Opinion ID: 2572707
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Applicable Interstate Laws

Text: Because interstate child custody decrees are a fact of modern life, various state and national laws have been passed that address enforcement of those decrees. State legislatures around the country have adopted, with some variation, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA), see e.g., Mo.Rev. Stat. §§ 452.440 through 452.550, and its successor, the Uniform Child-custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), which appears in the Colorado statutes at section 14-13-101, et seq., 5 C.R.S. (2003). Prior to 2000, Colorado relied upon the UCCJA to determine whether a court of this state had jurisdiction to enter an initial custody order or to modify a pre-existing custody order entered by another state. However, during the 2000 legislative session, our General Assembly repealed the UCCJA and enacted the UCCJEA, which significantly altered the jurisdictional requirements in interstate custody disputes. Ch. 320, secs. 1-2, § 14-13-101, et seq., 2000 Colo. Sess. Laws 1519, 1519-37. Missouri continues to operate under the old framework of the UCCJA, and has not adopted the UCCJEA. See Mo.Rev. Stat. §§ 452.440-550 (2003). The United States Congress has recognized the national importance of interstate child placement issues by adoption of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980 (PKPA), § 8, 28 U.S.C.A., § 1738A (2003), which requires the courts of every state to enforce a child custody determination of a sister state made consistently with the provisions of that Act. Lastly, all fifty states, including Missouri and Colorado, have adopted the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC). See 2 Am.Jur.2d Adoption § 28 (2003). The ICPC appears in the Colorado statutes at sections 24-60-1801 through XX-XX-XXXX, 7B C.R.S. (2003).
Missouri relies upon the UCCJA; Colorado upon the UCCJEA. The UCCJA, when it was in place in Colorado, was held to apply to failed adoptions. Missouri case law appears to accord with that conclusion. The UCCJEA, on the other hand, does not apply to adoption proceedings. In light of the significant differences between the UCCJA and the UCCJEA, we examine each in turn.
The UCCJA is jurisdictional legislation that was developed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) in 1968, and was adopted in Colorado in 1973, nearly verbatim. L.G v. People, 890 P.2d 647, 655 (Colo.1995). The UCCJA applies to custody determinations made in custody proceedings. See § 14-13-103(2) and (3), 6B C.R.S. (1999); L.G., 890 P.2d at 657. Although the term adoption does not appear in the UCCJA's definition of child-custody determinations or child-custody proceedings, courts of this state construed the UCCJA to include adoption proceedings. See In re Custody of K.R., 897 P.2d 896, 899-900 (Colo.App.1995) (Adoption proceedings are custody proceedings within the meaning of the UCCJA, and therefore its jurisdictional prerequisites apply to custody determinations following a failed adoption.). [12] Missouri appears to be among the states that would similarly apply the UCCJA to adoption proceedings. See In re T.C.M., 651 S.W.2d 525, 528 (Mo.Ct.App.1983) (Assuming the UCCJA applied to adoptions, Missouri, as the home state of the child, could take jurisdiction over a proceeding in which the prospective adoptive parents resided in Missouri, although the contested adoption proceeding had occurred in North Carolina.). [13] Under the UCCJA, courts of this state employed a two-part test to determine whether jurisdiction in a custody matter is proper. L.G., 890 P.2d at 656 (citing Barden v. Blau, 712 P.2d 481, 484 (Colo.1986)). First, a court was required to determine whether, as a threshold matter, it could properly exercise jurisdiction over a case pursuant to section 14-13-104 of the UCCJA. L.G., 890 P.2d at 656. If the statute conferred jurisdiction, the court was nevertheless required to determine whether, under other provisions of the UCCJA, the court ought to exercise that jurisdiction. Id. Section 14-13-104(1)(a) (c), 5 C.R.S. (2003) of the UCCJA provided three general bases for an assertion of jurisdiction over custody proceedings: (1) if the state was the child's home state, [14] and one parent or person acting as a parent continued to live in the state even though the child did not; (2) if the child had significant connections with the state so that it was in the child's best interests for that state to assume jurisdiction; and (3) if there was