Home Study Tips: How to Prepare and What to Expect

For many hopeful adoptive parents, home studies are the most nerve-wracking and time-consuming part of the adoption process. They wonder things like, “Will our home be acceptable? What will they think about our approach to parenting? What about my past?”
 
Read on as I share home study tips on what to expect and how to prepare. I’ll also provide checklists, debunk common adoption home study myths, and share a proven method for de-cluttering your house!
 

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What is a home study?

It’s an evaluation of a prospective adoptive family that a licensed social worker completes. Having an approved home study is required by state and federal regulations to adopt.
 
We recommend using the time spent on your home study to get educated on the adoption process and parenting an adopted child. Your home study provider should be able to answer any of your questions that might come up. Your attorney will use your home study to file with the court. Then, the judge will review your home study before finalizing your adoption.
 

Information in a Home Study Includes:

• Important people in your lives
• Your background (upbringing, parents and siblings, and major life events)
• Marriage and family relationships
• Expectations for your child and the adoption
• Motive to adopt
• Feelings about infertility (if relevant)
• Parenting approach
• How you’ll integrate your child into the family
• Family environment
• Your health history
• Education
• Employment
• Finances (including your insurance coverage)
• Childcare plans
• References
• Criminal background clearances

What to Expect

Typically, the home study process has three stages. First, you’ll complete the required paperwork. In the second stage, state law normally requires at least one home visit and individual interviews of both of you.
 
Finally, your social worker will create a report that includes an evaluation of your family and their recommendation for adoption. The entire process takes two to four months, depending on how busy the home study worker is and how quickly you can complete your paperwork.
 

How to Prepare

We recommend that you get ready to answer very personal questions about your childhood, marriage, and issues. These questions include topics such as the way your parents disciplined you as a child, marriage conflict, mental health concerns, infertility issues, and financial struggles.
 
By asking such personal questions, the social worker is trying to see how you manage stress and difficulty. Do you have a strong support system? How have you worked through challenging issues in the past? Are you quick to recognize weakness and ask for help? By being honest about how you’ve coped during difficult times in your lives, the social worker can get a clear perspective.
 

Common Home Study Myths

“We need to be wealthy.”
Even though adoption can be costly, you don’t need to be well-off to get your home study approved. What’s more important than how much is in your bank account is your debt, budget, and how you spend. The social worker wants to see that you’re financially stable, pay your bills, and stay out of debt. 
 
“Our house has to be perfect.”
A social worker isn’t expecting perfection when they walk into a home. They anticipate walking into a house that looks lived in. We promise you that the social worker isn’t going to do a white glove test!
 
“We must own our home.”
Couples who rent their homes can also be approved to adopt.
 
“Our pasts need to be spotless.”
You’re only human, and the social worker will understand that. All couples must answer questions about their criminal, medical, and social backgrounds. 
 
“The adoptive couple will need to share whether or not they have been directly or indirectly exposed to circumstances such as alcohol/drug abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, jail, counseling, or financial issues. Truth be told, most have had some sort of exposure,” shares Linda Rotz, Lifetime’s Director of Adoption Services.
 
Once you discuss any issues with the social worker, they will evaluate and address the nature of the problems accordingly. Sometimes, a couple must take additional training or show growth and change in a specific area.  Certain felonies would disqualify a family, but each state has its own statutes, so it would be something the social worker would have to evaluate with you. 
 

A Checklist to Get Ready for Your Home Study

Many hopeful adoptive parents find the home study process to be overwhelming. The adoption home study checklist below will help you get ready!
 
We want to note that regulations differ depending on your state. We’ve made this home study checklist general enough to cover the variety of documents and clearances most will need. If your home has any safety concerns, the home study professional will usually let you know of the issue, so you have time to correct them before finishing the home study.
 

