Tag Archives: home study

Home Study Interview part 2

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One last note about talking to your extended family about you adopting is if you have decided to adopt children of a different ethnicity or has physical disabilities. Adopting a child from a different race was always an option for us, we just were always open to that. Even in 2002 when our adoption journey began we never would have thought of ethnicity or race would be an issue. Unfortunately, even in today’s world racism is very prevalent. We were not really concerned about our families accepting a child of a different race but, it needs to be discussed. After … Continue reading →

Home Study Interviews Part 1

When the application is complete, the references are in; the safety check is complete so now what? Now the fun begins! You will have a couple’s interview and an individual interview. When you process the application you will be asked to write letters individually about your spouse, your marriage, your extended family. In the letter they want to know about your spouse’s good features, and their bad ones. When the couple’s interview starts you will be asked about items that are in your letter. They will want to know who manages the money, which one makes the hard choices, who … Continue reading →

Choose your References Carefully

There are some things in the adoption application that need more consideration than others. One of those things is your references. You and your spouse need to sit and make a list of your friends. Look at the list and give consideration to any marital problems, work problems or any recent disagreements that you have had with that friend. I mention this because of a problem that we encountered with one of our references. The agency sends out request to the people you list, we used friends from work and our personal lives. In the letter from the agency they … Continue reading →

Home Study Denied!

For a person or couple who’ve been told they are unable to adopt through a particular agency, it can be devastating. Sometimes the fate of whether a couple will have children lies in the opinion of their assigned adoption worker. Just because a person is denied by an agency doesn’t always mean they will be denied for adoption altogether. For example: If you are hoping to adopt through your state’s foster system and your home study is denied because the adoption worker does not feel you will be best suited for one of their children, this does not mean that … Continue reading →

Preparing for Your Home Study

Don’t panic! Though there are many things to do, there is no reason to become overly stressed about your home study. First, emotionally prepare yourself that home studies can take quite some time to complete. Keep in mind, if there are other adults living in your home, they too will likely have to complete parts of the home study process in order for your family to be approved. There are typically many steps to a home study, some of which may in include (in no particular order): Completed applications for adoption: In addition to being asked for basic information about … Continue reading →

Homestudies Really Aren’t That Bad

I was really worried about our first international adoption homestudy. I was so scared that we wouldn’t “pass” and that our dreams of adopting would be out the window. I really stressed about it. We cleaned our house from top to bottom – all of the closets, the refrigerator, etc. We put child-proof locks on all of the cabinets. Our house was perfect. As it turned out, we worried way too much. I think the social worker took a grand total of two minutes to look around our house. He didn’t open any closets. He didn’t open the refrigerator. He … Continue reading →