A. Documentation of either a court order terminating parental rights or a Consent or Relinquishment by the birth mother and birth father that conforms with the Oklahoma Adoption Code showing the child’s legal eligibility for adoption.. Provide any other relevant supporting documentation, such as orders approving birth mother expenses, etc.

B. If the birth mother has completed a consent or relinquishment for adoption but the birth father has not given consent nor had his rights terminated, then the prospective adoptive parents must sign and submit a Statement of Legal Risk which acknowledges that they understand the child is not yet legal eligible for adoption and is subject to being returned to Oklahoma and/or to the custody of the birth father if his rights are not terminated.

C. If the child is an Indian child as defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act, then provide documentation of notification to the tribe(s) involved. The child’s Indian heritage should be clearly stated in the legal documents and in the Statement of Legal Risk.

3. Child’s Information. (3 copies).

A. A social history report on the child which gives biographical and developmental information. For older children, this should include educational information, psychological reports, and placement history information, as applicable.

B. If the child is an infant, include hospital records of the child’s birth and pediatrician’s medical report.

C. If the child is an older child, include medical history information and a physician’s report on the current health status of the child.

D. Child’s birth certificate.

4. Parental Information. (3 copies).

A. Provide a brief social history report on both birth parents if possible or on the consenting birth parent if the other parent is unknown.

B. Complete a "Medical and Social History Report for Adoption" (form ODH 347), which may be obtained from the Oklahoma Department of Health or from most court clerks’ offices. This is a statutory requirement.

5. Adoptive Parent Information. (3 copies).

A. A Home Study report on the prospective adoptive family. The home study must be current within 12 months from the date of the proposed placement. If the most recent report is an update of a previous home study, then a copy of the original home study and all subsequent updates must also be included. (If a home study has not yet been completed on the prospective adoptive family, then the 100-A can be used to submit a request for a home study from the receiving state.) The home study or update must include all the elements that are required to document the family’s qualifications as prospective adoptive parents, including verifications and a positive recommendation on their fitness for adoption.

B. Verification of the credentials of the home study provider. The home study must be performed by either a licensed adoption agency or by a person legally authorized in the state of residence of the adoptive parents to perform such investigations. A licensed agency may submit their license number or other verification. Other persons should submit photocopies of their credentials which document their authority to perform such studies.

C. At least three letters of reference.

D. Verification of a criminal background check.

E. Verification of current medical reports on the adoptive family.

F. Any other documentation of compliance with all applicable adoption laws and regulations of the prospective adoptive family’s state of residence.

In order for the ICPC request to be complete, a packet of materials which includes all the material described above must be submitted to Heritage Family Services. Approval of the ICPC request can not be given until all documentation is provided. If some of the information or documentation is not included in the packet, please provide an explanation.

6. ICPC Fee of $250.

All private adoption ICPC requests must be accompanied by a fee of $250.00 in the form of a check or money order. The ICPC application is not considered complete until the fee has been paid. Upon verification of a complete ICPC application, Heritage Family Services will process the ICPC request by the next business day, excluding weekends and holidays. ICPC requests involving a child in custody of the State of Oklahoma or other public agencies require a fee of $400.00, which is paid by Oklahoma DHS.

7. Optional Mailer

After approval the material is sent to the receiving state ICPC office via regular mail. If you want to expedite the delivery to the other state ICPC office, you should include a pre-paid overnight mail airbill form (i.e. Federal Express, UPS, Airborne, etc.). This may help to facilitate a quicker response by the other state ICPC office.

8. Notification of Decision

When the receiving state ICPC office has reviewed the 100A and supporting materials, it will notify our office if the adoptive placement may be made. Upon request, most state ICPC offices will communicate their decision to Heritage either verbally by phone or by fax. Otherwise, their response will be mailed to our office in the form of a returned copy of the 100A which they have signed. If for any reason, the other state does not consider the adoptive placement to be in the child’s best interest, then they will notify us that the placement can not be made. While it is common practice with infant adoptions for the prospective adoptive parents to come to the child’s state and receive physical custody of the child prior to ICPC approval, it is important to understand that the interstate adoptive placement is not legally valid until the receiving state ICPC office has added its approval to the approval of the sending state ICPC office.

Upon receiving notice of approval, either verbally or by fax, Heritage staff will notify the sending agency or attorney in Oklahoma, usually by phone. Having received ICPC approval of the placement, the prospective adoptive family may now take the child home and travel outside the state of Oklahoma. When Heritage receives the signed copies of the 100A from the receiving state ICPC office, then a copy of the approved 100A will be mailed to the sending agency or attorney. This signed 100A is an important document which verifies that the adoptive placement has been made in compliance with the ICPC laws.

