Report on The Effects of the ICPC on Kids in Foster Care

A new report called Foster Kids in Limbo: The Effects of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children on the Permanency of Children in Foster Care has been issued to the Annie E. Casey Foundation by Professor Vivek S. Sankaran of the University Michigan Law School.

The report highlights the major problems with the ICPC, finding that

Despite its good intentions, the ICPC has become unworkable.  It contains no specific deadlines for the completion of interstate home studies.  It does not set clear standards for how child welfare agencies must evaluate potential placements.  It allows child welfare agencies to deny placements with parents and relatives for seemingly arbitrary reasons.  And it prohibits courts from reviewing placement denials yet fails to provide administrative procedures for parents and relatives seeking an independent review of a denial.  

The results are not very surprising, but raise some interesting constitutional questions when it is a birth parent whose request is being denied:

The Constitution demands that parents be accorded a presumption of fitness absent a judicial finding to the contrary. That a state agency, without any judicial finding of unfitness, could summarily declare a parent unfit to care for his or her child is a serious constitutional problem; that it apparently happens so frequently without any administrative or judicial review is evidence that the ICPC system is in serious need of reform. 

You can check out the information gathered and see some of the specific cases highlighted in a full copy of the Report, which is available HERE.

Have any of you had difficulty navigating the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children?  We'd love to know.