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Adoption Homestudy Questions and Answers
Q. What is an adoption home study?

Q. What are post-placement supervision visits?

Q. Are all home studies created equally?

Q. Are there different requirements for an international home study?

Q. What is an update?

Q. When should we start the home study?

Q. Who should complete our home study?

Q. What is the cost of a home study?

Q. What is an adoption home study?

A. A home study is a review of you, your spouse, and anyone else living in your home. A home study is required for almost every adoption. It highlights items such as relationships, interactions with children, your neighborhood, and your childhood. Initially, the home study process frightens some families until they actually complete one. With 1800HomeStudy.com and the certified adoption professionals in our network, we make the process both easy and relaxing. The home study helps the courts, and the agency, determine if a stable environment exists for a family to receive an adoptive placement. Collecting all the documents for the home study can be time consuming. Items such as a marriage license and birth certificates are required to legally confirm your identity.

Q. What are post-placement supervision visits?

A. Post-placement supervision visits are follow-ups to the home study. They consist of visits from a social worker to assess the status of the child and how the adoptive parents are adjusting. Once a child is placed in your home, the agency that performed your home study will complete the required number of post-placement visits (varies from state to state).

Q. Are all home studies created equally?

A. Due to the sheer number of organizations providing home study services there is an enormous difference in the quality of home studies. While each state has the same standards that all agencies are required to follow, there are many items to consider.

Q. Are there different requirements for an international home study?

A. An international home study is somewhat different than a domestic home study. With an international home study the requirements of your home state need to be met, in addition to the requirements of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the foreign country you are adopting from. An international home study is a highly specialized style of home study that needs to be completed by a licensed adoption agency. Before starting the international home study process you must already have selected an agency to work with and which country you will be adopting from. 1800HomeStudy.com can provide you with a complete list of qualified agencies to complete your international home study.

Q. What is an update?

A. An update is a required addition to the home study in the event of any major life changes or after a certain amount of time has passed (usually 1 year) until your final adoption hearing. For example, imagine a child is placed with you tomorrow, and the state allows the final hearing in 60 days, if your home study were only six months old, you would not need an update.

After your home study is completed, it must remain current until you receive an adoptive placement. Your home study professional will explain the process for updating your home study. Typically, home studies should be updated at least once a year. Some states actually require home studies to be updated more frequently than once a year. Your home study professional can provide you with update information.

A home study update is necessary for the reasons listed below.

Q. When should we start the home study?

A. It is extremely important that the home study be started immediately! Typically, any 1800HomeStudy.com network affiliate can complete your home study in 6 weeks, however depending on state requirements, a home study can take up to 90 days to complete. You should not begin the search to locate a child without a completed home study.

Q. Who should complete our home study?

A. Under no circumstances should you allow just anyone to complete your home study. We work with families from across the United States and constantly see the difficulty they endure with home studies. Many pay hundreds of dollars more than they should have, while others are forced to have their home studies redone because of insufficient information. Our families enjoy the following advantages through 1800HomeStudy.com:

Q. What is the cost of a home study?

A. This is one of the most diverse areas in home study services. Agencies can charge anywhere from $500 to $3,000 depending on your state of residence. 1800HomeStudy.com professionals provide competitive rates in each state. It is important to evaluate the entire cost of the home study including updates, post-placement visits, and travel fees if applicable.