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DCFS proposes $35 administrative fee for interstate child‑placement requests; providers warn of cost shift
Summary
The Division of Child and Family Services proposed a new $35 ICPC administrative fee, to be charged per initial interstate placement request, to fund additional staff and improve response timeliness; attorneys and providers warned the charge will likely be passed to adoptive parents or congregate-care providers and urged legislative outreach instead.
The Division of Child and Family Services asked the hearing to approve a new $35 administrative fee for ICPC (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children) requests that originate from private providers or private attorneys rather than state custody placements. DCFS staff said the volume of interstate requests has increased and available resources have not kept pace, creating timeliness problems that the fee is intended to address by funding additional personnel.
Steve O'Sullivan, support services administrator for DCFS, explained the fee would apply to non‑custody ICPC requests and said staff had not yet reached out to legislators about a funding request. "We've had significant increase in the volume of requests coming through our ICPC office... and so we're asking for a fee related to non youth in custody ICPCs so that we can maintain a workforce," he said. Attorneys and provider representatives urged caution: Lance Rich said placing a fee on ICPCs where previously none existed will likely be passed on to families and suggested departmental outreach to Sen. Chris Wilson about potential appropriations. Donna Pope, a nonprofit adoption director, said most other states do not charge such a fee and urged the department to consider state support.
