Help Kinship across states

some problems i can think of off the top of my head #1. visitation. when children are taken into state custody...parents typically have visitation rights...that would be difficult if they were residing in a different state.#2. when things cross state lines, there are many additional rules to follow. for starters, there will need to be an icpc- an interstate compact that makes sure both states are following the rules in moving the child. there are not always really fast, and some states are notoriously slower than others. when you are at the mercy of a second state who does not have a vested interest in the child...the timeline may in fact be VERY slow. we needed a homestudy for our icpc placement of a child from another state. they were notified we needed it in june.....and bc they took their sweet time, we were not licensed until january!!!! 7 months!

I had thought re the visitation thing. I'm really not sure on any of the specifics the story I got was kind of confusing, but I'm on vacation & was hearing it over a cell phone with bad reception in a busy amusement park. From what I got, I don't think it was one of those horrible cases for removal, something re the parents in the middle of a nasty divorce & no electricity in the house. Now there HAS TO BE more to it than that for a removal (I hope) but no details here. I think what I was getting is that everyone expects it to be a short-term thing for one of the parents to get back on feet & everyone on board for family to take the kids while that happens. Plus, where we are from MO & IL are nothing as far as travel between, so visits aren't necessarily a reason to not do this.

JLMom...My nieces case is based out of Mass. and we live in CT. It's an hour and a half drive to where she was. It took us almost 6 months from the time we started until she was actually here with us. We had to set ourselves up as a foster home with a home study and everything. Can they call their local DCF and explain the situation to them and ask if they can start on the home study-if not, what can they do? Maybe talk to a lawyer? There has to be something that can be done. Good luck.

Our niece was also across state lines and we also had to become a licensed foster home which took about 3 months...then the ICPC took even longer. It's alot more paperwork for the SW's to do and alot of hoops to jump through that they don't like to do.

If the child has not been removed, then the individual could contact his brother immediately and get him to give him guardianship/legal custody of his nephew or even just send him for an extended family visit with medical and educational authority. Then the boy could come to his home immediately with no ICPC and no social services intervention.That would also mean no services and no subsidy and the brother would be facing the possibility of fighting his sibling in court on return, visitation and educational, medical, and religious surrogacy. He also would not, of course, have the resources of the state to investigate his brother's fitness/safety as a parent or to prosecute a custody battle or TPR. Even if he is in custody now, the out of state local agency and court might consider releasing him to family although that is rare. If he chooses not to go that route, then he should know that most states do NOT require licensing for kinship placement. He needs to check with BOTH Illinois and MO on that--both the receiving and sending states can impose their caregiver requirements on an interstate placement. That said, nothing helps more than getting started on licensing since it will speed up the homestudy process significantly, and home studies are usually required. It will also bring the people up to speed on the foster care and review process much more quickly and help them establish a positive working relationship (vs. adversarial) with their local agency. Regardless of how they think the case will go, they should insist on being considered for placement as soon as possible and work to create and maintain a relationship with both the out of state local agency--calling once per week, for example, to talk with the cw--and their nephew. Suggest extended visits pre-ICPC--that is, a 29- or 30-day visit followed by a few days with the ff, then back. ICPC is not required for family visits of less than a month. If any of them have been cleared to work with children already--a teacher, nurse, coach, etc., that is something the cw should be made to know. If I were them, I would also call several family law attorneys in the other locale and find out where they stand and what might be done on their behalf in court--gaining standing, petitioning, etc.--via free consultations. Yes, ICPC is required to place a child for foster care and/or adoption across state lines and can take a ridiculously long time, but that is no excuse. Even if the agency thinks RU is a good bet now, things could change and the child should be with family/permanency resource asap. Families that wait for a goal change or TPR are often far too late to the plate--children don't wait neatly on shelves for the adults to sort things out, they keep growing, rooting, and bonding where they are. If the move isn't already done or in process, it is often determined to be in their best interest to stay put after nine months to two years in care. The biggest change needed in foster care, IMO, is to cut ICPC time back to several days. If they can do it for domestic infant adoption, they can do for it foster care.

Hadley's got great advice I did not have to be a licensed foster home for kinship placement, but i did it to help insure our chances fo movement In the end, it helped out icpc go faster If the child is in state custody, call that DCYF office immediately and let they CW know you're willing to be a caregiver. They need to know this before they start looking at other long term solutions. Even if they do instate foster care, they need to know theres a relative willing to adopt asap Likes others have mentioned, BM's state monthly for visits

I'm in IL and we have some kinship placements in our PRIDE classes. I would have them start the foster process at least just in case. We were told by DCFS if we were on top of our licensing we could get it done between 3-4 months. We are up near Chicago though so classes are available everywhere. Not sure about further down state.