There are a lot of obstacles to placing children out of state, even if it's only a few miles away. It can be done, but generally only after every possible resource in the state is exhausted. The one exception is relative placement, and even that is complicated if the relative is out of state. It is just unbelievable the hoops we have to jump through to placate the powers that be. Is it any wonder we're failing the children? And it's all about law suits. Virtually every BS detail of much of the crap we have to do can be traced back to one law suit that cost the state a bundle. Granted, it was something that shouldn't have happened, but they have gone so far to the other extreme now that meeting the needs of the children takes a back seat to meeting the requirements of the bureaucracy in which they are trapped.