an emergent situation requiring the protection of the child and the child was physically present in the state. L.G., 890 P.2d at 658. Section 14-13-104(1)(d) provided one final avenue for a court to assume jurisdiction. Under that provision, Colorado could assume jurisdiction over the custody proceedings if it appeared that no other state would have jurisdiction under any of the other provisions contained in section 14-13-104. Id. Although the UCCJA identified several different bases for jurisdiction, it provided no clear means of assigning priority among them. Rather, it allowed courts to exercise jurisdiction if any of the jurisdictional requirements within the UCCJA were met. This resulted in the possibility, and indeed the likelihood, that more than one state could assert jurisdiction. See Kathleen A. Hogan, Custody Jurisdiction, 26 WTR Fam. Advoc. 22, 23 (2004). For precisely this reason, after a court determined it had jurisdiction, it was required to take the additional step of determining whether it ought to exercise that jurisdiction in light of other provisions of the UCCJA. Most importantly, if a court in this state wanted to modify another state's initial custody decree, it was required to satisfy section 14-13-115, 5 C.R.S. (1999), of the UCCJA. That provision provided that [i]f a court of another state has made a custody decree, a court of this state shall not modify that decree unless it appears to the court of this state that the court which rendered the decree does not now have jurisdiction ... or has declined to assume jurisdiction to modify the decree and the court of this state has jurisdiction. Thus, once an initial custody decree was entered in another state, the courts of this state could only exercise jurisdiction if the other court lacked jurisdiction when the decree was entered or somehow declined to exercise jurisdiction. In this case, were we to apply the UCCJA, Colorado would clearly have jurisdiction to entertain the Petitioners' Verified Petition for Allocation of Parental Responsibilities. At the point at which the Petition was filed, A.J.C. had lived in Colorado for at least six consecutive months. Therefore, Colorado is the home state of A.J.C. under the UCCJA. Additionally, the Petitioners fall within the statutory definition of persons acting as a parent because they have had physical custody of A.J.C. since his birth and have exercised all parental rights and responsibilities. However, our conclusion that Colorado is the home state of A.J.C., by itself, would be insufficient to confer jurisdiction upon Colorado under the UCCJA. Rather, we would also be required to consider whether Colorado, in light of other provisions of the UCCJA, should exercise jurisdiction in this case. Viewing Missouri's order as akin to an initial custody decree, we would be bound under the UCCJA to examine the provisions of section 14-13-115 to determine whether we had jurisdiction to modify that decree. The relevant inquiry for purposes of this case would be whether Missouri had declined to exercise its jurisdiction by virtue of having failed to determine custody of A.J.C. according to his best interests. Other jurisdictions relying upon the UCCJA have examined that precise dilemma. Some courts have recognized the need to accord full faith and credit to custody decrees of other states. Others have concluded that the failure to make custody determinations according to the best interests of the child may be construed as a declination of jurisdiction, thereby enabling the state where the child resides to exercise jurisdiction. The two lead cases around the country on opposing sides of this issue are a New Jersey Supreme Court case and a Michigan Supreme Court case. In E.E.B. v. D.A., 89 N.J. 595, 446 A.2d 871 (1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1210, 103 S.Ct. 1203, 75 L.Ed.2d 445 (1983), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that New Jersey was not obligated under either the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980 (PKPA), § 28 U.S.C. 1738A (2004), or the UCCJA to enforce a custody determination made by another state following a failed adoption where the other state did not consider the best interests of the child. In E.E.B., both the adoptive parents and the natural mother resided in Ohio at the time mother surrendered the child to the state and adoption had been effectuated by the Ohio courts. 