Overview of ICPC ProcessWhat the Guardian ad Litem

Needs to Know

H. Stephen Pennypacker, Esq.

ICPC Compact Administrator

September 19, 2008

Outline

1) What is the ICPC and why do we need it

2) When does it apply and when does it not apply

3) What is the process

4) Articles of interest

5) Regulations of interest

6) ICPC Central Office

7) What slows an ICPC down

8) The New ICPC

What is the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children?

• An agreement created by social service administrators in 1950’s to provide order to the movement of children between states under court jurisdiction

• New York was first state to adopt it in 1960• Adopted by all 50 states, District of Columbia, Virgin

Islands• Not adopted by Puerto Rico• 10 Articles, 9 Regulations (Number 2 repealed in 1999)• Articles are statutory (Fla. Stat. 401.409)• Regulations are derivative of articles, adopted by the

Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact

What is the Compact (con’t.)?

a) defines the types of placements

(parent/relative/foster care/adoptive/residential) and the persons or entities able to make placements subject to the law

b) sets out the procedures to be followed in making an interstate placement

c) provides specific protections, services, and requirements if placement occurs

Why is the Compact needed?• Provides the sending agency the opportunity to

obtain homestudies and an evaluation of the proposed placement.

• Allows the prospective receiving state to ensure that the placement is not “contrary to the interests of the child” and that the receiving state’s applicable laws and policies have been followed before approving the placement.

• Guarantees the child legal and financial protection by fixing these responsibilities with the sending agency or individual.

• Ensures the sending agency does not lose jurisdiction over the child once the child moves to the receiving state.

• Provides the sending agency the opportunity to obtain supervision and regular reports on the child’s adjustment and progress in the placement.

What if there were no compact?

If there were no compact, the court could send children to another state with no homestudy, no services, no supervision, no obligation to provide support, and no jurisdiction.

Conversely, children would be arriving in Florida every day to live in unsuitable, even dangerous homes, with no services, no support, and no supervision – many would end up in our dependency and/or delinquency system or worse.

When does the Compact apply?

– Placement preliminary to an adoption, including placements through a public agency, private agencies or attorneys.

– Placements into foster care, including foster homes, group homes and residential treatment facilities.

– Placements with parents and relatives when a parent or relative is not making the placement.

When does the Compact NOT apply?

• Placements made in medical and mental health facilities• Boarding schools or “any institution primarily educational

in character”• Placement of a child made by and to a parent,

stepparent, grandparent, adult brother or sister, adult aunt or uncle, or child’s guardian

• Divorce or custody procedures• International studies or international adoptions• Visits (up to 30 days or summer school vacation)• Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam or Samoa

How do you begin an ICPC

• Order of Compliance – entered by court

Regular – parent/relative/foster care

Intact family – child already placed

Priority (Regulation 7) - expedited

Court Jurisdiction – supervision closed or non-public agency

Checklist Florida to Another State

Priority ICPC – Regulation 7• 6. A court order finding entitlement to a priority placement shall not be valid

unless it contains an express finding that one or more of the following circumstances applies to the particular case and sets forth the facts on which the court bases its finding:

•     (a) the proposed placement recipient is a relative belonging to a class of persons who, under Article VIII (a) of ICPC* could receive a child from another person belonging to such a class, without complying with ICPC and; (1) the child is under two (2) years of age; or (2) the child is in an emergency shelter; or (3) the court finds that the child has spent a substantial amount of time in the home of the proposed placement recipient.

•     (b) the receiving state Compact Administrator has a properly completed ICPC-100A and supporting documentation for over thirty (30) business days, but the sending agency has not received a notice pursuant to Article III (d) of ICPC determining whether the child may or may not be placed.

