[mquaide]

Looking to adopt an AA or AA/CC bi-racial newborn in the next year or 2. We're new to this so just would like to find out what exactly is involved with a homstudy and how long does it take? If we would like to adopt is 2 yrs when should we start our homestudy and how do we go about it?

Thanks!!

[vegangoddess]

our experience was that the home study took about 1 year....... it depends on how fast you get the classes done. and the checklist done....... we had to have water tested and fireinspector out and such...... i hope this answeres your question and good luck with everything...... it is a great experience.

[rredhead]

My husband and I started our home study process in June, and it will be finished before the end of October. The main portion of the homestudy was 10+ worksheets with questions. We each had to have a medical report done. We each had to write a brief autobiography, and we each had to answer a loooong questionnaire about our backgrounds. Together, we had to answer one worksheet about us as a couple, one about what type of parents we intended to be, one about the risks of adoption. I can't remember all of them. We had to get 6 character references from family members, friends, and co-workers. Different agencies ask for different references. We had to get our fingerprints done (LiveScan), and present a copy of our marriage license.

What took the longest was the references. Our friends and family dawdled for the longest time. I know it's a hard task to do -- write about why we would be good parents -- but still.

Our home study agency did not require classes. Many do. They did require a CPR/first aid course, but we were able to do that in one day (8 hours).

If you are looking to adopt independantly (private) or international, your agency may not require a massive home study. I was just reading that in state adoptions, you have to make sure your water heater is turned down, and that everything is child proof. Our social worker said not to bother, that the main thing he's looking for is that the house itself is safe, and that the child has his/her own room.

Going through the state seems to involve a looooong confirmation process, during which you must be certified as foster parents first. I think this is true, at least in CA. We looked into fost-adopt but found it didn't meet our needs.

The point is: Do the research on which type of adoption you want to do. Once you know that, you'll know what kind of agency you'll want to use, and can begin learning about the specific requirements for your situation.

Hope this helps!
-Rmc

[vegangoddess]

rredhead did a much clearer explanation..... our homestudy is exactly as she stated. except we had to have classes. and our agency required orientation seminar and an intro to adoption seminar where we heard many speakers... quite interesting... it gave different angles for adoption. such as a bmom coming to speak.... very interesting.

[mallory4]

Our homestudy was done by an agency the state contracts with for (PA) foster/adopt. They also do homestudies for international adoption. Once all our classes were complete (which could have been done in one month, but we took longer), we had to fill out the police clearances and write up autobiographies (short, they provided guidelines/questions to answer) and answers to about three other questions.

Then the adoption worker came to our house and met with me. She said it would be 2 months before the homestudy was complete. If we were having a homestudy done for international, that would have been the endpoint, so the total would have been about 4 months.

Because we are doing foster/adopt, once the 2 months was up, and the homestudy and application to adopt was complete, a foster care worker came out to do the safety inspection on the house, and we got our foster care license as of that date.

It was another three months before we got placement of our then 14 month old f/a son, because our age range was limited to under 5.

We found that the agency's estimate of how long it would take was totally accurate---so once you are looking at agencies, ask them, and then check on these boards to see if others' experiences with that agency seem in line with what the agency is saying--it might help you decide who to use.

Good luck!

[Dearonebaby]

Hello,
We did a private homestudy starting January 15th, done may 26th and a state homestudy (changed from private infant to older child) started May and done by July 23rd including the PATH classes.I searched all the surrounding areas for a PATH class that was starting as soon as possible and we were blessed to find one that started with a week of my search and it was an accelorated rate class. We drove an hour both ways to take the class and get it done. I was very fast with my paperwork though. I handed it in both times within a month of it being given to me and I stayed on top of the sw's to insure they didn't forget about us. I was careful not to annoy though. I have heard of it taking much longer in other cases though. Which state do you live in? My friend is doing one in Alabama and she has been going since April and it is still not completed. She had to do CPR classes on top of the regular classes. Alabama has a more estringent regimen for their system though. A homestudy, once completed, in most states lasts a year from the date completed. So, if you are not sure about adopting at what time yet, I would figure out when and then start about a year out from when you want to have the child hopefully in home. The amount of time on the homestudy for us was our preparedness and how well we knew ourselves and eachother. The only thing that kind of slowed us down was the requirements for trans-racial adoption. We had a lot of researching and demographics to supply. If you are planning a trans-racial adoption, I would start researching for support groups, diverse playgroups, camps, and enrichment programs now, also demographics on your area are sometimes helpful.