Choosing to build your family through adoption is a momentous decision. It can also be a bit overwhelming. You will be voluntarily opening up yourself and your family to assessment by your adoption agency and social worker during your home study. While that may seem a bit daunting, it is important to remember that home studies are hugely beneficial to prospective adoptive parents.
What is a Home Study?
The home study is one of the most important steps of the adoption process. The ultimate goal of a home study is to ensure that each child is placed in a suitable home and that good matches are made between children and parents.
Home studies are a requirement for all adoptions that take place in the United States. Additionally, those who wish to foster children must also complete a home study.
Knowing what to expect during your home study can help it to go smoothly. It is crucial to make sure that children are placed in safe homes with families that will love, care for, and nurture them.
Ensuring that a home study is conducted properly can take significant time.
The entire home study may be conducted in 2-3 months. However, times will vary according to state and agency requirements.
You Can Prepare for a Home Study
Homes studies are fairly routine. You can expect a background check for everyone residing in the home over the age of 18. This includes criminal histories, child abuse clearance, and sex offender checks. Everyone in the home will be interviewed, your home will be inspected for safety, etc.
You won’t know exactly what you will be asked, but making sure that you have spoken to every member of your family about what to expect during the home study can make the entire process much less challenging.
Preparing all of the documents, paperwork, and other things that your agency requires can make the home study process go smoothly.
Improve the Safety of Your Home
One of the main goals of a home study is to ensure the safety of the home and its habitability. Your home must be virtually free of all dangers to children.
For example, your social worker may look for child-proof locks, child-proof outlets, and stairway gates. The safety of the child is imperative and is one of the concerns of the social worker. Preparing for your home study may help to improve the safety of your home.
Involve Your Children in Your Home Study
Every member of your family will be involved in the home study. Older children may be asked questions regarding their feelings about getting a new sibling.
Giving your children a chance to speak for themselves and let their opinions be heard will make them feel like they are a part of the process.
Adoption Home Study
A home study is one of the most important steps of the adoption process for a reason. While it can seem overwhelming, prospective parents have the duty of honest disclosure throughout the home study process. This includes an on-going duty of reporting new events or information that may require an updated or amended home study.
Adoption Choices of Colorado is an excellent resource when it comes to preparing for and acing your home study. The staff includes professionals and specialists in adoption who strive to make sure that your adoption goes as smoothly as possible.
Adoption Choices of Colorado
For more information on adoption or if you are currently in the process of adopting a baby and have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact, Adoption Choices of Colorado. We can be reached via our website or our phones: 303-670-4401.
Make an Impact
Adoption Choices, Inc. is partnering with Crowdrise, a fundraising website for nonprofits, to help our adoptive parents and birth parents with much needed financial assistance. We understand that expenses keep clients from fulfilling their dreams. Both with birth parents making a plan for adoption, and with adoptive parents growing their family. It is our mission to provide financial assistance through grants and scholarships, awarded annually in November, in honor of National Adoption Month. Funds assist adoptive parents with matching and placements, adoption finalization and helping birth mothers improve their lives through higher education — and much more.
However, we can’t do it alone. Please read up on our programs and donate money where you are able. Your donation will make a huge impact.
About the Author
Davina grew up in the outskirts of New York City, before eventually moving to Buffalo, New York at the age of 10. Her passion for adoption comes from her own experiences of being in foster care and being an adoptee herself. She hopes to help others to understand the intricacies of adoption and encourage them to consider it as an option.
Davina is a proud Geneseo Knights alum having graduated in 2018. She has been writing for as long as she can remember and chose to pursue a degree in English with hopes of making her hobby a career. Thus far, she has enjoyed her time as an intern for Adoption Choices Inc. and looks forward to a bright future in writing. When she is not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, building websites, and making lists.
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References:
“The Adoption Home Study Process” Child Information Gateway. https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/f_homstu.pdf
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!