[tomandcate]

Hi dowlik, and welcome...

We are in Ohio and adopting through an agency, so take this for what it's worth...

We started our paperwork/homestudy the first week of August. Along with all the state/agency paperwork, seminars, etc. we had to get physicals, child care class, infant CPR, local/state criminal checks, fingerprints, driver abstracts, fire inspection, 10 copies of a written autobiography, read two books and answer 18 questions, and put together a website. Three interviews (one written, two in person) are required as part of our home study.

Our first visit was 9/15 and our final visit is scheduled for 9/27. Our social worker (who is the one doing the home study) told us that if we're done with everything (the only things outstanding as of the first visit were the doctor's final report on me, fire inspection re-visit [we failed the first inspection], CPR class, and making 10 copies of the approved autobiography) by the 27th, we will be approved within a week...so that means that the entire process will have taken 2 months.

This is probably on the quicker side of the average that I hear of...2-4 months depending on how quickly you can pull everything together. The other factor is whether you're using a public or private entity to complete the homestudy...I hear that state agencies can take a lot longer because of their case loads.

Each case is different because of both personal and location variables...for instance I had to write and request a certified copy of my divorce decree from my first marriage. It can also depend on how quickly your state responds to things like criminal record checks. Also if one has through a homestudy before it usually takes less time on subsequent homestudies. And then there are the basic differences in what each state requires you to do for the homestudy. The good news is, in most cases, you can make it go as fast as you are willing/able to go, as long as your homestudy agency is not dragging their feet with the visits.

One thing I have learned that may help you...no matter what you hear from other people (such as "They are supposed to come 3 times, but they only come once because they are so busy") be prepared for anything to happen! I was told that our fire inspector would only check our extinguishers and for fire ladders and evacuation plans - instead he spent 45 minutes here and checked my house from top to bottom! Turns out the person who told me that has a brand new house, whereas mine is 78 years old...so that's the reason for the disparity. Bottom line is no two situations are ever exactly the same so you have to re prepared for yours to go differently, while keeping the 'averages' in mind.

Good luck!

Cate