II. Bringing a Child from Another State to a Family in Oklahoma

The state where the child or birth mother resides when the planning for the interstate adoption is initiated is considered the state of the child’s residency. This state then becomes the sending state for ICPC purposes, and Oklahoma is considered to be the receiving state. The 100A request for the approval of the adoptive placement must begin in the ICPC office in this other state. Oklahoma does not have authority or jurisdiction to initiate the ICPC process when the child or birth mother is from another state.

The adoption agency or attorney who is making arrangements for the placement should contact the ICPC office in the sending state as early as possible to determine the proper procedures and forms needed in that state. Adoption laws vary from state to state, and thus there are significant differences in the kinds of forms and paperwork required.

1. Ensure the Child’s Eligibility for Adoption.

It is the responsibility of the party who is arranging and helping the birth parent to plan the adoption to understand the legal process for establishing the child’s legal eligibility for adoption. The Oklahoma Adoption Code includes a choice of law provision which allows the adoption to either be done under the applicable laws of the other state or under Oklahoma law if it is done before "an appropriate official and in the manner prescribed by the Oklahoma Adoption Code (10 O.S. § 7502 – 1.3 B). However, you should check with the ICPC office in the other state to be sure they will approve the placement based upon an Oklahoma consent or relinquishment or what the legal requirements are in that state to establish the child’s eligibility for adoption.

2. Submit the 100A to the Sending State ICPC Office.

The process of making the ICPC request begins with the submission of the 100A form to the ICPC office in the sending state. The same number of copies of the 100A must be completed as described earlier.

3. Submit the Appropriate Supporting Documentation.

The kinds of supporting documentation is similar but the forms may vary from state to state. The person or agency who is arranging for the adoption should check with the sending state ICPC office to be sure that the requirements of that state are fully met. You may wish to also check with Heritage Family Services for information about any additional documentation that will be needed for Oklahoma ICPC approval. In addition to the 100A form mentioned in section 2, the following kinds of documentation are generally required:

- Documentation of the Child’s Legal Eligibility for Adoption
- Copies of the Consent, Relinquishment or Termination documents as well as any other appropriate supporting legal documents.
- Data about the Birth Parents
- Social History and Genetic and Medical Information.
- Data about the Child
- Health Exams, Hospital discharge, Educational and Psychological Reports
- Data about the prospective Adoptive Family
- Copy of the Adoptive Home Study or Update, along with supporting documentation such as reference letters, criminal history checks, medical exams, etc.

4. Optional Mailer

If you want the other state to expedite the delivery of the material to Oklahoma, then you should include an overnight airbill addressed to:

Heritage Family Services
5200 S. Yale Avenue, Suite 300
Tulsa, OK 74135

5. ICPC Fee

A fee of $250.00 was established by DHS and must be submitted to Heritage Family Services for the processing of the 100A by our office. At this time only Oklahoma and Colorado charge a fee for processing of the ICPC request. You may include the check or money order for the fee (payable to Heritage Family Services) in the materials to be sent initially to the other state ICPC office. However, in order to insure that the check is not lost in the shuffle of paperwork, it is advisable to forward you check directly to Heritage. This can be done in advance, if you wish. If you send the check separately be sure to indicate the name of the child and adoptive family with the payment to insure proper credit. Heritage can not complete the processing of the 100A until the fee has been paid, so failure to include the payment or to send it directly will delay the processing of the request.

6. Notification of Decision.

Let the ICPC office in the other state know if you want them to request from Heritage immediate notification of approval by phone or fax. Once they have signed off on the 100A and forwarded the packet of materials to Heritage, we will begin the process of review of the documents. If all documentation is complete, Heritage will expedite the processing of the request. The processing is to be completed within 24 hours of the receipt of a complete ICPC packet, which includes all required documentation as well as payment of the ICPC fee.

When Heritage has completed its review of the 100A and other materials, Heritage will notify the ICPC office in the sending state. It is customary to give verbal notification by phone in the case of infant placements in order to facilitate the child coming home with the adoptive family to Oklahoma. The ICPC office in the other state will then notify the person or agency which submitted the 100A packet that the placement has been approved and the family may travel with the child back to Oklahoma.

Heritage will mail copies of the signed 100A to the ICPC office in the other state as well as to the receiving agency in Oklahoma.