*Parent, stepparent, grandparent, adult brother or sister, adult uncle or aunt or a guardian

Checklist – Priority (Regulation 7)

Form 100A

INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN REQUEST

TO: FROM:

SECTION I - IDENTIFYING DATA Notice is given of intent to place - Name of Child: Ethnicity: Hispanic Origin: Yes No

Unable to determine/unknown Social Security Number: ICWA Eligible Race:

Yes No American Indian or Alaskan Native

Native Hawaiian/ Other Pacific Islander

Sex: Date of Birth Title IV-E determination Asian Black or African American

Yes No Pending White

Name of Mother: Name of Father: Name of Agency or Person Responsible for Planning for Child: Phone:

Address: Name of Agency or Person Financially Responsible for Child: Phone: Address:

SECTION II - PLACEMENT INFORMATION Name of Person(s) or Facility Child is to be placed with: Soc Sec # (optional): Soc Sec # (optional): Address: Phone:

Type of Care Requested: Parent ADOPTION Relative (Not Parent) IV-E Subsidy

Foster Family Home Residential Treatment Center Relationship: _______________ Non IV-E Subsidy Group Home Care Institutional Care-Article VI, __________________________ To Be Finalized In: Child Caring Institution Adjudicated Delinquent Other: Sending State

__________________________ Receiving State

Current Legal Status of Child: Protective Supervision Sending Agency Custody/Guardianship Parental Rights Terminated-Right to Place for Adoption Parent Relative Custody/Guardianship Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Court Jurisdiction Only Other:

SECTION III - SERVICES REQUESTED

Initial Report Requested (if applicable): Supervisory Services Requested: Supervisory Reports Requested: Parent Home Study Request Receiving State to Arrange Supervision Quarterly Relative Home Study Another Agency Agreed to Supervise Semi-Annually Adoptive Home Study Sending Agency to Supervise Upon Request Foster Home Study Other:

Name and Address of Supervising Agency in Receiving State:

Enclosed: Child's Social History Court Order Financial/Medical Plan Other Enclosures Home Study of Placement Resource ICWA Enclosure IV-E Eligibility Documentation Signature of Sending Agency or Person: Date: Signature of Sending State Compact Administrator, Deputy or Alternate: Date:

SECTION IV - ACTION BY RECEIVING STATE PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III(d) of ICPC

Placement may be made REMARKS:

Placement shall not be made

Signature of Receiving State Compact Administrator, Deputy or Alternate:

Date:

One form per child Please type

ICPC 100A REV. 8/2001

Uploaded document (pending)

Time Frames

• From entry of order to packet being uploaded into ICS– 5 business days (non-Reg. 7 case)

• Packet to be processed by our office (checked for completeness and sent out) – 2 -3 business days

• Packet assigned to other state local office – 14 days

• Homestudy completed in other state – 30 – 60 days (Safe and Timely Placement of Children Act of 2006)

Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Children Act of 2006

• Under section 471(a)(26), a State is required to complete• and report on foster and adoptive home studies requested• by another State within 60 days. An exception to the 60-• day requirement is provided (but only until 9/30/08) if the• State’s failure to complete the home study within 60 days is• due to circumstances beyond the State’s control (e.g.,• delays in receipt of Federal agency background checks).• This exception gives the State 15 more days to complete• and report on the home study.• The State that requested the home study must accept the• completed home study unless, within 14 days of receiving• the report, the State determines that reliance on the report• would be contrary to the child’s welfare.• The parts of the home study involving education and• training of prospective foster and adoptive parents do not• have to be completed within the same 60- (or 75-) day• timeframe. Further, States are permitted to contract with a• private agency to conduct the home study.

Incentive for Timely Completion under Safe

and Timely Interstate Placement

Federal government authorized $10,000,000.00 to be utilized to pay an incentive to states that completed homestudies within 30 days for non- priority cases

But money has never been appropriated!

Homestudy is approved – 100B for placement

Articles of Interest

Article I I I (a):No sending agency shall send, bring, or cause to be sent or brought into any other party state any child f or placement in f oster care or as a preliminary to a possible adoption, unless the sending agency shall comply with each and every requirement set f orth in this article and with the applicable laws of the receiving stategoverning the placement of children

therein.

Articles of Interest (con’t.)

Article I I I (d)

• The child shall not be sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought into the receiving state until the appropriate public authorities in the receiving state shall notif y the sending agency, in writing, to the eff ect that the proposed placement does not appear to be contrary to the interests of the child.

Articles of Interest

Article V Retention of J urisdiction:

(a) The sending agency shall retain jurisdiction over the child suffi cient to determine all matters in relation to the custody, supervision, care, and disposition of the child which it would have had if the child had remained in the sending agency’s state until the child:

Article V (con’t.)

