The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 33 : Human Services

Chapter 059 : Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children [Contingently enacted]

Subchapter 001 : INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN[CONTINGENTLY ENACTED]

• § 5903. Conditions for placement—Article III [Contingently repealed; effective until contingency met]

  (a) No sending agency shall send, bring, or cause to be sent or brought into any other party state any child for placement in foster care or as a preliminary to a possible adoption unless the sending agency shall comply with each and every requirement set forth in this article and with the applicable laws of the receiving state governing the placement of children therein.

  (b) Prior to sending, bringing, or causing any child to be sent or brought into a receiving state for placement in foster care or as a preliminary to a possible adoption, the sending agency shall furnish the appropriate public authorities in the receiving state written notice of the intention to send, bring, or place the child in the receiving state. The notice shall contain:

  (1) the name, date, and place of birth of the child;

  (2) the identity and address or addresses of the parents or legal guardian;

  (3) the name and address of the person, agent or institution to or with which the sending agency proposes to send, bring, or place the child;

  (4) a full statement of the reasons for such proposed action and evidence of the authority pursuant to which the placement is proposed to be made.

  (c) Any public officer or agency in a receiving state which is in receipt of a notice pursuant to subsection (b) of this article may request of the sending agency, or any other appropriate officer or agency of or in the sending agency’s state, and shall be entitled to receive therefrom such supporting or additional information as it may deem necessary under the circumstances to carry out the purpose and policy of this compact.

  (d) The child shall not be sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought into the receiving state until the appropriate public authorities in the receiving state shall notify the sending agency, in writing, to the effect that the proposed placement does not appear to be contrary to the interest of the child. (Added 1971, No. 219 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 4, 5, eff. April 5, 1972.)

• § 5903. Conditions for placement—Article III [Contingently repealed; effective until contingency met]

  (Added 1971, No. 219 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 4, 5, eff. April 5, 1972; contingently repealed by 2021, No. 101 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

• § 5903. Applicability [Contingently enacted]

  (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, this Compact shall apply to:

  (1) the interstate placement of a child subject to ongoing court jurisdiction in the sending state, due to allegations or findings that the child has been abused, neglected, or deprived as defined by the laws of the sending state; provided, however, that the placement of such a child into a residential facility shall only require notice of residential placement to the receiving state prior to placement;

  (2) the interstate placement of a child adjudicated delinquent or unmanageable based on the laws of the sending state and subject to ongoing court jurisdiction of the sending state if:

  (A) the child is being placed in a residential facility in another member state and is not covered under another compact; or

  (B) the child is being placed in another member state and the determination of safety and suitability of the placement and services required is not provided through another compact; and

  (3) the interstate placement of any child by a public child placing agency or private child placing agency as defined in this Compact as a preliminary step to a possible adoption.

  (b) The provisions of this Compact shall not apply to:

  (1) the interstate placement of a child in a custody proceeding in which a public child placing agency is not a party; provided, however, that the placement is not intended to effectuate an adoption;

  (2) the interstate placement of a child with a non-relative in a receiving state by a parent with the legal authority to make such a placement; provided, however, that the placement is not intended to effectuate an adoption;

  (3) the interstate placement of a child by one relative with the lawful authority to make such a placement directly with a relative in a receiving state;

  (4) the placement of a child, not subject to section 5903 of this title, into a residential facility by the child’s parent;

  (5) the placement of a child with a noncustodial parent, provided that:

  (A) the noncustodial parent proves to the satisfaction of a court in the sending state a substantial relationship with the child; and

  (B) the court in the sending state makes a written finding that placement with the noncustodial parent is in the best interests of the child; and

  (C) the court in the sending state dismisses its jurisdiction in interstate placements in which the public child placing agency is a party to the proceeding;

  (6) a child entering the United States from a foreign country for the purpose of adoption or leaving the United States to go to a foreign country for the purpose of adoption in that country;

  (7) cases in which a U.S. citizen child living overseas with family, at least one of whom is in the U.S. Armed Forces and is stationed overseas, is removed and placed in a state; or

  (8) the sending of a child by a public child placing agency or a private child placing agency for a visit as defined by the rules of the Interstate Commission.

  (c) For purposes of determining the applicability of this Compact to the placement of a child with a family in the U.S. Armed Forces, the public child placing agency or private child placing agency may choose the state of the service member’s permanent duty station or the service member’s declared legal residence.

  (d) Nothing in this Compact shall be construed to prohibit the concurrent application of the provisions of this Compact with other applicable interstate compacts, including the Interstate Compact for Juveniles and the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance. The Interstate Commission may in cooperation with other interstate compact commissions having responsibility for the interstate movement, placement, or transfer of children, promulgate like rules to ensure the coordination of services, timely placement of children, and the reduction of unnecessary or duplicative administrative or procedural requirements. (Contingently added 2021, No. 101 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)