The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is a uniform law that ensures children placed across state lines are protected and safe. All 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands adhere to the ICPC. The Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children site has a list with links to the people and offices in each state who administer the compact. Forms must be submitted to the administrators in each of the states involved. The time required to secure approval will vary by state. However, six weeks (or 30 working days) is the recommended processing time.
ICPC procedures must be followed in any interstate adoption case because the adopted child will cross state lines for placement. In these interstate adoption cases, attorneys work with Compact Administrators and personnel to gain approval for the child to be moved across state lines. Approval must be received from the state that is sending the child as well as the state that is receiving the child. For example, if a child is born in North Carolina and his adoptive parents are from Virginia, the ICPC requires that both North Carolina and Virginia grant approval for the placement.