446 A.2d at 873. Shortly after the adoption, the mother revoked her consent. Id. To regain custody of the child, she initiated a habeas corpus action in the Ohio courts, ultimately appealing to the Ohio Supreme Court. Id. at 874. The Ohio Supreme Court concluded that the natural mother had effectively revoked her consent and it determined that the right to custody belonged with the natural mother and, without conducting a best interests hearing, ordered the return of the child to her. Id. at 873-74. During the appeals process, however, the adoptive parents had moved with the child to New Jersey. Id. at 874. The parents then instituted an action for custody in the courts of New Jersey. Id. at 874. In approving a New Jersey court's exercise of jurisdiction over the case despite the prior custody determination made in Ohio, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that: Ohio's failure to conduct a best interest hearing constitutes a refusal to exercise jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.A. § 1738A(f)(2). Under PKPA, therefore, New Jersey is free to modify the Ohio decree. This result comports with the congressional intent that child custody decisions be made in the state best able to determine the best interest of the child. See Pub.L.No. 96-611, section 7, 94 State. 3568. Id. at 877. Ultimately, the court held that by declining to determine the best interests of the child, Ohio enabled the New Jersey courts to modify the initial custody determination from Ohio without violating the full faith and credit clause or federal and state statutes, including the UCCJA. Id. at 880. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reached a similar result in Lemley v. Barr, 176 W.Va. 378, 343 S.E.2d 101 (1986). In that case, adoption proceedings that were initiated in Ohio were invalidated. The natural mother then brought a habeas corpus action in West Virginia to secure custody of the child from the prospective adoptive parents living with the child in West Virginia. The West Virginia court held that the judgment from Ohio setting aside the adoption was entitled to full faith and credit. Id. at 105. Nevertheless, the court held that West Virginia retained jurisdiction to determine custody in light of the child's best interests. Id.; see also In re Baby Girl L., 51 P.3d 544 (Okla.2002) (rejecting due process claim of out-of-state prospective adoptive parents seeking custody of child but ultimately holding that Oklahoma statutes required court to determine best interests of child after a failed adoption). The Supreme Court of Michigan held otherwise when confronted with this issue. In re Baby Girl Clausen, 442 Mich. 648, 502 N.W.2d 649 (1993); but see id. at 668 (Levin, J., dissenting). [15] In that case, the court rejected the argument that the judgment of an Iowa court should not be enforced based on the fact that it did not conduct a hearing concerning the best interests of the child in making a custody determination after a failed adoption. Id. at 660. The court determined that the UCCJA does not require, as a substantive test, that each jurisdiction apply a best interests of the child standard when making custody determinations. Id. at 661. Rather, the court concluded that [e]ach state, through legislation and interpretive decisions of its courts, is free to fashion its own substantive law of family relationships within constitutional limitations. Id. As we stated earlier, the UCCJA embodies the notion that custody decrees entered in one state are entitled to full faith and credit in Colorado. However, because the circuit court failed to determine the best interests of A.J.C., we conclude that Colorado would not be obligated under the UCCJA to give full faith and credit to the circuit court's order granting custody to Mother. In Department of Social Services v. District Court, 742 P.2d 339 (Colo.1987), this court concluded that two children who had been found dependent and neglected in Ohio and who were in Colorado in a social services placement had to be returned to Ohio upon the request of the Ohio Department of Social Services, the sending agency. The majority focused on the authority of the sending agency to require return of the children, and did not address a best interests analysis. However, Justices Mullarkey and Rovira specially concurred; citing to E.E.B., they would have permitted Colorado to retain jurisdiction under the UCCJA for purposes of conducting a best interests hearing. 742 P.2d at 342-43. Thus, under the UCCJAthe prevailing law in Missouriwe conclude that Colorado could properly exercise jurisdiction over the Petitioners' Verified Petition for Allocation of Parental Responsibilities.
