Art. 1624.  Definitions

NOTE:  Art. 1624 enacted by Acts 2010, No. 893, §1, eff. when the 35th state enacts the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.

As used in this Chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1)  "Approved placement" means the public child placing agency in the receiving state has determined that the placement is both safe and suitable for the child.

(2)  "Assessment" means an evaluation of a prospective placement by a public child placing agency in the receiving state to determine if the placement meets the individualized needs of the child, including but not limited to the child's safety and stability, health and well-being, and mental, emotional and physical development.  "Assessment" is applicable only to a placement by a public child placing agency.

(3)  "Certification" means to attest, declare, or swear to before a judge or notary public.

(4)  "Child" means an individual who has not attained the age of eighteen.

(5)  "Default" means the failure of a member state to perform the obligations or responsibilities imposed upon it by the compact, the bylaws, or rules of the Interstate Commission.

(6)  "Home study" means an evaluation of a home environment conducted in accordance with the applicable requirements of the state in which the home is located, and documenting the preparation and the suitability of the placement resource for placement of a child in accordance with the laws and requirements of the state in which the home is located.

(7)  "Indian tribe" means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for services provided to Indians by the Secretary of the Interior because of their status as Indians, including any Alaskan native village as defined in Section 3(C) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act at 43 U.S.C. 1602(C).

(8)  "Interstate Commission for the Placement of Children" means the commission that is created under Article 1630 and which is generally referred to as the Interstate Commission.

(9)  "Jurisdiction" means the power and authority of a court to hear and decide matters.

(10)  "Legal Risk Placement" ("Legal Risk adoption") means a placement made preliminary to an adoption where the prospective adoptive parents acknowledge in writing that a child may be ordered returned to the sending state or the birth mother’s state of residence, if different from the sending state, and a final decree of adoption shall not be entered in any jurisdiction until all required consents are obtained or are dispensed with in accordance with applicable law.

(11)  "Member state" means a state that has enacted the compact.

(12)  "Noncustodial parent" means a person who, at the time of the commencement of court proceedings in the sending state, does not have sole legal custody of the child or has joint legal custody of a child, and who is not the subject of allegations or findings of child abuse or neglect.

(13)  "Nonmember state" means a state which has not enacted the compact.

(14)  "Notice of residential placement" means information regarding a placement into a residential facility provided to the receiving state including, but not limited to the name, date and place of birth of the child, the identity and address of the parent or legal guardian, evidence of authority to make the placement, and the name and address of the facility in which the child will be placed. Notice of residential placement shall also include information regarding a discharge and any unauthorized absence from the facility.

(15)  "Placement" means the act by a public or private child placing agency intended to arrange for the care or custody of a child in another state.

(16)  "Private child placing agency" means any private corporation, agency, foundation, institution, or charitable organization, or any private person or attorney that facilitates, causes, or is involved in the placement of a child from one state to another and that is not an instrumentality of the state or acting under state law.

(17)  "Provisional placement" means a determination made by the public child placing agency in the receiving state that the proposed placement is safe and suitable, and, to the extent allowable, the receiving state has temporarily waived its standards or requirements otherwise applicable to prospective foster or adoptive parents so as to not delay the placement. Completion of the receiving state requirements regarding training for prospective foster or adoptive parents shall not delay an otherwise safe and suitable placement.

(18)  "Public child placing agency" means any government child welfare agency or child protection agency or a private entity under contract with such an agency, regardless of whether they act on behalf of a state, county, municipality or other governmental unit and which facilitates, causes, or is involved in the placement of a child from one state to another.

(19)  "Receiving state" means the state to which a child is sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought.

(20)  "Relative" means someone who is related to the child as a parent, stepparent, sibling by half or whole blood or by adoption, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin or a nonrelative with such significant ties to the child that they may be regarded as relatives as determined by the court in the sending state.

(21)  "Residential facility" means a facility providing a level of care that is sufficient to substitute for parental responsibility or foster care, and is beyond what is needed for assessment or treatment of an acute condition.  For purposes of the compact, residential facilities do not include institutions primarily educational in character, hospitals, or other medical facilities.

(22)  "Rule" means a written directive, mandate, standard, or principle issued by the Interstate Commission promulgated pursuant to this Chapter that is of general applicability and that implements, interprets, or prescribes a policy or provision of the compact. "Rule" has the force and effect of an administrative rule in a member state, and includes the amendment, repeal, or suspension of an existing rule.

(23)  "Sending state" means the state from which the placement of a child is initiated.

(24)  "Service member's permanent duty station" means the military installation where an active duty armed services member is currently assigned and is physically located under competent orders that do not specify the duty as temporary.

(25)  "Service member's state of legal residence" means the state in which the active duty armed services member is considered a resident for tax and voting purposes.

(26)  "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands, and any other territory of the United States.

(27)  "State court" means a judicial body of a state that is vested by law with responsibility for adjudicating cases involving abuse, neglect, deprivation, delinquency or status offenses of individuals who have not attained the age of eighteen.

(28)  "Supervision" means monitoring provided by the receiving state once a child has been placed in a receiving state pursuant to the compact.

Acts 2010, No. 893, §1.