Home Study

Before we even were thinking about adopting Ashton we were playing around with the idea of adoption in general. I started looking into some agencies and each required a home study. I had only seen a home study on movies and in the movies they made it look super intimidating and scary. So after going through my home study I wanted to tell everyone what A REAL home study is like. Just cause I had no where to reference one so I figured I would explain.

First of all, they are NOT that bad. Especially the Case Worker I went through. She made it so lovely and easy to do. I would recommend her over and over again. She was so nice and answered my questions before hand.

Okay so it doesn't necessarily go in this order but this is how we did it. First you get a Criminal Background check to make sure your not a convicted felon. There is a place here in Utah that is located in like West Valley/Taylorsville area. You can get it done it like 15 mins tops. The next step is a Child Abuse background check. You send in a application with your ID and mail it to them. Super easy and can come back with results in little as a week. 

Now for the home study part. You have a case worker that comes into your home. They do a walk-through of your home and make sure its a safe, and healthy environment for a child to live in. They also have to describe what each room is like. For instance my case worker wrote down that our home had stucco and stone and that it was well landscaped. Than the next process would be interviews. There is a joint couple interview and than a separate interview. Each interview took about 1 1/2 hrs.  In the joint interview she asked some questions that had to do with our home. Such as where we keep our medication and cleaning supplies. And if those are in reach of a child how do we secure it. Than she asked questions such as if we would be willing to adopt again in the future? If we would adopt children with special needs? What led us to adoption? How we plan on disciplining our children? Thing like that so she can get a feel for us as a couple and how we will be as parents.

The next part of the interview was separate. In this she is trying to get to know you individually and your perspective of your relationship. I was asked questions about my childhood, Jake and mines relationship, and anything else that seemed necessary for the adoption. For instance I was asked how my parents disciplined  If there was an instance in my life that changed me? How I felt about Jake and my relationship and things like that. Jake was also asked the same questions. 

When doing the home study you also have to submit some papers that give details about your life. We had to submit a financial paper work that  showed how our income is and if we are stable. We both had to get physicals to make sure we are both in good health. We had to have three recommendation letters about our relationship. We had to submit birth certificates.

Overall it was a little rough. I was so stressed about it and it ended up not being THAT big of a deal as I had made it out to be. It is a little hard having someone come in your home to investigate every little detail about you, but our Case worker once again was incredible. I would use her again in a heartbeat.

Adoption has been an amazing and emotional experience. But I highly recommend it!