Adoption is a State Concern

When it comes to adoption, it’s the State that has the say, so it’s vital to understand how each State deals with everything from the use of facilitators to appropriate expenses.

Adopting Across State Lines

In cases where potential adoptive parents are in one state and an expectant woman making an adoption plan is in another, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children comes into play.

The ICPC is identical statutory law in all fifty states, the District of Columbia and the US Virgin Islands. Every state has an ICPC office that coordinates and expedites adoptions involving more than one state.

The ICPC office in the sending state, home to the expectant woman, is in charge of details about the child. Its counterpart in the receiving state, home to the hopeful adoptive parents, sees to it that local agencies do their job regarding Homestudies and other regulations.

If the states are side-by-side there may be an agreement allowing social workers from one state to do Homestudies in the other, but the ICPC must still be complied with.

Homestudies and other aspects of the adoption process may be more involved or complicated, as two sets of laws, rules, regulations and policies must be followed and coordinated.

For more information, visit the American Public Human Services Association site on Understanding Delays in the Interstate Home Study Process.