When you are planning to adopt, the Home Study can be one of the most nerve racking parts of the whole process.  You worry about whether or not you will “Pass”, what the caseworker will write about your house, what kind of questions you will be asked.  After conducting domestic adoption Home Studies for over 9 years, I have come to realize the best thing that I can do as a counselor for the families that I work with is to try to put their mind at ease at the beginning about the process and what we are going to do together.

As an adoption counselor, I want you to know first and foremost that we know that it is not fair that you have to do a Home Study in order to be a parent.  Chances are you have already been through a lot and shared a lot of personal information over and over again with doctors, family and friends and the Home Study often feels like another invasion of privacy.  We try to make it as comfortable as possible so you don’t feel like you are being judged and I hope that this is the same way you feel about the agency that you choose.

The purpose of the Home Study is to let the Birthfamily and court know that their forever home is a loving, safe home.  Most agencies do not share the Home Studies directly with a Birthparent, but can answer basic questions from the contents of the Home Study.  In many independent adoptions, the Birthparents are given a copy of the Home Study.

Guidelines for Home Studies are state specific, but most of them contain the same basic information.  When completing a Home Study you can expect to have a state and nationwide police background check, a child abuse and child sexual abuse background check, a physical and a drug screen and can expect to fill out information about your finances(more $ coming in than going out), the fertility process, and your views on adoption and parenting.  Most Home Studies also include an autobiography, reference letters and interviews conducted as a couple and individually.  A home visit will also be conducted sometime during the Home Study process.  Most states require a fire extinguisher near the kitchen, smoke alarms and that any weapons or fire arms be locked away kept away from children.

It takes a lot to not pass Home Study.  Traffic violations or minor offenses that happened twenty years ago usually do not affect the Home Study.  If you have an illness that is not considered terminal and is controlled by mediation, again it should not affect the Home Study process.  A positive drug screen, current police record or a child abuse record are all things that would probably keep you from having your Home Study approved.  If you have a police record, discuss it up front with your caseworker.  They will find out and if you omit it or lie about it then it can negatively affect your Home Study even if it was a minor violation that happened 20 years ago when you were just 28 years old.

Some agencies also include items that are specific to their agency.  They might ask you information about your church and religion.  They might have a section in the Home Study that is all about your plans on disciplining your child.  They might want to include a statement about openness and adoption and what kind of relationship you plan to have with the Birthparents.

Many agencies will also have couples attend Home Study groups.  These groups typically consist of 5-10 couples who are going through the Home Study process at the same time.  You will discuss such topics as openness in adoption, talking to your children about adoption, meeting birthparents for the first time and moving from fertility problems to adoption.  They will often include a talk given by a Birthmother, adoptive family and an adoptee to get information about all three parts of the adoption triad.

I hope that this helps alleviate some of the stress of a Home Study. As you prepare to start the Home Study process, you now know some of the things that you can expect to be a part of your own Home Study.  It is ok to ask questions about the process, what is expected at the home visit and to talk about medical conditions or a police history up front.  The more hones and open you are the easier the process will be for you.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 7th, 2006 at 4:54 am and is filed under Adoption. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.