8 Essential Home Study Tips

Adoption home studies are the start of a wonderfully life changing process. Home studies can be long, complex processes, but with the right provider, it doesn’t have to be.

We’ll go over what you’ll need for the process, and then we’ll get into a helpful list of adoption home study tips to make your process smoother.

To fast track your adoption home study, the best thing you can do is start today. The sooner the home study has been completed, the sooner you can begin your new life with your child.

Adoption Home Study Tips

While it’s not necessarily common, home studies can be stress-free and timely. Keep these tips in mind during the early parts of your home study to help you complete your process.

Home Study Tip #1: Start the Process

Home studies can be long and slow; starting as soon as possible will help you avoid getting waitlisted.

You don’t need to have everything ready when you start your home study. The very first step in this process is talking with a social worker, who will set up expectations for the process going forward.

Home Study Tip #2: Tidy Up Your Home

It may be easy to lose sight of this amid child-proofing and gathering documents, but make sure to tidy up before your in-home visit.

First impressions matter and you want your social worker’s first impression of your home to be a positive one. Even if your home is already clean, it can only help to give your countertops, tables, and furniture a quick wipe down.

Home Study Tip #3: Gather Documents Quickly

The best way to expedite a home study is to obtain a list of all necessary documents directly from your social worker and collect them as soon as possible.

Most of these documents you’ll have on hand already. It’s a good idea to make photocopies or digital scans of these and organize them prior to the document review. Then you can start gathering the documents you may not have ready, like medical records, tax returns, and proof of income. You can find a list of required documents here.

Home Study Tip #4: Prepare Your Character References Early

It’s a good idea to contact the people you have in mind for character references as soon as possible when completing a home study.

For a home study you’ll need five letters of recommendation, four of which should be from non-family members. It can take time for your references to complete these letters, so it may be beneficial to contact and review the process with your prospective references as soon as possible. You can find a guide to adoption character references with a free outline here.

Home Study Tip #5: Work with a Professional Agency

Perhaps the most useful tip on this list, working with a professional agency gives you all kinds of benefits when it comes to home studies.

American Adoptions of Indiana is a full service adoption agency. We provide 24/7 live support, and set up meetings between you and your social worker ahead of the home study, so you have the best tools available to prepare yourself. Learn more here about how we can help your family through the adoption home study.

Home Study Tip #6: Practice Answering Interview Questions

Beyond reading over our list of possible adoption home study questions, you may want to ask a friend to conduct a practice interview.

A practice interview can help you hone your response, learn which answers you’re comfortable with, and approach these questions from many different angles.

Home Study Tip #7: Be Flexible

Unfortunately, none of this is an exact science. You may need to be willing to compromise in order to pass a home study.

Examples of compromises may be rescheduling parts of your home study, or removing something from your home that you don’t view as dangerous, but your social worker does.

Home Study Tip #8: Take the Process One Step at a Time

Home studies can test even the most patient of prospective parents. Remember to take the process one step at a time.

Working with American Adoptions of Indiana

We’re a licensed home study provider and a full-service adoption agency in every Indiana county, meaning we have your back wherever you are.

If you’re ready to get your home study started, or if you just want more information on how to prepare for a home study, contact our office.

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