Safety & Home Preparations

Depending on the state you live in, you could be asked to comply with or have training on the following items based on the age of the child you want to adopt:

First aid kit
Carbon monoxide detector
Smoke detectors on each level, and near or in your future child’s room
Cleaning products, medications, and other toxic substances moved out of a child’s reach
Screen covering your fireplace or wood stove
Fire extinguisher in your kitchen
Covered kitchen trash
Covered electrical outlets
Gates to place at stairways
Locks and secure screens on all windows
Fence around pool
Locked top on hot tub
Evacuation floor plans
Phone numbers in case of emergency
Firearms in a locked container and ammunition in a separate locked container

Documents to Gather

Your autobiographical statement
Statement of your parenting plan
Both of your driver’s licenses
Marriage certificate
Divorce decree(s) if applicable
Military discharge paperwork, if applicable
Death certificates, if applicable from a previous marriage
Vet vaccination records for all pets
Birth certificates (of everyone living in your home)
School records on all children in the home
Your financial information
Most recent tax return
Proof of home, life, health, and car insurance
Proof of employment (such as a letter from your employer or your most recent pay stub)
Statement from your doctor about your health status
Reference statements from relatives and non-relatives

Clearances

FBI clearance
Criminal background check
Child abuse clearances for every place you’ve lived in for the past 5 years
Sex offender clearance

De-cluttering for Your Home Study

Do you need to tidy your home before your home visit, but feel a little overwhelmed? With a busy schedule, it’s hard to imagine how you could ever deep clean your house!
 
The key is to take small steps and do a little at a time. Have you tried the “Mount Vernon Method” of cleaning and organizing? Those who have used it share it’s fantastic at keeping you focused and addictive once you start using it.
 
Servants used the Mount Vernon Method of cleaning and de-cluttering at George Washington’s estate. With this strategy, you clean one room at a time. Begin at the door and then move clockwise around the room, organizing and cleaning one piece of furniture before transitioning on to the next.
 
The benefit of using this method is that you can pace yourself. Also, it lets you complete clear goals one by one. You can make the Mount Vernon Method work even if your rooms aren’t in a condition to be deep-cleaned quickly. Here’s how:
 
Don’t look at your house as a whole.  Focus simply on the small portion (one room) you’re working on today, which can prevent stress.
 
Begin by focusing on just one task in one room. Spend 30 minutes working on that project. Set a timer to provide motivation and try to finish that one project if you can. For example, one day, use your half hour to organize and clean your entertainment center. The following day, work on an end table drawer. If you do it right, your entire living room will eventually be de-cluttered.
 
After that, take your motivation with you to tackle the next room. Maintenance should become a breeze once you’ve completed “Mount Vernon-izing” each room!
 

Home Study Tips

It helps if you anticipate spending time gathering documents and completing paperwork. Most home study professionals require birth certificates, marriage certificates, background checks, tax records, bank statements, employment verification, proof of insurance, and physicals.
 
We suggest setting aside time for several nights (or a weekend) to plow through the process. Get some of your favorite snacks, put on some music, and get to work!
 
Being yourself during the home visit and interviews is important. Your social worker is trying to get to know you and your family dynamics, so it serves you well to be honest and straightforward.
 
Completing a home study can be work, but it’s completely worth it!
 

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Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on April 3, 2019, and has since been updated. 

Written by Mardie Caldwell, C.O.A.P.

Founder of Lifetime Adoption, adoptive mom, adoption expert, and Certified Open Adoption Practitioner (C.O.A.P).

Since 1986, adoption expert Mardie Caldwell has been dedicated to bringing couples and birth parents together in order to fulfill their dreams.

“Many years ago, I was also searching for a child to adopt. We didn’t know where or how to get started. Through research, determination, and a prayer, our dream of a family became reality. I started with a plan, a notebook, assistance from a caring adoption consultant and a lot of hard work; this was my family I was building. We had a few heartaches along the way, but the pain of not having children was worse!

Within weeks we had three different birth mothers choose us. We were overwhelmed and delighted. Many unsettling events would take place before our adoption would be finalized, many months later. Little did I know that God was training and aligning me for the adoption work I now do today. It is my goal to share with our families the methods and plans which succeed and do not succeed. I believe adoption should be affordable and can be a wonderful “pregnancy” for the adoptive couple.

I have also been on both sides of infertility with the loss of seven pregnancies and then conceiving by new technology, giving birth to a healthy daughter. I have experienced first-hand the emotional pain of infertility and believe my experience allows me to serve your needs better.

It is my hope that for you, the prospective parents, your desire for a child will be fulfilled soon.”

Read More About Mardie Caldwell