Finding Permanent Homes for Adoptable Children - Pepperdine ...

degree and type of care,” 20 the only said requirement of the receiving state is that the approval be given in
writing. The ICPC mandates little else concerning the actual approval process the receiving state must
use. There are no minimum standards for the assessment of suitability, appropriateness, and desirability
of care, and rather than stating that the ICPC standard of approval is in the best interests of the child, it
instead states that the approved placement should not appear contrary to the child’s interests. 21 The
ambiguity here again leaves much room for individual discretion and overall fragmentation within the
process.
Nowhere within the ICPC are timeliness and/or responsiveness to the needs of children waiting for
interstate adoptive placement articulated as objectives. Courts have been critical of the inefficient
bureaucracy fostered by the ICPC, expressing disappointment in the compact’s ability to stay informed on
how state laws may affect ICPC placement practices. Often, the delays force caseworkers to work around
the ICPC in order to complete an adoption for a child in foster care. Furthermore, agencies do not have
enforceable expectations of completion dates to ensure that children are placed as soon as possible,
preventing them from languishing unnecessarily in the foster care system.
2. Resources
Post placement services are offered for children who are in adoptive placement, but the adoption has not
been finalized. These services may last up to six months or until finalization, and among them are
therapy, special school programs, and home visits in which the social worker assesses the child’s
adjustment in the new home. Agencies completing intrastate adoptions, however, complete these services
with greater ease than they do with interstate adoptions, as the state may not have the resources to provide
post placement services to the child and the family. The sending state is ultimately responsible for the
post placement supervision; therefore, if it does not find that the services provided by the receiving state
are adequate, the sending state must arrange for the services to be delivered or it must contract with a
private, licensed adoption agency to provide the service. The ICPC exists to ensure that these post
placement services are provided in one manner or another. 22
20 The Evan B. Donaldson Adoptions Institute. “The ICPC and the Best Interests of Children in the Public Child Welfare
System.” 1999. http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/policy/inters4.html. Google search engine. Accessed February 6, 2003.
21 Ibid.
22 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “IV. Overcoming Barriers to Interstate Adoptions.” January 1, 2001.
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/cb/initiatives/photolts/sect4.htm. Google search engine. Accessed February 6, 2003.
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