We come now to the modern version of the UCCJAthe UCCJEA. In 1997, the NCCUSL unanimously endorsed the UCCJEA. Patricia M. Hoff, The ABC's of the UCCJEA: Interstate Child-Custody Practice Under the New Act, 32 Fam.L.Q. 267, 267 (1998). As we mentioned above, our legislature adopted the UCCJEA in 2000, thereby replacing the UCCJA. The UCCJEA was formulated to clarify ambiguities and reconcile conflicting interpretations regarding circumstances under which a state has jurisdiction to make or modify custody orders. Hogan, 26-WTR Fam. Advoc. at 24-25. Colorado's UCCJEA provides clearer standards to guide states in exercising or not exercising original jurisdiction over child custody determinations. It also, for the first time, enunciates the standard for continuing jurisdiction and clarifies modification jurisdiction. The prefatory note adopted by our legislature and accompanying the UCCJEA provides a useful tool for fleshing out the differences between it and its predecessor, the UCCJA. The prefatory note to the legislation implementing the UCCJEA in Colorado indicates that the drafters of the UCCJEA sought to revise the law on child custody jurisdiction in light of federal enactments and almost thirty years of inconsistent case law. Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Prefatory Note, Art. 14, 5 C.R.S. (2003) (Prefatory Note). The drafters of the UCCJEA summarized the revisions made to the UCCJA in the Prefatory Note. We likewise summarize those revisions as follows: (1) unlike the UCCJA, the UCCJEA prioritizes home state jurisdiction; (2) the UCCJEA clarifies the parameters for exercising emergency jurisdiction; (3) unlike the UCCJA which failed to clearly enunciate that the decree granting State retained exclusive continuing jurisdiction to modify a decree, the UCCJEA provides for exclusive continuing jurisdiction for the state entering the initial custody decree; (4) the UCCJEA provides greater specificity as to what custody proceedings are covered within its ambit; (5) the UCCJEA eliminates the term best interests in order to clearly distinguish between the jurisdictional standards and the substantive standards relating to custody and visitation of children; and (6) the UCCJEA provides for other miscellaneous changes to the UCCJA. The most important and ultimately dispositive provision of the UCCJEA for our purposes is the one that provides that the UCCJEA does not govern an adoption proceeding. § 14-13-103, 5 C.R.S. (2003). The Prefatory Note acknowledges that the definition of custody proceedings under the UCCJA was ambiguous. Prefatory Note at § 4. To clarify this ambiguity and to harmonize conflicting decisions around the country, the UCCJEA includes a sweeping definition that, with the exception of adoption, includes virtually all cases that can involve custody of or visitation with a child as a `custody determination.' Id. (emphasis added). [16] While the UCCJEA's exclusion of adoptions clarifies the ambiguities created under the UCCJA, this exclusion also creates an obvious gap in the jurisdictional legislation governing interstate adoptions. See Hoff, 32 Fam.L.Q. at 276-77 (Because the [Uniform Adoption Act] has not yet been widely adopted, the exclusion of adoption cases from the UCCJEA creates a void in state jurisdictional rules applicable in interstate adoption cases. To avoid the confusion this can be expected to cause, states can either add adoption to the list of covered `custody proceedings' in [the] UCCJEA ..., or enact the jurisdictional provisions of the [Uniform Adoption Act] as part of the UCCJEA.). To fill this void, the drafters of the UCCJEA intended that state legislatures also adopt the Uniform Adoption Act (UAA). Specifically, the drafters stated that: Two proceedings are governed by other acts. Adoption cases are excluded from this Act because adoption is a specialized area which is thoroughly covered by the Uniform Adoption Act (UAA) (1994). Most states will either adopt that Act or will adopt the jurisdictional provisions of that Act. Therefore the jurisdictional provisions governing adoption proceeding [sic] are generally found elsewhere. Unif. Child Custody Jur. & Enf. Act § 103, cmt., 9 U.L.A. 660-61 (1999). Section 3-704 of the UAA covers the circumstance we address today as follows: If a court denies a petition for adoption, it shall dismiss the proceeding and issue an appropriate order for the legal and physical custody of the minor. If the reason for denial is that a consent or relinquishment is revoked or set aside pursuant to Section 2-408 or 2-409, the court shall determine the minor's custody according to the criteria stated in those sections. If the petition for adoption is denied for any other reason, the