Some adoptions may take place beginning in one state and finishing in another. Some adoptions may be more complicated.
The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is a federal contract that helps to govern the placement of a child as they move from one state to another. The ICPC may more often be used for children who are in foster care. As the child protective services agency in the child’s state begins to work on a new placement for the child, they go through the ICPC process, ensuring that the child is placed into a safe foster home.
The ICPC governs interstate adoptions for the same reason. The sending state and the receiving state may be required to follow every rule in completing the adoption.
How does the ICPC affect interstate adoptions?
The intent of the ICPC protects adoptive children by ensuring that their adoptive home is a safe placement. The family law attorney from the sending state sends materials about the pending adoption to a lawyer in the receiving state. The ICPC requires every state to bring it into the process during interstate adoptions.
Beginning an adoption with the “sending state”
As the adoption process begins, documents that are sent to the receiving state involve the protective services agency in the receiving state. Protective services sends a social worker to the adoptive parents’ home, who greets the family and begins a home study.
Depending on the social worker’s report, their agency may decide whether to approve the adoption or deny it. An approval allows the adoption to move forward.
Every state is a member of the ICPC. The District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands are as well.
