PLACEMENTS A. Routine Processing of Referrals B. Home Studies 1. Completion 2. Permission to make a PLACEMENT C. Time Lines for Non-Priority Placements 1. Placements that do not involve foster home licensing or adoption 2.

7 Placements involving foster home licensing or adoption D. Regulation 7 Priority Placements 1. Consequences of misidentifying a Regulation 7 Priority PLACEMENT The INTERSTATE COMPACT on the PLACEMENT of Children: A Manual and Instructional Guide for Juvenile and Family Court Judges Table of Contents iii IV. SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLES OF THE ICPC A. Article I. Purpose and Policy B. Article II. Definition C. Article III. Conditions for PLACEMENT D. Article IV. Penalty for Illegal PLACEMENT E. Article V. Retention of Jurisdiction F. Article VI. Institutional Care of Delinquent Children G. Article VII. COMPACT Administrator H. Article VIII.

8 Limitations I. Article IX. Enactment and Withdrawal J. Article X. Construction and Severability V. SUMMARY OF THE REGULATIONS OF THE ICPC A. Regulation No Forms B. Regulation No. 1. Conversion of Intrastate PLACEMENT into INTERSTATE PLACEMENT ; Relocation of Family Units C. Regulation No. 2. Repealed D. Regulation No. 3. Placements with Parents, Relatives, Non-agency Guardians, and Non-family Settings E. Regulation No. 4. Residential PLACEMENT F. Regulation No. 5. Central State COMPACT Office G. Regulation No. 6. Permission to Place Child: Time Limitations, Reapplication H.

9 Regulation No. 7. Priority PLACEMENT I. Regulation No. 8. Change of PLACEMENT Purpose J. Regulation No. 9. Definition of a Visit K. Regulation No. 10. Guardians VI. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON ICPC PROCEDURES chapter II: ICPC CHALLENGES, SOLUTIONS, AND BEST PRACTICES I. ILLEGAL PRACTICES A. Illegal Placements B. Attempting to Use a Visit to Evade Compliance C. Inappropriately Using Guardianship to Evade Compliance D. Consequences of Illegal Placements E. A Best Practice to Deal with Unilateral Terminations Missouri s Second Chance Statute The INTERSTATE COMPACT on the PLACEMENT of Children: A Manual and Instructional Guide for Juvenile and Family Court Judges Table of Contents iv II.

10 STRATEGIES TO PREVENT OR DEAL WITH DELAYS IN THE ICPC PROCESS A. Case Tracking Systems 1. Individual case monitoring through court review 2. Aggregate case tracking B. Best Practices to Decrease the Length of Time for ICPC Approval in All Types of ICPC Cases 1. Ensuring that the completion of court orders does not delay the process 2. Using fax and overnight mail 3. Using concurrent transmittals of requests to expedite the ICPC process 4. Enhanced communication to quickly identify and resolve delays 5. Judges directly communicating with state ICPC Administrators regarding delays 6. Using judicial leadership to influence the local and state child protection agency to implement recommended practices to expedite ICPC requests C.