amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

AAHmom · 12-22-2005, 03:54 PM

We have my son for 7.5 years. We currently have legal custody but due to some events with his birthparents (my brother and his exwife) we decided to go thru with full adoption. We got a call from the person appointed thru the court to do a homestudy. It is scheduled for next tuesday. I have no idea what to expect.

We had a home study 7 years ago when we got custody but it was nothing like what I have been told in this state. The girl from the court walked in asked if we had running water and if my husband was employed and left. This case worker game me a huge list of info that he needs including statements from my husbands employer and 10 years worth of tax records.

Anyone care to share how this process is supposed to go.

lassie · 12-22-2005, 04:49 PM

It varies. We've been through two and another is scheduled in a few weeks. They'll tour your home, ask you questions about your marriage, your childhood, your beliefs, your parenting and discipline. They may ask about safety issues such as if your medicines are locked up, guns, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, etc.

I was really nervous before both of ours but they weren't bad at all. Both lasted around 30 minutes or so. The one coming up, the sw said she'll be here for 2 hours.

This one will be a state adoption study. We've done a private study and a state foster study before.

Paperwork they usually need involves paycheck stubs, taxes, birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce certificates, etc.

Oh and for our foster study, if we had a septic system, they'd need to ahve checked it, but we're on city water.

Good luck!

cristian_bella · 12-23-2005, 02:44 AM

Everything lassie said has been my experience w. home studies. Good luck, Mama.

grisandole · 12-23-2005, 02:55 AM

Ditto what Lassie said. A homestudy is not only a physical inspection of your home, but a profile of your family........they'll need all the paperwork they mentioned, like birth/marriage certificates, bank statements, income tax, etc. They will probably ask you questions about your parenting philosophy.

I'm sure it will go smoothly!

Kristi