[Maki]

Hello,
My husband & I are gearing-up to hopefully adopt our second child. We adopted our first through an agency and we plan to go the semi-independant route this time. We want to have our homestudy updated by a woman who was our favorite SW at our agency. She is starting her own adoption consultation service, she has a masters degree in SW and experience in the adoption field. She has her business liscense and liability insurance. The question is...does she need to do anything else to be able to legally do homestudies? She has been assured by everyone she has consulted with that she doesn't need to register with the county, etc. Does this sound right? I know the laws are different in each state. We are in WA state. This SW is very honest & trust is not an issure. We all just want to make sure that the homestudy will be legit. Any comments? It seems odd that you don't have to do something so the county knows who you are...or...can anone with a business license submit a homestudy? Thanks ahead for your replys!

[Maki]

Thanks for your reply. She does have a masters degree so we should be OK!

[monroeman]

Since you are are choosing a "semi-independent" route you should be okay. Many state and private agencies will only accept a home study from another licensed agency, and not from an independent SW, licensed or not, no matter how good he/she is. I have seen this a lot with international adoption also, although it sounds like you will be looking domestically. If you are just working with lawyers and a judge, and maybe a facilitator, you will probably be alright. If you already have a lawyer in mind, you might check with him/her to see what the parameters are in WA.