WHY MASSACHUSETTS SHOULD NOT RELEGATE PARENTS TO “LEGAL STRANGERS”1: A SURVEY OF THE MYRIAD INTERPRETATIONS OF THE ICPC

The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is a well-intentioned statute that has led to anomalous and irrational results in courts across the country. The ICPC’s aim is to ensure that foster care placements by state agencies of children across state lines preliminary to adoption or placement in foster care are in the child’s best interests. However, certain courts have drastically expanded the ICPC’s reach to cover parental foster care placements. This Article discusses the split in case law, the reasons for limiting the ICPC in Massachusetts, and options for nervous courts, attorneys, and state agencies when sending a child across state lines.

Ultimately, this Article argues that the ICPC is not the mechanism to utilize when placing a child with his or her parent across state lines.