Do Home Studies Work the Way They’re Supposed To?

If you’ve read any kind of news about adoption, chances are you’ve read the name Torry Hansen. She’s the woman who put her adopted Russian son on a plane back to Russia. I still remember the stories, back in 2005, about the Ohio couple who kept their adopted and foster children in cages. Although the media and its commentators like to play the blame game, both cases leave me thinking how could these people have passed a home study?

Adoptive parents complain that the home study is invasive. We have to prove that we have the means to raise a child, obtain references, and generally prove our worth as parents. Biological parents don’t even have to have a home to go back to. (But that’s another post.)

Jenna at Chronicles of Munchkin Land wrote a review of the book A Gate at the Stairs. She asked:

• Are home studies doing what they should be? … [A]re they missing things? Big red flags and such?
• What should exclude parents from adopting and/or can you still be a “good” parent/person after a big mistake? … So, what should automatically exclude someone from adopting?

The blog Adoption Talk discussed the article Lessons for Social Workers. The post ends with:

And what about this line:  “[Adoption] Agencies may do an inadequate job of helping prospective parents with unrealistic expectations screen themselves out of the adoption process.” Huh?  Why do we talk about PAPs screening themselves out?  Isn’t that the social worker’s job???

Are Home Studies Doing What They Should Be?

Are home studies doing what they should be? In a word, no. What a home study entails varies from country to country, state to state, county to county. The aspects of a home study that are considered important often depend on the opinion or experience of the individual social worker. For our first adoption, no one ever looked in the laundry room or garage. We could have had a torture chamber out there and no one would know. For our second adoption, the social worker looked around even less.

Some social workers literally sabotage adoptive parents because of their own personal preferences. For example, some social workers may not believe in transracial adoption, so won’t allow anyone to pass a home study for it. Some social workers are optimists, and want the adoptive family to work out, so might quash any concerns there might be. All social workers, especially those who work with foster care, are overworked.

What Should Exclude a Parent from Adopting?

There are many different beliefs about what might exclude a parent from adopting. Prospective adoptive parents are worried about their age and weight, the number of children in the house, how a history of mental illness might appear, and so on. In reality, there are few things that can actually prevent a person from adopting a child. In recent years, there have been several cases of adoptive parents beating their adopted children to death. In many of those cases, the parents had had a history of abuse allegations. Apparently, either the parents didn’t disclose them or the social workers felt they weren’t substantial.

I now plan on writing a completely separate post on this subject.

Why Should Prospective Adoptive Parents Screen Themselves Out of the Process?

The comments on the Adoption Talk post cover this area fairly well. Adoptive parents often know what might be problematic, and don’t disclose that information to the social worker. For example, if one spouse is reluctant, both spouses have probably decided not to talk too much about that, because it could cost them their child. I’m sure it would be possible to be a functioning alcoholic and pass a home study. Something needs to be done to make adoptive parents face the real issues that could harm their children. But what? PAPs need to know that admitting issues exist doesn’t mean they can’t be parents.

Home studies are in no way perfect. Standard Federal adoption laws would likely go a long way to make them better. Social workers do need to be more thorough to ensure the safety and well-being of children. Prospective adoptive parents need to be honest with themselves. Agencies and other adoption professionals need to be upfront about the problems adoptive parents might face. No one person is to blame, and no one person can fix the system.

Photo Credit.

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