The 100B - From Placement to Closure

The Sending Agency's Responsibilities: After Approval of the 100A

When the child remains in the out-of-state placement, the sending agency retains legal and financial responsibility for the child. This means that the sending agency has both the authority and the responsibility to determine all matters in relation to the custody, supervision, care, treatment, and disposition of the child, just as the sending agency would have if the child had remained in the home state.

The sending agency's responsibilities for the child continue until it legally terminates the interstate placement. It may terminate the placement by returning the child to the home state, or the placement may be terminated with the child left in the receiving state when the child is legally adopted, becomes self-supporting, or reaches majority, or for other reasons with the prior concurrence of the receiving state.

The sending agency must notify the receiving state's Compact Administrator of any change in the child's status, again using form ICPC-100B. Change of status may include a termination of the interstate placement or such things as a new placement of the child in the receiving state or a transfer of legal custody.

Using the 100B Form to Report Information:

While the 100A form is used to give approval to the interstate placement, the 100B form is used to report important information. There may be more than one 100B used in each case, and are usually at least two times when the 100B should be used. Send the completed 100B in triplicate to the Compact office in the Sending State, who will then forward it to the Receiving State.

Initial Placement

A100B should be submitted to show that the child was actually placed in the Receiving State. While prospective adoptive parents may have received physical custody of the child in the Sending State prior to approval of the 100A, the date of initial placement on the 100B should always be on or subsequent to the date the 100A approval was given. This is usually submitted by the adoption agency or attorney in the Sending State.

Changes in Placement

A 100B should be submitted any time there is a change, such as the adoptive parents moving to a different residence, withdrawal of the plan to place the child, or a disruption in placement.

Adoption Finalization

Submit a 100B showing the date of finalization and provide a copy of the decree of finalization. This allows the ICPC case to be closed.

An Adoption Agency or Attorney who OPENS an ICPC case is responsible to do all the paperwork required to properly PROCESS and CLOSE the ICPC case.

Title 10, Oklahoma Statutes §10-571

§10-571.

The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is hereby enacted into law and entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein in form substantially as follows:

ARTICLE I. Purpose and Policy

It is the purpose and policy of the party states to cooperate with each other in the interstate placement of children to the end that:

(a) Each child requiring placement shall receive the maximum opportunity to be placed in a suitable environment and with persons or institutions having appropriate qualifications and facilities to provide a necessary and desirable degree and type of care.

(b) The appropriate authorities in a state where a child is to be placed may have full opportunity to ascertain the circumstances of the proposed placement, thereby promoting full compliance with applicable requirements for the protection of the child.

(c) The proper authorities of the state from which the placement is made may obtain the most complete information on the basis on which to evaluate a projected placement before it is made.

(d) Appropriate jurisdictional arrangements for the care of children will be promoted.

ARTICLE II. Definitions

As used in this compact:

(a) "Child" means a person who, by reason of minority, is legally subject to parental, guardianship or similar control.

(b) "Sending agency" means a party state, officer or employee thereof; a subdivision of a party state, or officer or employee thereof; a court of a party state; a person, corporation, association, charitable agency or other entity which sends, brings, or causes to be sent or brought any child to another party state.

(c) "Receiving state" means the state to which a child is sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought, whether by public authorities or private persons or agencies, and whether for placement with state or local public authorities or for placement with private agencies or persons.

(d) "Placement" means the arrangement for the care of a child in a family free or boarding home or in a child-caring agency or institution but does not include any institution caring for the mentally ill, mentally defective or epileptic or any institution primarily educational in character, and any hospital or other medical facility.

ARTICLE III. Conditions for Placement

(a) No sending agency shall send, bring, or cause to be sent or brought into any other party state any child for placement in foster care or as a preliminary to a possible adoption unless the sending agency shall comply with each and every requirement set forth in this article and with the applicable laws of the receiving state governing the placement of children therein.

(b) Prior to sending, bringing or causing any child to be sent or brought into a receiving state for placement in foster care or as a preliminary to a possible adoption, the sending agency shall furnish the appropriate public authorities in the receiving state written notice of the intention to send, bring, or place the child in the receiving state. The notice shall contain:

(1) The name, date and place of birth of the child.

(2) The identity and address or addresses of the parents or legal guardian.

(3) The name and address of the person, agency or institution to or with which the sending agency proposes to send, bring, or place the child.

(4) A full statement of the reasons for such proposed action and evidence of the authority pursuant to which the placement is proposed to be made.

