htag

Home study anyone?

Posted on 08/27/08, 09:04 am

We're not at that point quite yet, but it's coming fast. Hubby and I have our first appointment with our assigned adoption specialist this Friday and have to make the payments for the small groups, back ground check, and part of the homestudy. I know they said that some homestudies are not transferrable between agencies (for liability reasons), and you get a copy of it, but has anyone gone through one yet? Do you know if you are Foster care qualified automatically after homestudy is complete?

Reason I ask is because I was going to check with the hospital I work with and see if I could adopt abandoned children from our hospital before they go into the foster care system! I suppose I'd have to talk to the social worker being the first person to be aware of a situation like that!

• Reply #1 08/30/08  2:26am
  
  kimmic
  I haven't heard anything about homestudies being non-transferable. I know to be foster care qualified in the state we live in you have to go through some classes. I think it takes like 8 weeks to complete. I would go ahead and do your homestudies and also talk to the social worker at the hospital to let them know you are looking to adopt. The case worker who does your homestudy can help you through the process. Our homestudy was good through the agency we went through. The case worker who did our homstudy had to be licensed. It's alot of paperwork so it will take you some time. If you do foster care your homestudy may be payed for through the state. I would check on that. Good luck.
• Reply #2 08/30/08  4:43pm
  
  htag
  I found out yesterday, that we can still adopt from the hospital if we choose to. This would be considered an "agency assisted adoption" then. We'd just have to involve our lawyer more in the action than just at the very end of the legalization thing.
  
  I'll have to see if I can get my wits about me to look into that. Right now, I'm waiting for licensing and 16 hours of class time for hubby and I. I just want this part to get done closer to the 4 month time than the 6 month time. She told us we'll start creating a profile after the homestudy.
• Reply #3 02/28/09  3:53am
  
  Lili
  We live in WA, and completed the foster/adopt training (called PRIDE Training) in December of '08. It only took us 3 weeks though. After that we were able to do the home study, after a TON of paperwork! A licenser came out to our house and looked at everything, told us what we needed to do before he came the second visit. Since we did it through the state, it didn't cost us anything. Throughout this whole process, the only thing we had to cover was the well water test! That part of it has been really nice, but waiting for a baby has been hard. Circumstances are such that we are putting it on hold for now, but hopefully will be able to start it again soon! We just want a child to love, you know?
  
  Good luck with everything! Hope it all goes well for you.
• Reply #4 02/28/09  7:13pm
  
  htag
  We just finished our home study this past Wednesday on the 25th. LOL! I'm happy to be through with the first half. We only had two recommended requirements. Fire Extinquishers in kitchen and furnace room, and baby gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. I told our CW that we were doing INFANT adoption...why would we need to do the baby proofing so early? She told me that it was strongly recommended to be complete prior to the placement of the child. Well, I wouldn't have any problems with it, but the gates we are looking at are over 100 dollars! We need two! The fact that we keep having to sign papers saying that there may be no garentee of us getting a baby is what is maddening! I'm not putting out all of this money to not end up with a baby after it all! grrr. I guess I'll get over it. As our instructor said..."sometimes it's anger that gets you moving to the next step"!
• Reply #5 04/22/09  9:10pm
  
  GirlAtHeart
  Hi htag and everyone. I am new in this discussion area. Can you or anyone else tell me what types of questions they ask in the Home Study? And...who do they talk with? The reason I ask is that we haven't told anyone yet of our plans and sort of don't want to right now. Do they interview your friends and family?
• Reply #6 04/23/09  8:19am
  
  htag
  Hi GirlAtHeart, every agency will be different. Some of them seem like they do the interviewing during the HS, and some of the interviews come before the HS. WE had four interviews (2 combined as a couple, and 2 alone) with the CW prior to every doing our H.V.s. We had 2 HV total (making up our whole HS). Two HV are so that they can make the recommendations needed in your house, and the second to see what you've done to follow through. We didn't really do much talking during our HVs. We signed a TON of papers and they did most of the talking. But in different states, there are also different rules. Ours was really strict due to the fact that we live in IL and have to be licensed as "Foster to adopt" first. You're HVs will be a bit calmer I'm sure.
  
  Just remember this.....they are looking for a place the child will be loved in. My house had cob webs I missed, the dog tried to hump the CW's leg, and the cat puked downstairs in the walking path. Yup, if there was anything to go wrong...... but we got licensed cuz they knew we'd love the child. Offer drinks if they are thirsty, breath, and BE HONEST! Best of luck to you sweetie. You won't fail a HS! You can't! They just recommend things to you, and make more visits until they are resolved if it's dangerous enough (ie: something not up to code that could directly harm the child like railing width). Good luck.

This is a group for those suffering from IF who are considering adoption as a way to grow their family. Those who have recently adopted as a result of IF are welcome as well.