What Is a Home Study?

We went to dinner at a friend’s house tonight, and we started talking about mutual friends who are beginning the adoption process. (Although, these friends didn’t know, so I hope I didn’t just “out” someone.) I told my husband that they’re using the same home study agency that we used.

Then our friend asked, “What’s a home study?”

I replied: “An agency gives you a ream of paper to fill out, they come and interview you, and basically invade your privacy.”

My husband said: “It’s like a test to make sure you’ll be good parents.”

So, what is a home study? According to the adoption.com Wiki:

The home study is a pre-adoption assessment and education process. Licensed social workers perform homestudies, during which hopeful adoptive parents’ ability, knowledge, and capabilities are explored, discussed, and evaluated.

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The goal of the home study process isn’t just to gain approval as prospective adoptive parents (PAPs*). The home study gives the PAPs the chance to discuss important parenting situations before they arise.

My husband and I cleared several days to do nothing but go over our home study questionnaires. I really did find that they helped us come up with an overall parenting strategy. We talked about what’s important to us, what beliefs we want our child to have, how discipline should work (though I don’t think we imagined it being quite so on-the-fly as it is with our three year old), and educational goals. We even talked about some of the details, like swimming lessons and Boy Scouts.

Home studies differ depending on which type of adoption you choose, which country you’re adopting from, and sometimes even on the personal style of the social worker. What might be part of the average home study? Ours consisted of 21 line items.

1. Application: your names, address, and all the normal information you must divulge when you fill out any form. You may also need to provide brief information about your family, including your children (if any), parents, and siblings.
2. Family Snapshot: a picture of the person or persons who are adopting.
3. Finger Prints, aka Live Scan: required by most states and all countries. Finger prints are often the most difficult piece of the process. Every county has a different way of taking and processing them, and then they must be sent to the FBI. If the finger prints aren’t perfect the first time, you may have to repeat the process. Take my advice – do the finger prints first!
4. Criminal Record Statement: a criminal record doesn’t prevent you from adopting, but you must disclose any convictions.
5. Fee Schedule: how much money you have to pay to whom and when.
6. Release of Information: this form authorizes the social worker or agency to share information with other necessary agencies or attorneys.
7. Affirmation Statement: ours reads “We are aware of the costs, challenges, process, and procedures in this adoption.”
8. Adoption Worksheet: a form on which you indicate the types of special needs you’d accept in a child (if any), and any other specifics.
9. Getting to Know You: an in-depth questionnaire to be completed by each adoptive parent. This is the heavy stuff. Ours included questions such as “What was your childhood like?”, “Have you ever been abused?”, “Please describe your relationship with your family.”, and so on.
10. Autobiographical statements: brief statements about each of the adoptive parents. Ours included one paragraph for roughly every five years of our lives.
11. Certification for Infant CPR and First Aid: yup, we had to take a course in infant CPR and first aid. I think it’s a great idea, personally, though it scared me to death.
12. Letter from Guardians: a letter from the person or persons you choose to be your child’s guardian(s) in the case of your untimely deaths.
13. Character References: letters from friends and family filled with glowing praise about your (presumed) parenting abilities. We had to provide six – 2 from immediate family members, 2 from friends, 1 from extended family, and 1 from work or worship.
14. Medical Reports: a form filled out by a doctor, stating any medical conditions. The important part is that the doctor writes that you are physically able to take care of a child. If you have any children in your house, you need to share any major medical information about them too. Some forms may include space for their vaccination records. However, in private domestic adoption, vaccinations aren’t required, though some agencies or social workers may balk. If you choose not to vaccinate, you may want to ask about this up-front.
15. Marriage Certificate: if applicable.
16. Decree of Divorce: if applicable.
17. IRS 1040: the first two pages of the previous year’s Federal income tax return. You don’t have to be rich to adopt; just financially stable.
18. Financial Statement: this actually only applied to international adoptions, so I really don’t know what this is.
19. Job Verification Letter: a letter from your employer (or your tax accountant if self-employed) stating that you are employed, your job title, salary, and so on.
20. Education: a list of the education you’ve received regarding adoption. Every agency is different. Some require you to go to classes that they provide, or to attend classes at other agencies. Ours required the CPR, but after that we were free to get the additional 10 hours however we liked. We attended a newborn baby care class and read a lot of books, as classes weren’t readily available in our area.
21. Risk Release: a form stating that you know there are risks associated with adoption. I wonder if they make expectant moms sign something like this before giving birth?

Put it all together, get it notarized, and send it in!

I may go more into depth about some of these in future posts, but I’m done for today. Thanks for reading!

* One woman I know doesn’t like the term “PAP” for prospective adoptive parents because of the Pap smear. However, that “pap” isn’t an acronym, but an abbreviation for “Papanicolaou”, the last name of the doctor who invented the test. So, it doesn’t bother me. Do you have strong feelings about it? If so, let me know!

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