What is a Home Study?
The home study is an essential piece of your adoption process whether you are doing a standard domestic adoption, a second-parent adoption or a step-parent adoption. It is a required report prepared by a licensed social worker that is a testimony to your parenting capacity, as well as your lifelong commitment to parent any child you adopt. It is part of your legal certification as an adoptive parent and is used at different stages by your adoption attorney or agency, the courts, and other officials involved in the adoption process.
As your partner in the home study, I interview you and others living in your home, visit your residence and write your home study report. The interview is a chance to get to know you and collaborate with you in order to present an overview of your life story, and your particular interests in creating or securing your family through adoption. It is also an opportunity to explore your questions and thoughts about adoption with a knowledgeable professional. The visit to your home is simply a way to ensure that it is a welcoming, nurturing and safe environment for a child. It is most important to be open and honest during our discussions; in that way, we will be able to create a picture of you that most accurately portrays the strengths of your family.
The home study is an essential piece of your adoption process whether you are doing a standard domestic adoption, a second-parent adoption or a step-parent adoption. It is a required report prepared by a licensed social worker that is a testimony to your parenting capacity, as well as your lifelong commitment to parent any child you adopt. It is part of your legal certification as an adoptive parent and is used at different stages by your adoption attorney or agency, the courts, and other officials involved in the adoption process.
As your partner in the home study, I interview you and others living in your home, visit your residence and write your home study report. The interview is a chance to get to know you and collaborate with you in order to present an overview of your life story, and your particular interests in creating or securing your family through adoption. It is also an opportunity to explore your questions and thoughts about adoption with a knowledgeable professional. The visit to your home is simply a way to ensure that it is a welcoming, nurturing and safe environment for a child. It is most important to be open and honest during our discussions; in that way, we will be able to create a picture of you that most accurately portrays the strengths of your family.
© Camilla J. Brooks, LCSW