court shall determine the minor's custody according to the best interest of the minor. Unif. Adoption Act (1994) § 3-704, 9 U.L.A. 95-96 (1999) (emphasis added). Because this case involves Mother's revocation of her consent to the adoption, the provisions of section 2-408 of the UAA would apply. The comments to that provision state in pertinent part: This section and Section 2-409 deal with circumstances under which a consent or relinquishment is revoked or may be set aside. Revocation of a consent to a direct placement may occur, without judicial action, under two circumstances. First, a birth parent who executes consent before the minor is 192 hours old can decide to revoke within those 192 hours.... This right to revoke is absolute and requires the prospective adoptive parents or their attorney to return the infant to the parent if the infant had been placed with them.... Second is when the parent and the prospective adopter mutually agree to revoke the consent and not proceed with the proposed adoption. Any other effort to set aside a consent requires judicial action. Until a decree of adoption is issued, a consent will be set aside if the parent proves by clear and convincing evidence that it was obtained by fraud or duress.... A finding of fraud or duress is tantamount to a finding that a valid consent never existed and therefore the parent has never agreed to the adoption of the child and the would-be adoptive parents have no basis for retaining custody of the child. The adoption proceedings must come to an end. Actions to set aside consents for other reasons have less certain outcomes. Even if a parent establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that one or more of the contingencies specified in the consent has occurredfor example, the other parent's rights have not been terminated it does not automatically follow that the parent is entitled to the legal or physical custody of the minor. The Act provides that the court has to take into account the minor's circumstances at the time consent is set aside. Even though an adoption proceeding may have to be dismissed, the court has to make an order for the minor's care and custody. In making this order, this court must consider not only the status of the birth parent but also the needs and interests of the minor. It is therefore possible under some circumstances for the individuals who sought to adopt the minor to end up with custody of the minor. Much will depend on the relationship between the minor's birth parents, the length of time the minor has been out of their custody, whether independent grounds exist for terminating the rights of either birth parent, the recommendation of the minor's guardian ad litem [appointed in any contested proceeding, Section 3-201], the willingness of the would-be adopters to retain custody even if an adoption is not granted. Most importantly, the Act does not treat a minor as an object that belongs to a parent or would-be parent and has to be shifted back and forth in the event ownership rights are changed or reinstated. The fact that a birth parent's status as a legal parent may be restored or recognized upon the setting aside of a consent or relinquishment is not tantamount to a determination that the minor must be placed in that parent's custody. Unif. Adoption Act (1994) § 2-408, 9 U.L.A. 61-62 (1999) (emphasis added). Thus, the UAA contemplates that when an adoption fails after the child has been with the prospective adoptive parents for some period of time, the court must take into account the best interests of the child in making determinations about continuing placement. [17] The UAA's approach to custody determinations following a failed adoption is consistent with Colorado's statutory provisions and case law. See § 19-5-104(8), 6 C.R.S. (2003); C.C.R.S., 892 P.2d at 254. Our General Assembly has adopted the UCCJEA, but not the UAA. The drafters of the UCCJEA intended that the exclusion of adoptions be addressed by enactment of the UAA, which in turn would provide that Colorado should exercise jurisdiction over this dispute in order to determine the best interests of the child. In summary then, Missouri still follows the UCCJA, which would allow Colorado to exercise jurisdiction if we were to determine, like New Jersey, that the failure to examine the best interests of A.J.C. amounted to a declination of jurisdiction. Colorado has the UCCJEA, which does not apply to adoptions; however, it excludes these proceedings in reliance upon the expectation that state legislatures will enact the Uniform Adoption Act in its stead. The UAA would direct Colorado to exercise jurisdiction over the Verified Petition for the purpose of reviewing the best interests of A.J.C.
