ICPC State Pages

About the ICPC

The Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (AAICPC) was established in 1974 and consists of members from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The AAICPC has authority under ICPC to "promulgate rules and regulations to carry out more effectively the terms and provisions of this compact." The AAICPC obtains its Secretariat Services, as an affiliate of the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA).

For more information, please visit the AAICPC website.

Contact the AAICPC

American Public Human Services Association
1133 Nineteenth Street, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 682-0100
fax: (202) 289-6555

Web Manager: Carla Fults [cfults@aphsa.org]

Click on a state to see it's page:

ICPC STATE Pages

Pennsylvania

Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern · Phone: (717) 772-5505 · Fax: (717) 425-5562

Pennsylvania Relative Placements

Pennsylvania conducts the following types of home studies:

Foster Care
Relative-Foster Care
Parent Care
Adoption

Relative Home Study

Define Relative:

Pennsylvania requires relatives to be foster care approved and/or certified.

Relatives must be licensed:

Proof of Paternity Required for Placement with Paternal Relative:

Pennsylvania considers the following types and degrees of relation as relative placements. Individuals related in the 1st degree, 2nd degree, 3rd degree and 4th degree (You may need to refer to your state's consanguinity chart or state statute to determine relations or relative status.):

Regulation 7 Priority Placement

Pennsylvania performs priority placements:

Wait Time (ICPC Interstate Home Study)

Average length of time to process and complete a home study with criminal background checks for an interstate placement (Not including completion of education training):

Other: 3 to 6 months

Wait time to complete Home Study, only (without criminal records check):

Other: 3 to 6 months

Pennsylvania determines the "Date of Receipt" for an interstate home study as:

Date stamped in the Receiving State Local Office.
Other

Incoming mail is "date stamped" with date of receipt at ICPC office, so the date that is stamped on the request is considered our "date of receipt".

Method of requesting, sending, and/or reporting an interstate home study

	Regular Mail	Express Mail	Overnight Mail	Electronic Mail
Send request for a home study to Receiving State

Criminal Records Checks

Pennsylvania requires criminal background checks for the following home studies:

Foster Care
Relative-Foster Care
Adoption
Parent

Pennsylvania requires relatives to be foster approved and/or certified. Foster-Adopt is a two step process.

Types of Checks (Crim. & Abuse Neglect Registry)

Pennsylvania requires the following types of criminal background and perpetrator checks (Federal (F), State (S), Local (L), Abuse and Neglect Registry (ANR), Not Required (NR))

	Federal	State	Local	ANR	NR
Foster Care

Wait Time for Criminal Records Checks

Wait time for fingerprint results are:

Live Scan or other technology

State: 4-7 days

Local/County: Not Offered

Manually - Fingerprint Card

State: 15-30 days

Local/County: 4-7 days

Average length of time to process and complete a home study with criminal background checks for an interstate placement (Not including completion of education training):

Other: 3 to 6 months

Verification of Criminal Records Results

Actual results/information contained in the Criminal Background
Signature verifying background check completed
Other, specified next

State background check staff review criminal records to determine if any convictions are prohibited offenses as per the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law.

Wait Time - (License/ Certification/ Approval - Education and Training)

Average Length of time it takes for a home to be licensed/approved/certified:

3-6 mos.

Length of time a license is valid before renewal required:

1 year

Pennsylvania offers classes (education and training) for placement resources' homes to become licensed/certified/approved:

Other: Each Pennsylvania local agency determines how often to offer training.