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

Texas

Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central · Phone: · Fax: (512) 339-5815

Texas Relative Placements

Texas conducts the following types of home studies:

Relative Care
Foster Care
Relative-Foster Care
Parent Care
Adoption

RELATIVE-FOSTER CARE:
Texas implemented new relative-foster standards, allowing families with a kinship relationship to be assessed under specialized criteria. Kinship includes relationships by blood, marriage, adoption, or close emotional bonds recognized by the child or parent. These families are assessed under Texas’s relative-foster model. If approved, caregivers may receive foster care maintenance payments if authorized by the sending state. Requirements include a full home study, minimized training, and full background checks for all adult household members. Incoming “ICPC Foster” requests with identified kinship relationships will follow these standards. This new model reduces the timeframe for completion and is strongly recommended for all relatives rather than an unlicensed relative ICPC request.

Texas will not accept more than 2 home study requests on several prospective caregivers for placement of the same child at a time. The sending state will need to wait until the homestudies are completed prior to sending additional home study requests on other prospective caregivers.

Relative Home Study

Define Relative:

Relative home studies may be completed on any degree of relationship.

As the Receiving State, Texas will accept fictive kin requests as “relative home study requests”.

A “fictive kin” (also known as ‘symbolic relative’) is defined as a person with a longstanding and significant relationship with a child (i.e. Godparent, someone considered to be an aunt or uncle even though they are not related to the child).

Relatives must be licensed:

Proof of Paternity Required for Placement with Paternal Relative:

Texas 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.):

1st Degree (mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter)
2nd Degree (grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, first cousin)
3rd Degree (great grandmother, great grandfather, great aunt, great uncle, grand-niece, grand nephew, second cousin)
4th Degree (great, great-grandmother, great, great-grandfather, great, great aunt, great, great aunt, great, great uncle, great grand-niece, great grand nephew, third cousin)
Godmother, Godfather
Other

Regulation 7 Priority Placement

Texas 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):

60 days

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

60 days

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

Date stamped in the ICPC Office.

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

	Regular Mail	Overnight Mail	Electronic Mail
Send request for a home study to Receiving State	y	y	y
Send home study request to Local office			y
Send home study report to Sending State	y	y	y

Criminal Records Checks

Texas requires criminal background checks for the following home studies:

Foster Care
Relative Care
Adoption
Parent

Types of Checks (Crim. & Abuse Neglect Registry)

Texas 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	ANR
Parent	y	y	y
Relative	y	y	y
Foster Care	y	y	y
Adoption	y	y	y

Wait Time for Criminal Records Checks

Wait time for fingerprint results are:

Live Scan or other technology

State: 8-14 days

Local/County: Not Offered

Manually - Fingerprint Card

State: 15-30 days

Local/County: 15-30 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):

60 days

Verification of Criminal Records Results

Actual results/information contained in the Criminal Background
Signature verifying background check completed

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

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

6-9 mos.

Length of time a license is valid before renewal required:

6 mos.
Texas DFPS can only license foster homes for a child who needs basic services. The sending state will need to have a child specific contract with a Texas private child placing agency if placing a child with needs of above basic services. Please see link of Texas foster/adoption child placing agencies: http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/adoption_and_foster_care/adoption_partners/private.asp

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

Other: if classes are offered at state or county discretion. - Varies among each Region in Texas (there are 11 Regions)