The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) sets a single legal framework that every state, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands follow when a child is placed across state lines for foster care or adoption, but the specific ICPC requirements by state vary in the paperwork, background checks, fees, and formatting each jurisdiction demands on top of that framework. The core rule is uniform: before the child travels, both the sending state and the receiving state must approve the placement in writing, and the sending state keeps legal and financial responsibility for the child until the case closes.
What follows is what the compact requires, where the receiving state’s own rules take over, and how to find the administrator who can tell you exactly what your packet needs.
Which Placements the Compact Covers
The ICPC applies to four categories of interstate placement. If a move fits any of them, the compact process must be completed before the child crosses state lines.
- Pre-adoptive placements, whether handled by a public agency, a private agency, or independently through an attorney.
- Foster care placements into foster homes, group homes, residential treatment centers, and institutional care facilities.
- Placements with a parent or relative when a court or child welfare agency directs the move. A family-arranged move is different; a court-ordered one is not.
- Placements of adjudicated delinquents when a juvenile court orders a youth into a facility in another state.
Article III of the compact is explicit that no sending agency may bring a child into another state for foster care or as a preliminary to adoption without complying with every requirement of the compact and the receiving state’s placement laws.
Visits Are Not Placements
A short stay with a prospective family can be a visit rather than a placement, and the line matters. Under ICPC Regulation 9, a stay qualifies as a visit if it lasts 30 days or less and the purpose is social or cultural, such as time with a relative or a camp. A visit that begins and ends within the child’s school vacation can exceed 30 days without triggering the compact. Beyond that, the stay is presumed to be a placement requiring full ICPC approval.
Intent matters too. If a home study or supervision request is already pending when the child goes for a “visit,” regulators presume the stay is a placement in disguise. A visit cannot be extended or renewed past the 30-day mark to work around the compact.
When the ICPC Does Not Apply
The compact has built-in exemptions for moves that do not transfer custodial responsibility to a state agency. Article VIII exempts a child sent or brought to another state by a parent, stepparent, grandparent, adult sibling, adult aunt or uncle, or guardian, as long as the child is left with another person in that same group or with a non-agency guardian. What matters is who arranges the move; if the family does it on its own, without a court or agency directing it, the ICPC does not apply.
Article II also excludes certain settings from the definition of “placement” altogether. Hospitals and other medical facilities are out, and so are institutions that are primarily educational. A child entering boarding school or receiving out-of-state hospital treatment does not trigger the compact because those facilities are not providing substitute parental care.
Placements covered by a separate interstate compact that both states have joined are also exempt. The Interstate Compact on Juveniles is the most common example.
The Form 100A Packet
Every request starts with Form 100A, the Interstate Compact Placement Request. The form itself is standardized nationally, but individual states layer on additional local requirements, which is where most of the state-by-state variation lives.
Form 100A collects identifying information for the child, legal parents, and proposed placement resource, including the child’s Social Security number, date of birth, Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) eligibility, and Title IV-E eligibility. It also records the status of parental rights, the type of care requested (foster family home, pre-adoptive home, group home, residential facility), and, for adoptions, the state that will finalize and the prospective adoptive parents’ information. A subsidy section indicates whether the child receives Title IV-E federal assistance, non-IV-E state or local assistance, or no financial support.
A complete packet also includes:
- A current home study evaluating the proposed home, with background checks, interviews of household members, and an assessment of the residence. The receiving state’s approval decision rests largely on this report.
- The child’s social and medical history, including past placements, educational records, and any medical or psychological diagnoses requiring ongoing care.
- A case plan showing the long-term permanency goals and projected timelines for adoption finalization or reunification.
- Legal documentation establishing the child’s legal status, any termination of parental rights, and the sending agency’s authority to arrange the placement.
Inconsistencies are the most common reason packets get kicked back before anyone reviews the substance. If the home study lists one address and Form 100A lists another, or the described legal status does not match the court order, the receiving state will reject the packet. Cross-check every document before submission.
How the Packet Moves Through Both States
The chain of custody for an ICPC packet is deliberately layered so multiple offices review the placement.
- The sending agency or individual submits the completed packet to the Compact Administrator in the sending state.
- The sending state’s Compact Administrator reviews it for compliance with the compact and forwards it to the receiving state’s Compact Administrator.
- The receiving state’s Compact Administrator confirms local administrative requirements are satisfied and routes it to the local social services office for the county where the child would live.
- Local officials conduct or review the home study and recommend approval or denial.
- The receiving state’s Compact Administrator signs the 100A to approve or deny and returns it to the sending state.
Only once the sending state has a signed, approved 100A in hand can the child legally travel. After the placement is made, Form 100B is filed to confirm the placement and record the exact date the child entered the receiving state’s care.
