In a family law case of first impression for the Appellate Division, First Department, the court expressly disagrees with the both the Second Department and interstate regulations to find that an interstate compact for child placement—and the delay and uncertainty it creates—cannot be used to block out-of-state parents from promptly taking custody of their own needy child.

To allow such delay or, in some instances, even a denial of custody to fit parents, writes First Department Justice Troy Webber, would be to “fl[y] in the face of New York’s policy of keeping ‘biological families together.’”