Domestic Adoption Services

 

What is a Home Study? A home study is a requirement to adopt and an overview of your life including criminal background checks, finances, medical history and your personal relationship. If you are planning to adopt, this is the first step. The time to completion is often unpredictable and is determined by a variety of factors such as: criminal background checks, child abuse and neglect clearances, and the time to locate or order items such as birth and marriage certificates.

 

What to expect? I  believe the home study process should be an encouraging and educational experience. Many are stressed about what to expect during this process.  To ease your concern, I would love to talk to you in more depth about the details of how a home study is done.  While this is a state requirement to adopt, I believe this is the time a relationship between you, the hopeful parents, and Building Families through Faith, as your home study provider, begins. A relationship we hope will continue through and after your adoption journey.

 

I will make every effort to complete your home study in a timely manner. I can work with your schedule and can typically start within a week of recieving your completed application and contract. Your home study will consist of 1-2 home visits, preparing your report, providing you with neccesary documents (back ground checks, medical forms and lists of documents needed). I will also provide on-going case management throughout your process as well as communicating with your placement agency and/or attorney as needed and providing any additional items requested when reviewed by ICPC (Interstate Complact of the Placement of Children).

 

Post Placement Services are also offered.  Following placement, a social worker makes a series of personal visits to the home of the adoptive parents. The number of visits varies by the request of each state.  A report is prepared and submitted to the court based on these visits prior to the finalization of your adoption.