Any adoption placement that involves a child outside of your state of residence will involve an agreement enacted by all 50 U.S states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands called the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC). Adoptive parents may not travel back to their state of residence with the child they are adopting until they receive ICPC approval.

The majority of families receive ICPC approval within 7-10 business days of submission of the ICPC documents, however the ICPC processing time has gotten much quicker in some states. Adoptive families should prepare for an out of state stay of at least 3 weeks, however, only one adoptive parent is required to stay with the child pending ICPC approval. In some circumstances there may be “respite” or “cradle care,” pending ICPC approval.