Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 33 > Chapter 59 - Interstate Compact On the Placement of Children [Contingently Enacted]

• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Approved placement: means the public child placing agency in the receiving state has determined that the placement is both safe and suitable for the child. See
• Assessment: means an evaluation of a prospective placement by a public child placing agency in the receiving state to determine if the placement meets the individualized needs of the child, including but not limited to the child's safety and stability, health and well-being, and mental, emotional, and physical development. See
• Certification: means to attest, declare, or swear to before a judge or notary public. See
• Child: means a person who, by reason of minority, is legally subject to parental, guardianship, or similar control. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Default: means the failure of a member state to perform the obligations or responsibilities imposed upon it by this Compact, the bylaws, or rules of the Interstate Commission. See
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Home Study: means an evaluation of a home environment conducted in accordance with the applicable requirements of the state in which the home is located, and documents the preparation and the suitability of the placement resource for placement of a child in accordance with the laws and requirements of the state in which the home is located. See
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Indian tribe: means any Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for services provided to Indians by the Secretary of the Interior because of their status as Indians, including any Alaskan native village as defined in section 3(c) of the Alaska Native Claims settlement Act at 43 U. See
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: means the power and authority of a court to hear and decide matters. See
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Member state: means a state that has enacted this Compact. See
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• Noncustodial parent: means a person who, at the time of the commencement of court proceedings in the sending state, does not have sole legal custody of the child or has joint legal custody of a child, and who is not the subject of allegations or findings of child abuse or neglect. See
• Notice of residential placement: means information regarding a placement into a residential facility provided to the receiving state, including but not limited to the name, date and place of birth of the child, the identity and address of the parent or legal guardian, evidence of authority to make the placement, and the name and address of the facility in which the child will be placed. See
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
• Placement: means the arrangement for the care of a child in a family free or boarding home or in a child-caring agency or institution but does not include any institution caring for the mentally ill, mentally defective, or epileptic or any institution primarily educational in character, and any hospital or other medical facility. See
• Private child placing agency: means any private corporation, agency, foundation, institution, or charitable organization or any private person or attorney that facilitates, causes, or is involved in the placement of a child from one state to another and that is not an instrumentality of the state or acting under color of state law. See
• Provisional placement: means a determination made by the public child placing agency in the receiving state that the proposed placement is safe and suitable, and, to the extent allowable, the receiving state has temporarily waived its standards or requirements otherwise applicable to prospective foster or adoptive parents so as to not delay the placement. See
• Public child placing agency: means any government child welfare agency or child protection agency or a private entity under contract with such an agency, regardless of whether they act on behalf of a state, county, municipality, or other governmental unit, that facilitates, causes, or is involved in the placement of a child from one state to another. See
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Receiving state: means the state to which a child is sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought, whether by public authorities or private persons or agencies, and whether for placement with state or local public authorities or for placement with private agencies or persons. See
• Relative: means someone who is related to the child as a parent, step-parent, sibling by half or whole blood or by adoption, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin or a non-relative with such significant ties to the child that the person may be regarded as a relative as determined by the court in the sending state. See
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Residential facility: means a facility providing a level of care that is sufficient to substitute for parental responsibility or foster care and is beyond what is needed for assessment or treatment of an acute condition. See
• Rule: means a written directive, mandate, standard, or principle issued by the Interstate Commission promulgated pursuant to section 5911 of this title that is of general applicability and that implements, interprets, or prescribes a policy or provision of the Compact. See
• said: when used by way of reference to a person or thing shall apply to the same person or thing last mentioned. See
• seal: shall include an impression of the official seal made upon paper alone or by means of a wafer or wax affixed thereto. See
• Sending agency: means a party state, officer or employee thereof; a subdivision of a party state, or officer, or employee thereof; a court of a party state; a person, corporation, association, charitable agency, or other entity which sends, brings, or causes to be sent or brought any child to another party state. See
• Sending state: means the state from which the placement of a child is initiated. See
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U. See
• State court: means a judicial body of a state that is vested by law with responsibility for adjudicating cases involving abuse, neglect, deprivation, delinquency, or status offenses of individuals who have not attained 18 years of age. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Supervision: means monitoring provided by the receiving state once a child has been placed in a receiving state pursuant to this Compact. See
• Temporary restraining order: Prohibits a person from an action that is likely to cause irreparable harm. This differs from an injunction in that it may be granted immediately, without notice to the opposing party, and without a hearing. It is intended to last only until a hearing can be held.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See