Rep. Lanoue Applauds Committee on Children’s Decision to Advance His Bill H.B. No. 5263 to the House Floor

On Tuesday, the Committee on Children passed my bill, H.B. No. 5263, AN ACT REQUIRING A REPORT CONCERNING THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN PURSUANT TO THE INTERSTATE COMPACT ON THE PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN, out of committee. The bill now awaits further action in the House of Representatives.

This bill would form a task force to examine the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC). This concept is important to prevent other states from having control over placement of children from Connecticut without our state being able to independently investigate. Additionally, language was added to the legislation based on my recommendations to include Child Advocate Sarah Eagan to the taskforce with the DCF Commissioner and the Chief Court Administrator.  Also, it will now examine the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), in addition to the ICPC.

The objective of the ICPC is to protect the rights and interests of children, but constituents of mine have brought to my attention cases in which the ICPC obstructs this objective. For these reasons, at bare minimum would need to do more of a deep dive into the ICPC and UCCJEA to prevent these situations from happening again.

During the February 29th Committee on Children public hearing, Matthew and Alicia Jackson testified in front of the committee and shared their personal and concerning story on their struggles with the ICPC. According to their testimony, during a family trip out of state last year, one of the Jackson’s 6-week-old-twins sustained a injury while the child was being changed and needed medical attention. Although the child was treated and released back to the couple, the following day the out of state child protective services (CPS) instructed the Jackson’s to bring the child back to the ER. Even though there was an abnormal lab result due to an underlying condition attributing to the child’s injury -brittle bone disease, CPS removed the twins from the care of their parents and thrusted them into the Tennessee foster care system. Upon further testing, Mrs. Jackson and her mother were both diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which is known to cause easy bruising and skeletal fragility, the couple still is still fighting to regain custody of their beloved children.

While it is understood that the objective of the ICPC is to protect the rights and interests of children, in this case, it suggests problems with these compacts and how Connecticut is yielding way too much authority and decision making to other states over Connecticut residents. The Jackson’s have faced a very long road with numerous legal battles to regain custody of their twin boys.  With the ICPC being the law of the land, it took 7 weeks for the twins to be transferred back to Connecticut under the Interstate Compact Agreement. The next court date for the Jackson’s will not be until July 25th, which marks over 570 days the children have been separated from their parents.

Through the family’s advocacy, along with friends like Dawn Mattos, of Hopeville, Connecticut, it is abundantly clear that adjustments to the ICPC are desperately needed. Ceding Connecticut’s authority to another state and having them rule on cases against our own residents has put the Jackson’s and others in a state of uncertainty.

I encourage you to take some time to listen to the testimony offered by Mr. & Mrs. Jackson, and Ms. Mattos. Their stories are eye-opening and highlight the need for changes to the ICPC and UCCJEA.

I want to thank my fellow Committee on Children Members, including Ranking Members Rep. Anne Dauphinais and Sen. Lisa Seminara, Vice-Chairs Rep. Sarah Keitt and Sen. Julie Kushner, and Co-Chair Rep. Liz Linehan, for their support of this bill and working together in a bipartisan way to get the legislation to this point.

Related Media

Matthew Jackson Testimony- https://youtu.be/z9XMI2Dt15U

Alicia Jackson Testimony- https://youtu.be/dRNRTzfmtqg

Dawn Mattos Testimony- https://youtu.be/jHK63WJ3GfI