Adoptive Family Blog

April 13, 2007

What is ICPC and how long does it take?

Can you please explain ICPC to us? I guess we are curious what exactly it is and why it takes so long. We just wish we could go home sooner and planning to be away from home for 2 weeks or so is difficult to think about. Thanks!

Thanks for inquiring about this process. ICPC stands for Interstate Compact for Placement of Children. ICPC is required for every adoption that takes place where the baby is born in one state and the adoptive family resides in a different state. Each state has an ICPC office whose purpose is to oversee all adoption paperwork on each adoption to ensure that all laws are followed and all proper documents have been completed. Both states must provide their approval of the ICPC paperwork before the adoptive family is allowed to take the baby home.

Every state has different laws and timeframes which dictate how the ICPC process will go. For instance, in Arizona, a birth mother can sign her adoption relinquishment paperwork at 72 hours after the birth of the baby. Once she signs her paperwork, the attorney or our agency can then put together the ICPC packet and overnight it to Arizona ICPC. Note: ICPC offices are not open on weekends or holidays, so nothing regarding ICPC can be completed on those days. Once ICPC has the packet, they will review everything and either approve the packet, and forward it on to the adoptive family's home state ICPC office, or they may find something that is missing or that they would like more information about. If they request anything else, they will contact the agency/attorney for this information before sending it on to the other state. Then, once the adoptive family's state receives the packet, they will review the packet in the same manner. Once that state approves the packet and finds that everything in the adoption is in order, they will call back and the agency/attorney will let you know that you are free to return home.

ICPC must be followed in every state. It is not something that can be bypassed or that we can control and speed up for our clients even though we also want you to get home as soon as possible. ICPC must review packets for every single adoption placement including children in state care who cross state lines and they have a system that they follow. It is important that every family prepare to be away from home for an average of 7-10 business days. We understand you will be anxious to return home, but must ask that you understand this process and prepare for the time away from home accordingly. Once all paperwork has been signed and filed, it is ok for one of you to return home if needed, as long as one person stays with the baby until approval is granted. Some families have gone to other areas of the state and had a mini vacation or have invited other family members out to stay during this time. All of these options are fine as long as the baby remains in the state until ICPC approval is granted.

We do ask that each family have patience during this process and understand that daily updates about your ICPC wait time will not come to you from the agency. This is not because we do not want to provide these to you, but rather because we receive no updates from the ICPC office. They only contact us if something is missing, something more is being requested or when the packet has been approved. This means, we will only provide you updates on those occasions regarding the ICPC process.

Please let me know if you have any other questions about ICPC.