The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is an agreement between all 50 states and the District of Columbia governing the process of placing a foster child out of state. Notorious for its long wait times and system backlog, the ICPC presents a host of problems for children attempting to move mere minutes across state lines to be with a relative or kin placement instead of state foster care. In an effort to make this process smoother, 18 different “border agreements” have been adopted by several neighboring states across the U.S. Such border agreements give temporary placement licenses to relatives and kin while the ICPC process is ongoing. While this is a good start towards a solution, the ICPC could be further streamlined if border agreements were used more widely, especially in regional contexts. This article considers the possibility of such a regional agreement between the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Northern Virginia (known as the “DMV”). By comparing and contrasting two existing border agreements in these three jurisdictions, a regional DMV border agreement can be created implementing the best terms of both agreements.

中文翻译：

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为什么花了这么长时间才采取行动？：在 DMV 中制定区域边界协议，作为《州际儿童安置契约》的替代方案

《州际儿童安置契约》(ICPC) 是所有 50 个州和哥伦比亚特区之间达成的一项协议，管理将寄养儿童安置在州外的程序。ICPC 因其漫长的等待时间和系统积压而臭名昭著，它给那些试图在几分钟内跨越州界线去亲戚或亲属安置而不是由州寄养的儿童带来了一系列问题。为了使这一过程更加顺利，美国多个邻国已通过了 18 项不同的“边境协议”。在 ICPC 程序进行期间，这些边境协议向亲属和亲属提供临时安置许可证。虽然这是解决方案的一个良好开端，但如果边界协定得到更广泛的使用，特别是在区域背景下，ICPC 可以进一步精简。本文探讨了哥伦比亚特区、马里兰州和北弗吉尼亚州（称为“DMV”）之间达成此类区域协议的可能性。通过比较和对比这三个司法管辖区的两项现有边界协议，可以创建区域 DMV 边界协议，以实施这两项协议的最佳条款。