Vermont Statutes Title 33 Sec. 5905
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 33 Sec. 5905
- 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. See
- 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. See
- Certification: means to attest, declare, or swear to before a judge or notary public. See
- Child: means a person who, by reason of minority, is legally subject to parental, guardianship, or similar control. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- 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 documents 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. See
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Jurisdiction: means the power and authority of a court to hear and decide matters. See
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- 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. See
- 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 color of state law. See
- 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. See
- 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, that facilitates, causes, or is involved in the placement of a child from one state to another. See
- 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. See
- Relative: means someone who is related to the child as a parent, step-parent, sibling by half or whole blood or by adoption, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin or a non-relative with such significant ties to the child that the person may be regarded as a relative as determined by the court in the sending state. See
- 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. See
- Sending state: means the state from which the placement of a child is initiated. See
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U. See
- Supervision: means monitoring provided by the receiving state once a child has been placed in a receiving state pursuant to this Compact. See
[Contingently repealed; effective until contingency met.]
§ 5905. Retention of jurisdiction—Article V [Contingently repealed; Effective until contingency met]
(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 subsection (a) hereof. (Added 1971, No. 219 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 4, 5, eff. April 5, 1972.)
[Contingently repealed; effective until contingency met.]
§ 5905. Retention of jurisdiction—Article V [Contingently repealed]
(Added 1971, No. 219 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 4, 5, eff. April 5, 1972; contingently repealed by 2021, No. 101 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)
[Contingently enacted.]
§ 5905. Placement evaluation [Contingently enacted]
(a) Prior to sending, bringing, or causing a child to be sent or brought into a receiving state, the public child placing agency shall provide a written request for assessment to the receiving state.
(b) For placements by a private child placing agency, a child may be sent or brought, or caused to be sent or brought, into a receiving state, upon receipt and immediate review of the required content in a request for approval of a placement in both the sending and receiving state public child placing agency. The required content to accompany a request for approval shall include all of the following:
(1) a request for approval identifying the child, birth parent or parents, the prospective adoptive parent or parents, and the supervising agency, signed by the person requesting approval;
(2) the appropriate consents or relinquishments signed by the birth parents in accordance with the laws of the sending state or, where permitted, the laws of the state where the adoption will be finalized;
(3) certification by a licensed attorney or authorized agent of a private adoption agency that the consent or relinquishment is in compliance with the applicable laws of the sending state or, where permitted, the laws of the state where finalization of the adoption will occur;
(4) a home study; and
(5) an acknowledgment of legal risk signed by the prospective adoptive parents.
(c) The sending state and the receiving state may request additional information or documents prior to finalization of an approved placement, but they may not delay travel by the prospective adoptive parents with the child if the required content for approval has been submitted, received, and reviewed by the public child placing agency in both the sending state and the receiving state.
(d) Approval from the public child placing agency in the receiving state for a provisional or approved placement is required as provided for in the rules of the Interstate Commission.
(e) The procedures for making and the request for an assessment shall contain all information and be in such form as provided for in the rules of the Interstate Commission.
(f) Upon receipt of a request from the public child placing agency of the sending state, the receiving state shall initiate an assessment of the proposed placement to determine its safety and suitability. If the proposed placement is a placement with a relative, the public child placing agency of the sending state may request a determination for a provisional placement.
(g) The public child placing agency in the receiving state may request from the public child placing agency or the private child placing agency in the sending state, and shall be entitled to receive, supporting or additional information necessary to complete the assessment or approve the placement.
(h) The public child placing agency in the receiving state shall approve a provisional placement and complete or arrange for the completion of the assessment within the time frames established by the rules of the Interstate Commission.
(i) For a placement by a private child placing agency, the sending state shall not impose any additional requirements to complete the home study that are not required by the receiving state, unless the adoption is finalized in the sending state.
(j) The Interstate Commission may develop uniform standards for the assessment of the safety and suitability of interstate placements. (Contingently added 2021, No. 101 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)