| (a) Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services (TDPRS) involvement. As specified in the Texas Family Code, Chapter 162, the state of Texas has enacted the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) as law. Under that law, every placement of a child inside or outside Texas that is subject to the ICPC must be coordinated through TDPRS. (b) State laws and agency policies. TDPRS applies the same state laws and agency policies that govern placements within the state of Texas to interstate placements under the ICPC. (c) Interstate-placement regulations. Within the limits of state law, agency policy, and the best interest of the child, TDPRS also applies the regulations of the Association of Administrators of the ICPC (AAICPC) to interstate placements made under the ICPC. If necessary, however, in a particular child's placement, TDPRS may waive any AAICPC regulation that appears to conflict with state law,
agency policy, or the best interest of the child, unless the court of jurisdiction prohibits such a waiver. (d) The Texas Interstate Placement Section. As specified in Chapter 45 of the Human Resources Code, the executive director of TDPRS is the compact administrator for Texas under the ICPC. To carry out the functions of the compact administrator, the executive director of TDPRS designates a deputy compact administrator and appoints appropriate support staff. The deputy administrator and support staff constitute the Texas Interstate Placement Section (TIPS) of the Office of Protective Services for Families and Children (PSFC). TIPS is the interstate compact office for Texas. (e) Requesting placements outside Texas. Every person and organization that requests approval to place a child from Texas in another state, district, or territory of the United States under the ICPC must submit an application to TIPS. The application must include all
documents specified by TIPS and be prepared according to instructions issued by TIPS. (f) Requesting placements inside Texas. (1) Every person and organization that requests approval to place a child in Texas from another state, district, or territory of the United States under the ICPC must submit an application to TIPS through the compact administrator of the state, district, or territory from which the child is being placed, unless that state, district, or territory has not enacted the ICPC. (2) If the state, district, or territory from which a child is being placed has not enacted the ICPC, the person or organization requesting approval must either: (A) submit an application to TIPS through the authority responsible for coordinating such placements in the state, district, or territory from which the child is being placed, if there is such an authority; or (B) in the absence of such
an authority, submit an application directly to TIPS. (3) The application specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection must include all documents specified by TIPS and be prepared according to instructions issued by TIPS or by the compact administrator of the state from which the child is being placed. (g) Placement supervision. Whenever a child is placed in Texas or from Texas under the ICPC, the agency supervising the placement must submit a supervisory report on the placement at least once every three months until the court terminates the authority of the agency or individual placing the child, unless TIPS authorizes a reduced frequency. If the child's case is not closed within a year, however, the agency supervising the placement may, at its own discretion, reduce the frequency of supervisory reports to once every six months.
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