House Visit for Adoption certification? UPDATE - It's over! 2d page, post 29

[RadioFanatic]

We're having our first of 2 house visits to get certified to adopt. I know that there are people here who have been through it so I wanted some guidance. Any suggestions? We just bought all of the smoke alarms, CO2 detector, fire extinguisher this weekend. What else would you recommend we do? What should I expect? I know the person doing the visit is nice as we have our classes with her, but just not sure what to expect. should we have snacks available? we'll have soda and bottled water, but I thought I would ask. any info would be appreciated.

thanks!

 

[hipporina]

A home visit is really more about you than it is about your home. On our home visits, we showed the case worker around but she wasn't really examining everything. We had seperate visits by different people to do the environmental safety and fire safety checks (the fire marshall had to do this one.) The home visit was more like an in depth conversation/interview.

The goal of the home study is to get to know you and evaluate whether or not you would make a good parent and provide a child a safe loving home. The case workers are not looking to rip you apart for the piano being dusty. They want the home study to go well too and will try to make you comfortable. I know that the whole process is terrifying, but it really isn't as bad as it sounds. Just relax and be yourself.

 

[lorisnuts]

I know i went into panic mode when I heard the date of our homevisit. Cleaned top to bottom for 2 straight days. Wasn't necessary at all. The main thing our social worker wanted to see was where the child/children be sleeping and the preparations we took to prepare the house for a child. safety locks, bleach locked in a cabinet, smoke dectors and such. Our home visit was mainly a discussion on how we had prepared ourselves mentally, emotionally to become parents.

 

[happybratpack]

Don't stress, it's not as bad as it seems. My SW walked through the house rather quickly, I had a lot of 1/2 finished remodeling projects and was worried about that. She was fine w/ it all. We ended up sitting in my living rooom recliners and chatting the whole time, it was very relaxed and easy going.

I felt like I was at a therapist really, a lot of me talking about things and her listening. Hang in there, you'll be fine!

I didn't do snacks, she had a bottle of water but I don't think we would have eaten even if I had stuff.

 

[paigevz]

Ditto on what the others said, it's just an extended interview, really. Be prepared for some questions on preferences if you gave any..............they just want to find out who you are. There wasn't really time for eating..........we did have to have a locked chest for medicines that could be refrigerated if necessary, we just bought a small toolbox with a space for a padlock, and a small padlock for it. It could be easily refrigerated. We had really obsessed over this, too, but it wasn't too different from discussing adoption with friends over coffee!

 

[stm61]

every state is different but some of the things I remember are: the fridge temp had to be about 40, every trash can had to have a lid including the one in the kitchen, and we had to hand draw an escape plan (in case of fire) and stick it on a wall. The escape plan was just a floor plan showing the closest doors to each bedroom. In SC the health dept had to check for lead paint and in WV they tested the water.

 

[RUDisney]

My biggest concerns weren't about whether my house was clean enough, or about snacks. I was concerned that he'd be worried that we have a large bar with the liquor displayed for use. I thought he'd tell us that we'd have to get locking cabinets. Instead of this, he commented on what a nice bar it was.

I was also concerned that we didn't have a gun safe at that time for DH's guns. Instead of keeping them in the house, we gave them to our next door neighbor to keep for us. When the SW asked if we had guns in the house, I could honestly say, "no." Since the kids arrived, we have since gotten rid of the guns. DH doesn't hunt anymore and we didn't see a need for keeping them.

The #1 thing our SW told us would slow an adoption is if you have a pool in your yard that isn't separately fenced, even if you have a fence around your yard. Lucky for us, he didn't look at my parents' yard. They only have one fence.

Relax, your homestudy will soon be done.

 

[chell]

Do you have to have a Fire Marshal come out for an inspection as well? If you do you may want to have a drawing done up to show the rooms and an escape route in case of a fire or other emergency.

Don't worry about the home visit, it will be just fine.

 

[marlasmom]

When we look at a house for our guardian ad litem children, we make sure that cleaning supplies and anything hazardous is under lock and key.

 

[RadioFanatic]

thanks everyone for easing my fears. There are two aspects to my house I'm worrying about (1) our fireplace with the iron utensils; and (2) several of our walls are literally mirrors, including one such wall in the bedroom the child(ren) would be. Do you think they are cause for concern?

 

[cynsaun]

My biggest concerns weren't about whether my house was clean enough, or about snacks. I was concerned that he'd be worried that we have a large bar with the liquor displayed for use. I thought he'd tell us that we'd have to get locking cabinets. Instead of this, he commented on what a nice bar it was.

I was also concerned that we didn't have a gun safe at that time for DH's guns. Instead of keeping them in the house, we gave them to our next door neighbor to keep for us. When the SW asked if we had guns in the house, I could honestly say, "no." Since the kids arrived, we have since gotten rid of the guns. DH doesn't hunt anymore and we didn't see a need for keeping them.

The #1 thing our SW told us would slow an adoption is if you have a pool in your yard that isn't separately fenced, even if you have a fence around your yard. Lucky for us, he didn't look at my parents' yard. They only have one fence.

Relax, your homestudy will soon be done.

What about having a pond in the backyard? Would that raise any flags for them?

 

[RadioFanatic]

I have heard nothing about a fire marshall visit - just that we need a fire extinguisher and smoke alarms.