(c) Any public officer or agency in a receiving state which is in receipt of a notice pursuant to paragraph (b) of this article may request of the sending agency, or any other appropriate officer or agency of or in the sending agency's state, and shall be entitled to receive therefrom, such supporting or additional information as it may deem necessary under the circumstances to carry out the purpose and policy of this compact.

(d) The child shall not be sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought into the receiving state until the appropriate public authorities in the receiving state shall notify the sending agency, in writing, to the effect that the proposed placement does not appear to be contrary to the interests of the child.

ARTICLE IV. Penalty for Illegal Placement

The sending, bringing, or causing to be sent or brought into any receiving state of a child in violation of the terms of this compact shall constitute a violation of the laws respecting the placement of children of both the state in which the sending agency is located or from which it sends or brings the child and of the receiving state. Such violation may be punished or subjected to penalty in either jurisdiction in accordance with its laws. In addition to liability for any such punishment or penalty, any such violation shall constitute full and sufficient grounds for the suspension or revocation of any license, permit, or other legal authorization held by the sending agency which empowers or allows it to place, or care for children.

ARTICLE V. Retention of Jurisdiction

(a) The sending agency shall retain jurisdiction over the child sufficient to determine all matters in relation to the custody, supervision, care, treatment and disposition of the child which it would have had if the child had remained in the sending agency's state, until the child is adopted, reaches majority, becomes self-supporting or is discharged with the concurrence of the appropriate authority in the receiving state. Such jurisdiction shall also include the power to effect or cause the return of the child or its transfer to another location and custody pursuant to law. The sending agency shall continue to have financial responsibility for support and maintenance of the child during the period of the placement. Nothing contained herein shall defeat a claim of jurisdiction by a receiving state sufficient to deal with an act of delinquency or crime committed therein.

(b) When the sending agency is a public agency, it may enter into an agreement with an authorized public or private agency in the receiving state providing for the performance of one or more services in respect of such case by the latter as agent for the sending agency.

(c) Nothing in this compact shall be construed to prevent a private charitable agency authorized to place children in the receiving state from performing services or acting as agent in that state for a private charitable agency of the sending state; nor to prevent the agency in the receiving state from discharging financial responsibility for the support and maintenance of a child who has been placed on behalf of the sending agency without relieving the responsibility set forth in paragraph (a) hereof.

ARTICLE VI. Institutional Care of Delinquent Children

A child adjudicated delinquent may be placed in an institution in another party jurisdiction pursuant to this compact but no such placement shall be made unless the child is given a court hearing on notice to the parent or guardian with opportunity to be heard, prior to his being sent to such other party jurisdiction for institutional care and the court finds that:

1. Equivalent facilities for the child are not available in the sending agency's jurisdiction; and

2. Institutional care in the other jurisdiction is in the best interest of the child and will not produce undue hardship.

ARTICLE VII. Compact Administrator

The executive head of each jurisdiction party to this compact shall designate an officer who shall be general coordinator of activities under this compact in his jurisdiction and who, acting jointly with like officers of other party jurisdictions, shall have power to promulgate rules and regulations to carry out more effectively the terms and provisions of this compact.

ARTICLE VIII. Limitations

This compact shall not apply to:

(a) The sending or bringing of a child into a receiving state by his parent, stepparent, grandparent, adult brother or sister, adult uncle or aunt, or his guardian and leaving the child with any such relative or nonagency guardian in the receiving state.

(b) Any placement, sending or bringing of a child into a receiving state pursuant to any other interstate compact to which both the state from which the child is sent or brought and the receiving state are party, or to any other agreement between said states which has the force of law.

ARTICLE IX. Enactment and Withdrawal

This compact shall be open to joinder by any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and, with the consent of Congress, the Government of Canada or any province thereof. It shall become effective with respect to any such jurisdiction when such jurisdiction has enacted the same into law. Withdrawal from this compact shall be by the enactment of a statute repealing the same, but shall not take effect until two years after the effective date of such statute and until written notice of the withdrawal has been given by the withdrawing state to the Governor of each other party jurisdiction. Withdrawal of a party state shall not affect the rights, duties and obligations under this compact of any sending agency therein with respect to a placement made prior to the effective date of withdrawal.

ARTICLE X. Construction and Severability

The provisions of this compact shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes thereof. The provisions of this compact shall be severable and if any phrase, clause, sentence or provision of this compact is declared to be contrary to the constitution of any party state or of the United States or the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this compact and the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. If this compact shall be held contrary to the constitution of any state party thereto, the compact shall remain in full force and effect as to the remaining states and in full force and effect as to the state affected as to all severable matters."