Within this web of applicable law, we must also recognize and analyze the PKPA and the ICPC. We conclude that the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980 (PKPA or the Act), § 28 U.S.C.A. 1738A (2004), does not change the outcome of this case. That Act imposes a duty on the States to enforce a child custody determination entered by a court of a sister State if the determination is consistent with the provisions of the Act. Thompson v. Thompson, 484 U.S. 174, 175-76, 108 S.Ct. 513, 98 L.Ed.2d 512 (1988); § 28 U.S.C.A. 1738A(a). Under the PKPA, and by virtue of full faith and credit, [o]nce a State exercises jurisdiction consistently with the provisions of the Act, no other State may exercise concurrent jurisdiction over the custody dispute, § 1738A(g), even if it would have been empowered to take jurisdiction in the first instance. Thompson, 484 U.S. at 177, 108 S.Ct. 513. When it enacted the PKPA, Congress meant to address the problem of conflicting state custody determinations resulting from the legal vacuum created by inconsistent versions of the UCCJA adopted by the various states; the Act affirmatively implemented full faith and credit requirements applicable to all custody determinations. Id. at 181, 108 S.Ct. 513. Importantly, [t]he sponsors and supporters of the Act continually indicated that the purpose of the PKPA was to provide nationwide enforcement of custody orders made in accordance with the terms of the UCCJA. Id. The PKPA does not specifically exclude adoptions. Our courts have previously construed the term custody determination under the UCCJA, K.R., 897 P.2d at 900, to include adoption proceedings, as other courts have. See, e.g., E.E.B., 446 A.2d at 876. Thus, for purposes of this opinion, we assume that the PKPA applies to this case. Accordingly, because another state has already entered a custody determination concerning this child, we inquire not whether we may exercise jurisdiction under the PKPA but whether the first-in time court's exercise of jurisdiction was in accordance with the PKPA and whether that jurisdiction continues. In re Marriage of Zierenberg, 11 Cal. App.4th 1436, 16 Cal.Rptr.2d 238, 241 (1992). The PKPA provides that every State shall enforce according to its terms, and shall not modify except as provided in subsections (f), (g), and (h) of this section, any custody determination... made consistently with the provisions of this section by a court of another state. § 1738A(a). The Act states that a custody determination of another state is made consistently with the PKPA as long as (1) the court of the other state has jurisdiction under the law of that state, § 1738A(c)(1), and (2) at least of one of several listed conditions is met. [18] As pertinent here, one of those conditions is whether the court in the other state has continuing jurisdiction under subsection (d) of the statute. Subsection (d) provides that continuing jurisdiction is to be found wherever the court has jurisdiction under the law of that state and either the child or any person claiming custody to the child remains in that state. § 1738A(d); § 1738A(b)(2). Under this definition, then, the Missouri court has continuing jurisdiction related to the custody order in this case. Accordingly, under the PKPA, we may not modify that order unless one of the Act's exceptions is satisfied. Subsection (f) of the Act provides that [a] court of a State may modify a determination of the custody of the same child made by a court of another State, if (1) it has jurisdiction to make such custody determination; and (2) the court of the other State no longer has jurisdiction, or it has declined to exercise such jurisdiction to modify such determination.  (emphasis added). Because, as we noted above, Missouri has continuing jurisdiction under the Act, the exception would permit us to exercise our jurisdiction only if Missouri has declined such jurisdiction. As the U.S. Supreme Court importantly noted in Thompson, custody orders tend to be in conflict among the states because of the fact that custody orders characteristically are subject to modification as required by the best interests of the child [and a]s a consequence, some courts doubted whether custody orders were sufficiently `final' to trigger full faith and credit requirements. Thompson, 484 U.S. at 180, 108 S.Ct. 513. Thus, [b]ecause courts entering custody orders generally retain the power to modify them, courts in other States were no less entitled to change the terms of custody according to their own views of the child's best interest. Id. Because the right to modify remains with the state entering the first custody by virtue of the best interests of the child, some courts, such as the New Jersey Supreme court in E.E.B., have held that where a state court enters a custody decree without making a determination of the best interests of the child, it specifically declines its jurisdiction to modify that order. 