• I s adopted;• Reaches majority;• Becomes self -supporting; or• I s discharged with the concurrence

of the appropriate authority in the receiving state.

• The sending agency shall continue to have financial responsibility f or

support and maintenance of the child during the period of the placement.

Regulations of InterestRegulation 1 – intact family

Regulation No. 1Relocation of Family Units

• A placement initially intrastate in character becomes an interstate placement subject to the I nterstate Compact on the Placement of Children (I CPC) if the child's principal place of abode is moved to another state.

• I n any instance where the decision to relocate into another state is not made until f orty-fi ve (45) days or less beforethe date on which it is intended to send or bring the child to the receiving state, a request packet shall be sent

promptly to the receiving state compact administrator.

Regulation 1 (con’t.)

Regulation 1 cont’d

• A f avorable determination made by a receiving state means that the receiving state is making such determination on the basis of the best evidence available and does not relieve any custodian or other entity of the obligation to comply with the laws of the receiving state as promptly after arrival.

• I f it is subsequently determined that the placement in the receiving state appears to be contrary to the interest of the child, the sending agency shall arrange to return the child or make

an alternative placement as provided in Article V(a) of the I CPC.

Regulation No. 3

Regulation No. 3Placements with Parents, Relatives

& Non-f amily Settings

• Defi nes “placement” to include the home of parents, relatives and non-agency guardians

• Defi nes “f oster care” to include care by parents by reason of a court-ordered placement, not virtue of the

parent-child relationship

When can you place with a non-offending parent without doing an ICPC?

Regulation 3 cont’d

• Clarifi es that I CPC does not apply whenever a court transfers a child to a non-custodial parent with respect to whom the court does not have evidence before it that such parent is unfi t, does not seek such evidence, and does not retain jurisdictionover the child af ter the court transfers the child.

Regulation 7 – Priority Placement

Regulation No. 7Priority Placement

• A child is under the age of 2; or• A child is in an emergency shelter;

or• A child has spent a substantial

amount of time in the home of the proposed placement; and

• The resource is one listed under Article VI I I (a) .

Regulation 7 (con’t.)• CHILD CANNOT BE 2.5 BUT UNDER 2.

• WE WILL SEND IF IT’S A SIB GROUP AND AT LEAST ONE IS UNDER 2 YOA BUT THE OTHER STATE MAY OR MAY NOT ACCEPT AS SUCH.

• EMERGENCY SHELTER IS NOT OUR LEGAL STATUS BUT A SHELTER.

• SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF TIME IS UP TO THE JUDGE’S FINDING BUT THE OTHER STATE COULD QUESTION, SO A CLEAR EXPLANANTION ON THE ORDER IS BEST. AT A MINIMUM, ON THE COVER LETTER.

• IF AN ORDER OF COMPLIANCE IS NEEDED, CAN COMBINE THAT WITH THE PRIORITY ORDER.

• Resource: PARENT, STEPPARENT, GRANDPARENT, ADULT BROTHER OR SISTER, ADULT UNCLE OR AUNT, GUARDIAN

Regulation 7 (con’t.)

Reg. 7

DOES NOT APPLY if:• The request f or placement of the

child is f or licensed or approved f oster f amily care;

• The request is f or adoption; or• The child is already in the receiving

state in violation of I CPC

Regulation 7 – (con’t.)

Regulation 7 cont’d• Processing:

– Court has 2 business days (bd)to get the order to the sending agency;

– Sending agency has 3 bd to get the complete packet to the Central Compact Offi ce; and

– Central Compact Offi ce has 2 bd to send complete request to the receiving state, by overnight mail.

– Receiving state has 20 business days f rom when ALL necessary documents are received to make a decision and f ax completed 100A.

Regulation 9 - visits

Regulation No. 9

• A visit is not a placement within the meaning of the I CPC. Visits and placements are distinguished on the basis of purpose, duration, and the intention of the person or agency with responsibility f or planning f or the child as to the child’s place of abode.

• Purpose is to provide the child with a social or cultural experience of short duration. The resource cannot have

assumed legal responsibility for the child.

