Compact on Placement of Children

The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is statutory law in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. Developed in 1974, the compact was designed to ensure protection and services to children placed across state lines. The compact is a binding contract between member Jurisdictions and establishes uniform legal and administrative procedures governing the interstate placement of children. Interstate Compact law applies when private adoptions occur across state lines. It also applies to private parent placements of children in residential treatment facilities, group homes, and other licensed facilities. State agencies and courts must also comply with Compact law when placing, their wards in treatment facilities, in foster homes or with the child's relatives who live in another state.