446 A.2d at 877. Because that interpretation seems to accord with the purpose of the PKPA, as enunciated by the U.S. Supreme Court, we similarly apply the analysis of E.E.B. here. Consequently, we determine that because Missouri failed to conduct a best interests analysis in issuing its custody decree, it declined jurisdiction to modify that order under section 1738A(f). Thus, we conclude that our exercise of jurisdiction in this case is consistent with the terms of the PKPA. We are left, then, with the ICPC. The ICPC is an interstate compact, which is in place in both Colorado and Missouri. §§ 24-60-18011803, 7B C.R.S. (2003); Mo. Ann. Stat. § 210.620 (2003). Unlike the UCCJEA, it specifically applies to adoptions. Article V of the ICPC contains the jurisdictional mandate. It states in pertinent part that: The sending agency shall retain jurisdiction over the child sufficient to determine all matters in relation to the custody, supervision, care, treatment and disposition of the child which it would have had if the child had remained in the sending agency's state, until the child is adopted.... Such jurisdiction shall also include the power to effect or cause the return of the child or its transfer to another location and custody pursuant to law. § 24-60-1802, art. V(a), 7B C.R.S. (2003). Article II of the Compact defines a sending agency as 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. § 24-60-1802, art. II(b). Mother argues that because the adoption failed, Missouri, as the sending agency, retains jurisdiction over the custody of A.J.C. First, under Missouri law, the sending agency was not the state of Missouri but rather a person, Laura Sipes. See In re Baby Girl, 850 S.W.2d 64, 69 n. 6 (Mo.1993). Sipes was an intermediary who was designated to assist with the placement of A.J.C. The State Compact Administrator in Missouri identified her as the sending agency by way of a signed document entitled Interstate Compact Placement Request. As such, Ms. Sipes retained jurisdiction over the child to determine all matters until the child was adopted, became self-supporting or was discharged with the concurrence of the appropriate authority in the receiving state. Such jurisdiction includes the power to effect or cause the return of the child or his transfer to another location. See § 24-60-1802, art. II(c). Accordingly, if the sending agency demands that the child be returned to the state where the proceeding began, such determination is entitled to be honored under the ICPC. Both Colorado and Missouri would support such an outcome. See Dep't of Soc. Servs. v. Dist. Court, 742 P.2d at 341-42; see also Baby Girl, 850 S.W.2d at 69-70. The problem here, however, is that Sipes has sought no such outcome. Rather, in Sipes' affidavit [19] filed with this court, she specifically states that she does not request the return of A.J.C. Rather, she expresses that it is in the best interests of A.J.C. to remain in Colorado. This is more than a mere technicality. It highlights a deficiency in the Missouri proceeding which in turn amplifies the dilemma we face here. The sending agency, in the form of Ms. Sipes, was responsible for sending or causing the child to be sent to Colorado. The court order effectuated that transfer, but the court was not itself responsible for the child as was Ms. Sipes. Ms. Sipes has an ongoing responsibility, by operation of the ICPC and she is not requesting that the child be returned to Missouri. Under its own law, Missouri was initially required to appoint a guardian ad litem for A.J.C. because he was under the age of 18 at the time the adoption was filed. Mo.Rev.Stat. § 453.025 (2003). That GAL would have undertaken the responsibility of conveying to the court in Missouri what A.J.C.'s best interests might be. Based upon the record before us, we have no evidence that such message was conveyed, or inquiry undertaken. We have already noted that Missouri, like Colorado, recognizes that in certain situations, a failed adoption does not automatically result in the custody of a child being restored to the natural parent(s). See Baby Girl, 850 S.W.2d at 69-70. Accordingly, we view Missouri as a state, akin to Colorado, that authorizes, if not requires, an inquiry into the best interests of the child even following a failed adoption. Perhaps because of the absence of a GAL, or perhaps because Ms. Sipes has not requested such an inquiry, it has not occurred. No report or testimony has been offered that would result in the Missouri court making a determination about the ongoing best interests of A.J.C. in light of the failed adoption. For all of those reasons, we do not view the ICPC as commanding that Colorado decline jurisdiction over the best interests inquiry, when internal law in Colorado, internal law in Missouri, the UCCJA, and the UAA would all support if not mandate that we proceed.