Q. What is the difference between a domestic home study and an international adoption home study?

Q. What is a Hague-accredited adoption agency and how does that affect international home study?

Q. Can my home study social worker perform both a domestic and international adoption home study?

Q. Does the adoption home study social worker or agency completing my international home study need to be licensed?

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Q. What is the difference between a domestic home study and an international adoption home study?

A. Domestic and international home studies are similar in many ways, including how the home study visits are performed and what documents are required for an adoption home study. The differences will be in the home study report. Countries have their own mandates on the depth of information and requirements for a home study, just as states have their own requirements. Your child placing agency/agent and home study social worker will be able to outline what the regulations are for the country you would like to adopt a child from.

The main difference between a domestic and international home study is that if you are adopting from a Hague Adoption Convention country, you will be required to provide a child abuse and neglect clearance for each state and country in which you have resided since you were 18 years old.

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Q. What is a Hague-accredited adoption agency and how does that affect international home study?

A. The Hague Adoption Convention is an international agreement to protect children, birth parents and potential adoptive parents during the international adoption process. It also has created adoption agency standards that an organization must follow in order to be accredited.

Before the Convention, agencies only needed to be licensed by their state in order to complete international adoptions, but as of April 2008, agencies must be accredited on the federal level by the Council on Accreditation. More than 70 countries belong to the Hague Adoption Convention and therefore must follow the intercountry adoption laws. You must verify that the adoption agency is Hague-accredited in order to complete an international adoption from a Convention participating country.

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Q. Can my home study social worker perform both a domestic and international adoption home study?

A. Your home study social worker may be able to complete both your international and domestic home study. There are a few things to consider when choosing a home study social worker who can complete both.

• Your home study social worker will need to be supervised by a Hague-accredited child placing agency to complete your international home study if you are adopting a child from a Hague Convention Country.
• You home study social worker will need to be familiar with not only all 50 states requirements to complete your domestic home study, but also the social worker will need to be aware of the requirements of the country you are interested in adopting a child from if they are also completing your international home study.

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Q. Does the adoption home study social worker or agency completing my international home study need to be licensed?

A. 1-800-HOMESTUDY suggests that you contact a licensed home study social worker to complete your international home study and that your social worker is supervised by a Hague-accredited child placing agency.

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