Adoption Homestudy

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Hi all we have our homestudy this weekend possibly and we were wondering what exactly do they look for, ask, do? i'm so confused and our lawyer was no help haha are they ever?? Thanks a bunch for this!!

 

[JudimouseNC]

We had a homestudy when we got guardianship of our grandchildren. They looked at the rooms the chidren would have. WE had beds and a crib already set up. They will want to see that you have smoke and fire dectors and carbon monoxide detectors. And a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. They will ask you about what kind of heat, a/c and other utilities you have. If you have pets, they will ask if the shots and rabies are up to date. If you have a pool, they will want to make sure all safety guidelines are met.

The main thing they did with us was talk to us and take pages and pages of notes.

Good luck....

 

[russtwinsmom]

Congratulations! We adopted twins from Russia a couple of years ago and although we were nervous too, the visit was a breeze. Our social worker came in and we introduced her to our dogs and then invited her in to the kitchen where we offered her tea, coffee and a coffee cake, but those things are absolutely optional. We sat around the table for some time and our talk was purely conversational. During our chat, she asked a few questions and took notes. She asked us a few things about the neighborhood, the types of recreation and activities we participated in and how long we had lived in the area. At some point we offered to show her the rest of the house and because we didn't know the number/age/sex of our children, their rooms were not prepared. I did worry enough though to have most saftey issues taken care of like outlet covers, drugs put away, safety locks on sink cabinets, laundry items out of reach and child door knob covers to the garage and front door. I had cleaned like a maniac but I don't think she was to interested. I think she was really just looking for a general description of the house. She stayed about forty-five minutes wrapped up with a few additional questions and left. My advice is this: whatever you do to prepare your home is to make you comfortable. Make a list Social workers are pro-adoption and want you to succeed. Relax and treat her as a friend. Good luck!

We will be in WDW when you are!

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

wow! thanks! it seems we are just overly stressed. Even though dd has been living with us this entire time so her room is complete! Judimouse: hope to see you there! i love the house of the mouse!

 

[DreadpiratK]

I worked as a social worker for many years in CT and did homestudies for adoptions and for foster placements. First of all, RELAX! It's not too bad a process, usually, and they really aren't there to judge you or your home, i'm sure you will do fine. Mostly, social workers are looking for the negatives, things that raise a red flag, such unsafe conditions that could cause harm to the kids. Exposed wiring, ungated pools, poorly trained dogs, ect. They also want to get a sense of you and how you will parent, but that's very subjective. As far as cleanliness, we were told repeatedly that we could not fail a home because it was not clean enough (I certainly wanted too some times!) but looking good doesn't hurt. Safety latches and outlet covers are good, but not allways required. The agency you are working with should be able to give you a set of guidelines to help you prepare. A good homestudy is really just a report on how well you meet those guidelines.

I know that when we found someone whom we thought would be a good parent, we looked for ways to pass them on the homestudy, even if thier home was less than perfect. Good parents make up for a lot!

 

[tessqt]

I agree RELAX!!! I tell people that it is probably the cleanest your house will ever be!! After going through 1, feeling the same way as you, our update was a piece of cake.

 

[FARMGIRL]

Hi,
We adopted our 2 children 7 years ago from Russia. I remember our home study very well, it was a good experience, our social worker came 3 Sat. in a row. Every week I baked something sweet, which he really enjoyed. Each week I made sure the house looked great, finally on the 3rd visit, I said aren't you going to look around the house. He made it very easy and relaxing for us, we just mainly sat and visited with him. We actually still keep in touch with him at Christmas, he likes to have updates of th kids. Good luck, our whole adoption experience was a wonderful experience. I know there are others that have gone through some real nightmares. We had a wonderful adoption agency that walked us through every step.

 

[Mulan'sMom]

As everyone else here has advised - relax! (Easier said than done, I know.) By the time I had my homestudy, most of the discussions about parenting, etc. had already taken place. My social worker just wanted to do a walk-through of the house, to see that there were no safety hazards and that I had the necessary smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, outlet plugs, etc. That being said, my house was so clean I could have done open heart surgery in my dining room without fear of infection. My DD has since returned it to its original, charmingly disheveled state. Congratulations on your adoption. You've started down the path of a wonderful journey!

 

[TallyLassie]

We went through two home studies, one to foster, one to adopt. They ask:

- About how we discipline our other child
- Ages and relationship with my and my husband’s siblings
- Why did my husband's first marriage end in divorce?
-occupation
-I think religion
-income
- describe our families growing up
-why do you want to adopt?
-education maybe
-Made sure we have enough space
-we had to have physicals, my hushand only has one kidney (birth defect) and they questioned us about that

The foster one was much worse, we had to have a radon test, show my pets vaccination records, etc. I thought we would never finish the paperwork.

 

[cmrules]

They wanted to flush our toilets! Yup, they had to verify we had running water!

 

[crisi]

Relax....in most cases the social worker is looking to place a child with you, not for an excuse not to.

Do be prepared to answer questions on discipline, your own upbringing, how close you are to your families. If this is an interracial or international adoption, how you intend to handle that. etc. If you haven't answered this questions for yourself already, you may need to step back anyway (you won't fail your homestudy, but you may find the second visit comes after you've had some time to "think about" interracial adoption.)

Have a good time, write notes in the baby book now (if you will do such a thing). And our social worker came for our post placement visit and said "your house looks much more comfortable now that it isn't spotless).

 

[holden]

As everyone already said, just relax. The homestudy was a breeze for us. Our adoption of our foster daughter will be completed on October 25th! We are so excited. We're planning a huge party for her to celebrate the big day.

Best of luck with the adoption process. It feels like it takes forever, but, of course, it's worth it!

 

[Macsmomma]

I agree with everyone just relax. I was a nervous wreck but the homestudy is just to find out if you have a loving home first of all. They asked us about if I planned to work, if the grandparents were close by, our dogs name, our financial history, and just basic questions. They looked at our sons room and closet and was impressed how much we had ready for him. We adopted locally 4 years ago and I was scared about everything but now I know how much God has blessed us and I would not change a minute of it!

 

[Drizzo67]

Wow, reading how many people have adopted just amazes me. I am an adopted child and have always felt very blessed. My parents always let me know how much they wanted me and all they did to finally make me part of their family. I WAS CHOSEN. They had a choice and they chose me....how lucky is that. God bless all of you who open your hearts and your homes to those who need them. There is a special place in heaven for all of you.

Michelle - Best of luck to you and God Bless.

 

[3AmigosMom]

Everyone has given great advice. I'd have to re-emphasize to Relax!! Adopting is a wonderful experience--try to enjoy it all!! The only other thing I could possibly think of was that our licensing worker (SW Chicago Suburbs) always runs the water where the children bathe to make sure it is not too hot. I believe it is not supposed to be over 115 degrees (she actually measures it).
Congratulations and don't worry about the spotless house. You don't want to look too much like a Stepford mom

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Like i mentioned earlier, you all really made me feel more at ease! We had our first visit this past weekend, and all we did was talk about my husband and i and our relationship and she met Autumn, she didn't even look around the place or anything...she said her office would call to schedule a second visit. It all went well and we were very comfortable. DD of course was a menace crawling all around under the table and grabbing feet! Thanks again and keep everythign coming!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I'm a social worker and just wanted to jump in and say that you've been given some great advice. Good Luck!