Oregon Revised Statutes

Or. Rev. Stat. § 417.200 (2026)

Interstate Compact on Placement of Children

✓ current as of May 2026
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      417.200 Interstate Compact on Placement of Children. The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children is enacted into law and entered into on behalf of this state with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein in form substantially as follows:

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INTERSTATE COMPACT ON

THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN

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 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 the jurisdiction of the officer 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 a parent, step-parent, grandparent, adult brother or sister, adult uncle or aunt, or 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, 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.

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[1975 c.482 §1]

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1991–2025 · leading case: Dept. of Human Servs. v. D. C. B., 310 Or. App. 729 (Or. Ct. App. 2021).
Dept. of Human Servs. v. D. C. B., 310 Or. App. 729 (Or. Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 18× “Held: The Court of Appeals concluded that the ICPC applies only to children who are in substitutes for parental care, and, as such, its requirements are not mandatory when a child is placed with a parent in another state.”
State ex rel. Juv. Dep't v. Campbell, 36 P.3d 989 (Or. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 7× “ORS 417.200. We reverse and remand. We review the facts de novo, ORS 419A.”
Dep't of Human Servs. v. A.B., 401 P.3d 279 (Or. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 12× “At the time of the juvenile court’s actions, California had declined to approve the placement under the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), ORS 417.200 to 417.260. The Department of Human Services (DHS) and K appeal, arguing principally that (1) the juvenile…”
State Ex Rel. Juv. Dep't v. Smith, 811 P.2d 145 (Or. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 2× “4 We note that the trial court, in invoking the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, ORS 417.200 to ORS 417.260, misinterpreted the provision upon which it relied.”
McCulley v. Bone, 979 P.2d 779 (Or. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 2× “See ORS 417.200 et seq. By regulation, SOSCF has interpreted the ICPC to apply to placement of out-of-state children in Oregon for independent adoptions.”
Health Net, Inc. v. Dept. of Rev., 22 Or. Tax 128 (Or. T.C. 2015). “See ORS 417.200 (ICPC as adopted in Oregon). From the discussion of consid- eration and the principles found in the Restatement (Second) of Contracts section 77, comment b, illustration 5, it is clear that the ICPC differs fundamentally from the Compact in terms of the existence…”
Dep't of Human Servs. v. S. A., 281 P.3d 655 (Or. Ct. App. 2012). “Father noted that his home state, Missouri, was willing to initiate a home study of father through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), ORS 417.200 to 417.260. He requested that the hearing be continued pending the results of that study.”
Dept. of Human Servs. v. M. J. H. (A186905), 343 Or. App. 590 (Or. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 5× “The juvenile court denied father’s motion on the basis that Tennessee’s approval of potential placement under the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), ORS 417.”
Dep't of Human Servs. v. J. N., 291 P.3d 765 (Or. Ct. App. 2012). “DHS, through the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children, see ORS 417.200 - 417.260, requested a home study from a social services agency in North Carolina.”
Dept. of Human Servs. v. M. J. H. (A186905), 343 Or. App. 590 (Or. Ct. App. 2025). · cites it 5× “In this consolidated appeal, father appeals the juve- nile court’s judgment denying his motion to have his chil- dren placed in foster care in Tennessee. The juvenile court denied father’s motion on the basis that Tennessee’s approval of potential placement under the Interstate…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.