Getting Through an Adoption Homestudy
How much of the anxiety and discomfort was me and how much was circumstance, I may never know – but what I do know is that I can truly speak from experience. As someone who didn’t just “breeze” through a homestudy process, I may be able to share some tips on how to “get through it!”
Although people often think of the homestudy as the moment the social worker comes into their home for a visit, a homestudy is actually a detailed and lengthy process by which a parent or parents are investigated and an in depth report on their readiness to be parents is prepared and submitted. It is a legal process and it is carefully regulated by state law. A homestudy includes financial documents, tax history, reference letters, a medical examination, copies of birth certificates and social security cards and, yes, an investigation of the family home and interviews.
Each homestudy is both regulated and unique. The requirements of your study will be determined by the state law in which you reside, the state in which your agency operates (if you use an out-of-state agency, you’ll need to have your homestudy prepared by a social worker licensed in your home state,) and the requirements of the adoption program you are pursuing. When you apply to an agency, you will receive a document listing the homestudy requirements and the first step is to accumulate and complete all the paperwork required.
Once you’ve gathered your paperwork, you will need a background check and possible fingerprinting, and you’ll need to provide references who are willing to write letters on your behalf. This is where I started to feel vulnerable – although my chosen references were incredibly cooperative and said they were happy to do it, I felt like it was a lot to ask of friends and family. Still, the references are a key component to the final homestudy report. You will also be asked to write an autobiography and possibly answer narrative questions about your life and experiences.
The paperwork, references, financial statements and other documents are sent to the social worker. Often payment for the homestudy is required prior to a visit being scheduled, or it may be due at the visit. If you are using one agency for your entire adoption process, the fee for the homestudy may be rolled into the overall fees. In addition to the homestudy fee, be prepared to pay for any mileage and/or travel time required of the social worker.
Some homestudies will require one in-home visit, while others will require the social worker to make more than one visit to your home. Everyone who lives in the home will need to be interviewed – this includes children already in the family. This was another uncontrollable discomfort for me as I am the parent of three teenagers – arranging for a visit time when they were all present and willing and then letting them have their say was a challenge, to say the least. Fortunately, during my most recent homestudy visit, I felt blessed to have a seasoned social worker when my fifteen year-old daughter decided to “act out” the latest chapter in her moody teen independence dance during the interview. My reassurance to you, if I can get a favorable report after having my teenager grumble about the “stinking baby” and how “nobody better expect her to baby-sit,” you will certainly have an easier time of things! It was actually an opportunity for the social worker to view my “flexibility” and “calm parenting style.” Of course, I was questioning my own sanity and parenting motivation for the remainder of the afternoon!
During the visit, the social worker will look over your home, ask you questions about where you plan to put everyone, what your expectations of parenting are, and any other questions that might have popped up during the compilation of your documents. This is actually a good time for you to ask questions if you have them, as well. Particular issues might come up during the homestudy that will need to be addressed before the report is issued. For me, in addition to the ambivalent teens, my worker asked for proof that my cats were healthy, so I had to scramble to find the veterinary records so those could be included. Like most potential adoptive parents, I spent the week before the visit scrubbing and cleaning and fluffing everything in my home – even though I knew I wasn’t being evaluated entirely on my housekeeping. I think cleaning the house gives us some place to focus all our nervous out-of-control energy!
Once all the visits have been made, the interviews complete, and the paperwork compiled, your social worker will write up a homestudy report. This is a several page narrative document detailing who you are, your family life, your background and childhood, and taking into account all the information that has been compiled. This is the legal document stating that you have been approved (or not, if the case be) for adoption. The report will state the age, gender, etc. of the child you are approved to adopt. The entire process can take anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months depending on how quickly everyone moves to how many other people the social worker is working with at the same time.
As a homestudy veteran, and a veteran of the uncontrollably chaotic homestudy visit, I hope I can reassure you that it is entirely possible to “get through” a homestudy. Just take it one step at a time and realize that everyone involved really does have the best interest of your future child in mind. As they say in the sports world, keep your eye on the prize! The homestudy is just one step in your path to becoming a parent!
