ICPC is a federal compact between states.
Very simply it was created to prevent a rushed and/or inappropriate placement of a child in an out-of-state facility. Basically, the sending state must request permission from the receiving state for the parent or agency. The later wants to know if other options have been exhausted, how long the child will be in their state, etc, etc.
If the ICPC is enforced as intended, every teen would receive an independent psych evaluation prior to enrollment in a program in order to determine if the 'extreme' placement is really necessary and if out-of-state placement is in the child's best interest(or if the parent is an uptight control freak).
The state of TX ICPC office acted dumbfounded. I had to explain the ICPC to them. Very frustrating! In the end they defered to the state of Ga who claimed that the program was exempt. Hah! Indeed they appeared to be exempt, they were presenting themselves to authorities as a boarding school, and still do. Traditional boarding schools which provide no form of therapy and do not house teens 24/7/365, and bonefide psych hospitals are indeed exempt; for obvious reasons.
Had Tx enforced the compact my son would have left the program immediately. It was just way more than they could comprehend or figure out how to deal with due to the programs 'classification'. I sent them all the documentation necessary to prove the program was 'therapeutic'. It was not their duty to make that determination and therefore defered to the receiving state. Another reason it is so crutial that these facilities possess the correct license.
There are those who will argue that it doesn't apply to parents, but indeed it does; as well as Ed Cons. Which was another frustrating ordeal. The Ed Con in my case was not licensed to place out-of-state. The state excused her because she didn't physically deliver my son to the facility. Which is just bullshit. In fact, the whole ordeal was just more than their pea brains could deal with. So much for protecting children.
Much more info and links to the ICPC info at the first link:
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=2046&forum=9http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 22&forum=9http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 24&forum=9The following letter should state clearly for anyone with any intellegence at all that indeed the ICPC applies to all RTCs, TBSs, and Wilderness programs. Those who can't hear it or choose to interprete it differently, have an agenda.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... ews02.html INTERSTATE COMPACT ON
THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN
(A Statement on how it relates to wilderness programs)
(The Interstate Compact was amended in the mid-seventies by all states as one part of the massive social legislation initiatives that swept the nation in the wake of the post-WATERGATE elections. The purpose of expanding the Interstate Compact was to give state governments notification and some control over placement of nonadjudicated youth from other states. This part of the Interstate Compact has not yet been consistently enforced. When it has been enforced, one important impact the Interstate Compact has is it requires parents to obtain permission from both state governments before they can place their child in a program in another state, even if the states have no other involvement. To my knowledge, there is no federal law relating to the interstate placement of nonadjudicated children. -LON) [Of course, Lon is gravely mistaken and had a poor understanding of the compact.]
May 21, 1996
The Honorable Richard Pombo
U.S. House of Representatives
Room 1519 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressman Pombo:
You have asked our organization whether the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) applies to the placement of children in ?Wilderness Camps.? The answer to your question is that ICPC does apply if the placement is ?interstate,? or in other words from one state into another. When children are removed from the care, custody, and control of their parents or other legal custodian(s) and placed into programs for behavior modification, the Compact applies just as it does to other placements into residential treatment facilities. These wilderness camps generally apply rigorous discipline as a means of dealing with behavioral deviations. Whether placement in such a camp is appropriate for a particular child is to be determined by evaluating each particular case. If the child is an adjudicated delinquent, the placement will be made by a court as required in Article VI of ICPC. If the child is not being sent as a delinquent, the placement may or may not be by a court. But I must stress that placement in a wilderness program is the same as placement in a residential facility or program and, as far as ICPC is concerned, it is the same as placement in a group home or treatment center which does not qualify as a hospital or similar medical facility. I hope this explanation of ICPC in relation to ?wilderness camps? is of help to you and your staff.
With best regards,
Frank Barthel, J.D.
Secretariat Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children
An affiliate of the American Public Welfare Association
810 First Street, NE., Suite 500
Washington, DC 20002-4267
(202) 682-0100, Fax:(202) 289-6555
