What to Expect During A Home Study
By Rochelle Caviness
Before you can be approved to adopt a child, it is necessary for you to undergo an adoption home study.
How the study will be carried out and the criterion that you must meet will depend upon the agency that is handling the adoption.
Each state has its own rules as to what must be covered under a home study. However, each agency is allowed to add to the criteria.
What Occurs During a Home Study?
The main purpose of a home study is to try to ascertain if you will make a suitable parent for an adoptive child. In order to evaluate your case, the home study will include an in-depth analysis of your personality and home environment.
You will be asked to write an autobiographical statement. The agency that you are working with will provide you with an outline to follow.
Many agencies require that you attend parenting classes.
A social worker will interview each of your family members and anyone else living in your home, either in a group setting or individually.
Your friends and neighbors may be interviewed.
At least one, if not more, meetings will take place in your home. This will give the social worker a chance to look over your home and to interview you in a setting that you may find more comfortable than the social worker's office.
The home study is in fact an information gathering exercise. The social worker will inquire about:
Your finances.
Your reasons for wanting to adopt.
If you are married, questions will be raised about your marriage. These can be very probing questions such as how long you dated, why you married, and what your married life is like.
If you are not married, you may face harsher scrutiny than a married couple. This is because as the adoption process can be very biased in favor of married couples. You can help your cause if you are prepared to answer, in detail, why you would make an ideal single parent. Explain how you will manage as a single parent, such as what your childcare options are.
You will be asked to discuss your ideas about parenting and what you expect your new life to be if you are given a child.
Questions will be asked about how you were raised, and what you home environment was like while you were growing up.
You will need to answer detailed questions about your health. You may be required to take a physical, and in some cases, you may be asked to undergo a psychological evaluation.
Your employment history, and long term job outlook will be reviewed.
If you are infertile, you may be asked how this has affected you and your marriage. As well, you will be asked how you will treat the adoptive child if you eventually have a natural child.
You will be asked to describe your daily, day to day routine, as well as discuss your hobbies or other special interests.
You may also be required to submit to a criminal background check.
Any questions that the social worker or the agency may devise can come up during a home study.
Be prepared to fill out a lot of paperwork.
How to Prepare for a Home Study
Just be yourself! That is what a home study is all about - getting to know you, your family, and the home environment that the adopted child can expect.
Cultivating a sense of humor, and learning to be patient, will be a major aid in surviving a home study.
How Long Does a Home Study Take?
Home studies can be a drawn out affair, lasting, on average at least three to six months.
When the home study is completed, the social worker in charge of your case will compile a written report on the findings of the study. The actual 'Home Study' is this written report.
The Decision
There are no right or wrong answers to a home study, and no clear-cut template of who is and is not approved.
Reasons for denial can vary.
Money is a factor, but not an overriding one. Rich or poor, you are judged on how much love and support you can give a child, and how responsibly you handle what money you have.
Health concerns that may make you unable to care for the child, or which may greatly shorten your life span are usually clear reasons for denial.
