Interstate Compact on Placement of Juveniles

Subject:

Requested By: Sarah T. Morrow, M.D., M.P.H. Secretary North Carolina Department of Human Resources

Question: Does the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, G.S. 110-57.1, et seq., apply when a North Carolina child is sent by a court, government agency, or child-placing agency to live with a parent, relative, or guardian in another party state?

Conclusion: Yes.

The purpose of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, G.S. 110-57.1, et seq., is to promote cooperation among the several states in the interstate placement of children so that each child placed pursuant to the Compact will be given "a necessary and desirable degree and type of care" and so that the authorities in the state where the child is placed, in cooperation with the authorities in the state from which the placement is made, can ascertain that the placement is a good one. See, G.S. 110-57.1, Article I. To that end, Article III of the Compact provides as follows:

"(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."

The important terms of Article III(a) are defined. Thus, a "sending agency" means an officer or employee of a party state or its subdivision, or the subdivision itself, a court of a party state, or any person, corporation, association, charitable agency or any other entity "which sends, brings, or causes to be sent or brought any child to another party state." G.S. 110-57.1, Article II(b).

The act of "placement" is "the arrangement for the care of a child in a family free or boarding home or in a child-caring agency or institution". However, placement excludes the arrangement of institutional care for the mentally ill, mentally defective or epileptic, hospital or other medical care, or education. G.S. 110-57.1, Article II(d).

Finally, the Compact contains this limitation:

"This Compact shall not apply to: (a) the sending or bringing of a child into a receiving state by his parent, step-parent, grandparent, adult brother or sister, adult uncle or aunt, or his guardian and leaving the child with such relative or nonagency guardian in the receiving state." G.S. 11057.1, Article VIII(a).

Under the statutes just quoted, it is clear that the answer to the question posed is yes, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children does apply when a North Carolina child is sent by court, governmental agency, or child-placing agency to live with a parent, relative or a guardian in another party state. First, North Carolina courts, governmental agencies, and childplacing agencies are all "sending agencies" as defined in Article II(b). Second, the act described certainly is "placement" as defined in Article II(d) of the Compact. Finally, the limitation set forth in Article VIII simply does not apply. In order for that limitation to apply, the child must be both sent and received by a parent, relative, or guardian. That is not the case in the situation described.

It should be noted that there are no North Carolina cases construing the Compact. However, the plain language of the Compact leaves no doubt that the answer to the question posed is as is set forth above, and the answer is perfectly consistent with – even essential to – the purposes of the Compact.

Rufus L. Edmisten Attorney General

Steven Mansfield Shaber Assistant Attorney General