Timelines You Need to Plan Around
The 60-Day Home Study Deadline
Federal law caps how long the slowest part of the process can take. Under 42 U.S.C. ยง 671(a)(26), when a state receives a request from another state to conduct a home study, it must complete and return the study within 60 days. Every state participates in the federal foster care and adoption assistance program, so this applies everywhere. The clock starts when the receiving state receives the request, not when it hands the file to a county office, so internal routing can eat a meaningful share of the window.
Expedited Placements Under Regulation 7
Regulation 7 creates a faster track for placements with a parent, stepparent, grandparent, adult sibling, adult aunt or uncle, or guardian in another state. The case must involve a child under court jurisdiction as a result of child welfare agency action, and at least one of these circumstances must apply:
- The child needs care because of a parent or guardian’s recent incarceration, incapacitation, or death.
- The child is four or younger, including older siblings being placed with the same relative.
- The court finds the child has a substantial, established relationship with the proposed caregiver.
- The child is already in an emergency placement that needs to be resolved quickly.
Under Regulation 7, the receiving state must approve or deny the request within 20 business days of receiving the packet.
Approval Expires in Six Months
An approved 100A does not stay valid indefinitely. Under ICPC Regulation 6, approval expires six months from the date the receiving state’s Compact Administrator signed it. If the child has not been physically placed within that window, the sending agency must reapply. Private adoption cases, where sending-state legal proceedings often run longer than expected, lose approvals this way more often than people expect.
Where State Requirements Diverge
The compact gives you a uniform legal frame; each state fills in the procedural details. These local differences are where most packets stall.
Background check requirements vary widely. Some receiving states require criminal history checks and child abuse registry searches from every state where an adult household member has lived in the past five years. Others accept a single national fingerprint-based check. The accepted type of check and the agency that must conduct it both differ by state.
Documentation formatting is another friction point. Some states require multiple physical copies of the home study instead of accepting a digital submission. Notarization rules vary, with some states insisting on specific seal types or witness signatures that are not standard in the sending state. Financial disclosure requirements range from a simple attestation to a detailed monthly accounting of income and debts.
Processing fees differ as well. Some states charge a flat administrative fee; others charge nothing directly but require the petitioner to pay for ancillary services like fingerprinting. There is no national fee schedule, so cost depends on which two states are involved.
None of this is published in a single convenient location. The reliable approach is to contact the receiving state’s Compact Administrator before you assemble the packet and ask what that state specifically requires. A packet built to the sending state’s standards that ignores the receiving state’s local rules will come back, adding weeks or months.
What the Sending State Still Owes After Placement
Placing the child elsewhere does not transfer the sending state’s obligations. Article V keeps the sending agency’s jurisdiction over custody, supervision, care, and disposition in place until one of four things happens: the child is adopted, reaches the age of majority, becomes self-supporting, or is discharged with the receiving state’s agreement. The sending state also keeps paying for the child’s support and maintenance throughout the placement, and retains legal authority to return the child or move the child to a different placement if circumstances change.
Medicaid Follows the Child
Medical coverage is the exception to the sending-state-pays rule because Medicaid is governed by federal law, which overrides the compact. Medicaid tracks the child’s state of residence, so when the child moves, coverage moves. The receiving state becomes responsible for Medicaid. For Title IV-E eligible children, the new state of residence must provide Medicaid regardless of how the placement was arranged. For children receiving state adoption assistance rather than federal IV-E benefits, the receiving state must provide Medicaid if it extends reciprocity to the sending state. A state cannot withhold or delay Medicaid for an otherwise eligible child, even if there is a dispute over whether the ICPC was properly followed.
What Happens If You Skip the Process
Moving a child across state lines without ICPC approval violates the placement laws of both states, and the receiving state’s response is usually to shut the process down. The receiving state can demand immediate removal and is not required to proceed with the home study or approval while the child remains in the state in violation. The sending state carries full liability for the child’s safety during that period.
For agencies and licensed entities the risk is heavier. Article IV states that any ICPC violation is full and sufficient grounds for suspension or revocation of any license, permit, or other legal authorization that allowed the violator to place children. An agency that routinely skips the process can lose its license in both states.
The effect on adoption finalization is less uniform. Courts in different states have handled this differently. Some have finalized adoptions despite ICPC violations when the child was thriving and disruption would cause harm; others have treated the violation as grounds to delay or complicate finalization. There is no formal nationwide appeal when a receiving state denies an ICPC request, and challenge options vary by state.
Finding Your State’s Compact Administrator
Every state designates a Compact Administrator who oversees ICPC processing for that jurisdiction, housed within the state’s department of human services, social services, or child and family services depending on how the state organizes its agencies. The Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, staffed through the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), maintains a directory of state Compact Administrators along with state-specific forms and procedural guides. Call your receiving state’s ICPC office before you build the packet and ask about local documentation requirements, fees, and current processing times. That one call is the single most effective way to avoid a rejection.