 

[chell]

I have heard nothing about a fire marshall visit - just that we need a fire extinguisher and smoke alarms.

Maybe that is only for the foster portion around here.

Please update us after your visit.

 

[SunshineOR]

We've been through it several times with several different case workers. Some come around and inspect everything and seem to be searching for problems; some glance at sleeping areas and then chat. They will freak about a pond, so slap a fence up around it if you have one. We actually put a grate over ours at one point before we finally gave up and just filled it in. I don't want to go on record as encouraging you to lie, but if it was me, I'd put away the iron fire tools and tell them we never use the fireplace. Not much you can do about the mirrors. Tell them you're going to put bumpers over them when the kid(s) are old enough to possibly break them. Sorry to add to your stress, but I have had bad experiences with being nitpicked on home visits. Hope you have a good experience and good luck!

 

[Pixiedust34]

We went through a home visit twice. I cleaned like crazy! Our social workers took a quick tour of the house (they were most interested in where the baby would sleep) and then we settled down in the livingroom for one of our interviews.

I think our first visit was pretty early in the AM. We offered coffee and bagel slices. The second one was later in the day......but I forget what we offered to serve. I'm guessing coffee/cookies, or something like that.

My house was much cleaner for the 1st social worker. We were more relaxed the second time around, plus I had a toddler in the house.

 

[RUDisney]

I can't say for sure that they'd be concerned about the pond or not. A fence, while preventative, is not a sure-fire way to protect an ambitious child from getting to it. There was an adoptive boy last summer who got away from his family. When he was called for dinner, he didn't come. They started searching the neighborhood and found him face down in a neighbor's pool. The gate to the pool was locked. They don't know how he got in there, but kids are curious and will get into what they set their minds. I know the family. They are very conscientious parents. It was really a tragedy.

The thing that bugs me about these home studies is that no one ever looks into the household of parents who give birth to their children. No one takes the time to make sure that there is adequate fire protection in the house. No one cares whether the pool or pond is fenced. No one stops by to be sure that you don't live like a slovenly pig. While these checks can certainly protect (but not prevent) a child who would be placed in a sub-standard environment, it doesn't protect a child from being born to idiots.

Eech! I'm about to get into a political debate. I'll shut up now. That's not what this thread is about.

 

[cynsaun]

We've been through it several times with several different case workers. Some come around and inspect everything and seem to be searching for problems; some glance at sleeping areas and then chat. They will freak about a pond, so slap a fence up around it if you have one. We actually put a grate over ours at one point before we finally gave up and just filled it in. I don't want to go on record as encouraging you to lie, but if it was me, I'd put away the iron fire tools and tell them we never use the fireplace. Not much you can do about the mirrors. Tell them you're going to put bumpers over them when the kid(s) are old enough to possibly break them. Sorry to add to your stress, but I have had bad experiences with being nitpicked on home visits. Hope you have a good experience and good luck!

If this is the case about the pond, we are screwed. This isn't a little pond, it's almost the size of a lake. I can't put a fence around it. 4.5 acres of our land is the pond.

 

[SunshineOR]

Well, they normally don't tour the yard--is it possible they won't notice the gigantic pond??? Good luck with that one! Like I said, we have had a case worker analyze things very closely and she was freaking about our little Walmart pond in the backyard. But, I think she was an unusually intense home evaluator. She wasn't happy with anything. When we'd show her our medications and cleaning chemicals up on the highest shelf over the refrigerator, she'd make a little note and say, "You know, a child can pull a chair up, climb up the refrigerator and get to that." It was very frustrating! I had the feeling that if we kept our medications and chemicals in a locked box on top of the roof, she still would have said, "You know, a child can climb onto your car, walk across the fence, pull up to the roof, throw the lockbox off the roof to break it open and get into it." I also had the one that sat and visited with me for hours and when my three-year-old needed to get to a nap, I gave her a kiss and asked her to put herself to bed (so I wouldn't be a rude hostess leaving the social worker there alone). She started making notes and lecturing me about how three-year-olds shouldn't be putting themselves to bed. ARGH! And on the note of offering things--don't offer too much. We once made a polite offer for one to stay for lunch, and he took us up on it! It was a tense situation for us. Just offer coffee or water and maybe cookies or something, but don't offer any more. I'm glad to hear not all home visits are not as bad as ours, but we hate them! I totally agree with RUDisney that accidents and tragedies can happen to even the best of parents and so many kids live in unsafe environments with birth families that no one's inspecting; the whole thing is really ridiculous.

 

[RadioFanatic]

well today's the day. I've been up since 2 am stressing about it. My housecleaner came last night for an extra visit to help me out. It's at 3 pm. Put up the smoke alarms and co2 detector. dh refuses to move the fireplace utensils - says it's only the first of 2 visits so we can fix the things they recommend. I have a HUGE knot in my stomach.

please, some prayers and pixie dust that it goes well!

 

[ZachnElli]

You'll be fine! We have those fireplace utensils and they said nothing about them! I did the cleaning top to bottom, made muffins and coffee (I don't drink coffee) and they didn't touch them. It was just an interview with a quick look at the house. We had a pond in front of our house and they said nothing about it. Also, some now former neighbors used the same people we did and they backed up to the pond and I know they were approved. I didn't ask what they said about the pond, but they told us they were approved.