Regulation 9 (con’t.)

Regulation 9 cont’d

• A stay or proposed stay of longer than 30 days is a placement. I t may be considered a visit if it begins and ends within the period of a child’s school vacation.

• I f there is no express end date or the purpose is unclear, it is a placement.

• A visit while there is a pending home study request is considered a placement.

Composition of ICPC Central Office Tallahassee

• Seven full-time specialists

• Cases assigned by states

• Two full-time people in mail room

• Three part-time employees

• Approximately 370 new cases per month

• Ratio of in state to out of state – 2 to 1

Organizational Chart

Stephen Pennypacker,Compact Administrator

Laura Kirksey,Deputy Compact Administrator

Angie Stackhouse Caryl Jefferson Lena Moye Kevin Askew Sandy Erickson Shirley Hodge

Cases Received by ICPC Central Office - 2008

ICS Homestudy Page

ICS Homestudy Page

Court View

ICPC – The most frustrating part of dependency

• What slows down an ICPC request?

Problem: delay from hearing to entry of order, entry of order to submission of completed packet to ICPC Central office

Solution: 1) ICPC Compact Administrator working with CLS to encourage entry of

orders at time of hearing or within no more than 24 hours 2) CLS to provide copy of order of compliance to ICPC central office upon

entry 3) ICPC Central Office to send automatic e-mail to CBC lead agency liaison

with due date for packet 4) CBC’s agreed to have packets submitted to central office within 2-3 days

of entry of order of compliance 5) ICPC Central office now can track critical dates with new homestudy

page

What slows down an ICPC• Problem: Awaiting results of background screens – conventional rolled

fingerprints, delays in processing of criminal history• Solution: 1) pilot program in Escambia and Duval County – Georgia agreed to

allow Florida to fingerprint Georgia residents using live scan machines and to accept results

Machines just now being installed, trainers to be processed, already ran at least one prospective placement in Pensacola

2) hope to expand to Alabama 3) do informal screen by having placement answer questions about

criminal and abuse history before sending through ICPC request – four out of five are not approved 4) have prospective placement contact local agency in receiving

state to push for ICPC homestudy process to begin

What slows down an ICPC (con’t.)

• Problem: Other state requires prospective placement to be licensed

(foster care, even for relatives) – most states do require licensing, Florida is one of few that don’t; prospective placement must complete training and CBC must pay other state board rate

Solution: As soon as prospective placement is identified, if

receiving state requires licensing, have placement sign up for training and have CBC negotiate board rate – don’t wait until preliminary homestudy is done and then start training, discussing money, IVE eligibility, Medicaid, etc.

What else can be done?

The New ICPC

• What is it? – compact approved by Association of Administrators of Interstate Compact on Placement for Children, American Association of Adoption Attorneys, American Bar Association, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, Uniform Law Commission

• Why do we need it now? Current ICPC has: No forum to challenge results – only remedy is to sue other state No forum to enforce violations Private adoptive parents must wait in state for approval before traveling Current Articles and Regulations do not cover all situations and states are

left to interpret – no consistency

Why a new ICPC is needed (con’t.)?

• Existing ICPC adopted in 1961• No time frames for completion of regular request

except Safe and Timely Placement of Interstate Children in Foster Care Act of 2006 – 30 day incentives not funded by federal government

• No jurisdiction to compel compliance by other state – only formal remedy for non-compliance under current ICPC is to litigate with the other state

Resources

I CPC Documents on internet at:http:/ / www.dcf .state.fl .us/ publications/ icpclibrary.shtml

I CPC E-Forms on I NTERnet at:http:/ / www.state.fl .us/ cf _web

I CPC E-Forms on I NTRAnet at: http:/ / scfdz002.dcf .state.fl .us/ pdfi / dcf doc.nsf

Articles and Regulationshttp://icpc.aphsa.org/Home/resources.asp

Questions?

Contact Information:

H. Stephen Pennypacker, Esq.

ICPC Compact Administrator

Department of Children and Family Services

1317 Winewood Boulevard, Bldg. 6, Room 123

Tallahassee, FL 32617

(850) 922-0743

stephen_pennypacker@dcf.state.fl.us