The Adoptive Homestudy

If you are interested in expanding your family through adoption, you will need to prepared to complete the adoption process. So what is the process and how long will it take? The process itself and the time involved will differ from state to state, as each state has its own requirements to be approved as an adoptive parent. However, there are common requirements that must be met by all states. As you explore the idea of adoption, you will need to determine what the requirements are in the state that you reside.

As a former adoption worker, there are basic requirements that I can shed light on. There are several areas, which must be covered in the adoptive home study and sometimes, depending on your family dynamics, other areas are included. In my career as an adoption worker, I was often accused of being invasive and requiring too much information. In most cases it was a true statement. Adoption workers are charged with the task of getting to know as much as they can about a family so that the family's home study is accurate and paints a true picture of them.

At this point, I will discuss the area of family composition, or family members and family lifestyle. Who are the family members? How old is each member? Are they in school? Are they working? What degrees have they earned? How were they parented? If married, how long? What was the courtship like and how long was it? How did the couple meet? What are the likes and dislikes of each? What does leisure time involve? Why are they interested in adoption? Are extended family members aware that they a pursuing adoption and, if so, what are their feelings? How will you as an adoptive parent help the child bond with your family? Does your family have rituals and if so, what are they? Is religion important to the family?

These, believe it or not, are just a few questions related to family composition and lifestyle. Why would an agency be concerned about how extended family members felt about your adoption plans? Well, this is a very important decision and extended family, whether you are close or not, will have an impact on bonding and acceptance with the family. If your uncle Joe does not want to tarnish the bloodline, he may not be in favor of you adopting a male child. Your adoptive child, at some point, will meet extended family members, so any issues and how you plan to address and resolve them need to be discussed in the adoptive home study.

What about the degrees that you worked so hard to achieve? Why would a caseworker need to know about those? These need to be covered in the adoptive home study because it may show that you are an achiever and you believe in achieving a higher educational level. Nothing wrong with this at all. It's just additional information for the caseworker when identifying a child who would be appropriate for your family. A caseworker would not want to consider placing a child with your family if you have educational expectations that would not be feasible for a particular child.

Caseworkers are charged with looking at the best interest of the child so when considering adoption placement, the caseworker considers the needs of the child and seek a family that will be able to meet the particular needs of that specific child. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that your home study is truthful and accurate so that it would be a good match between you and the child. Children in the foster care system have suffered many losses and a thorough adoptive home study will prevent them suffering a lot as a result of an adoption disruption.

As a former caseworker, yes I was invasive, but I always explained during the initial home visit, what I would need and why. The adoption process, the good, bad, and the ugly were discussed as I helped families learn how to prevent bad experiences by considering their desires and needs and the best interest of the child.