Homestudy Worries

mia_2005 · 10-25-2005, 05:49 PM

Hi guys. I have been on the other parts of soulcysters before, but I had completely forgotten about the adoption section! We have decided to adopt from Guatemala and are just starting our homestudy.

Can you guys give me some info on homestudies? Mostly, I want to know what would keep you from getting approved. I was wondering about depression meds, but I saw that someone already posted that question. What about how much debt you have or how much money you have is savings? We have about $5000 in unsecured debt and have no savings right now, though we are working on it. Will that give us a big fat no on the homestudy?

I'm so nervous about this thing! I have been cleaning like a mad woman (even though people always say that they don't do a "white glove" inspection) and I feel so intimidated at having to share my whole life with a social worker I've never met. My DH says not to worry, but then he never worries. That's my job!

~Traci~ · 10-25-2005, 07:09 PM

I know that neither our HS agency or our adoption agency ran a credit check on us (not sure if other's do) so our credit wasn't a problem. We did have to fill out a financial form stating our yearly income, debt (like house, cars, etc), life insurance, etc. We did have to answer where the $$ would come from for the adoption.

I was terrified that we wouldn't be able to adopt b/c DH had a past traffic violation that he let get to a misdemeanor (12 years ago) but had taken care of. We just had to get a few extra documents.

As long as you're not drug users, alcoholics, have criminals living in your house (don't get me started on this one!

) you'll be fine. Our SW just walked around our house to make sure we had a room for our daughter and that there were no obvious safety issues. She asked what safety things we were going to add to our house (plugs, stairgates, etc) and then recorded how many rooms (bdrms, baths, living areas, smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, fire extinguisher, etc).

The questions were easy like what parenting skills we learned from our parents, what our fondest memories are from our childhood, if we could go back what would we change, how we met, qualities that we like/dislike about our spouse, etc.

We talked to our SW together and each seperately.

I was totally worried about it and afterwards I was thinking how silly I was to be worried!

Good Luck!
Traci

divabeadz · 10-28-2005, 09:13 AM

Hope you don't mind me tacking my Q onto this thread -- it seemed to be the best place rather than to start a new thread with the same topic.

We're only just starting to discuss adoption, but one of my biggest concerns is the homestudy because we have a house that is going through some major work: kitchen remodel, second bath added, new entryway, complete overhaul on the 2nd & 3rd floors. This isn't just a minor remodel that will be done in 6 months, this is a big ordeal -- I told DH I'd imagine we wouldn't "pass" at this point because although we have no safety issues when we have our little niece overnight, there are surely going to be safety issues from a SW's perspective. The reason our home is going through so much work is b/c we live in a turn of the century farmhouse that had outdated electrical and such, so it was time to do an overhaul for sure.

Quote:

We did have to answer where the $$ would come from for the adoption.

Traci, my folks will "gift" us whatever we are unable to come up with on our own to help us out. Would it suffice for them to provide a letter stating this for the SW or would it just be easier for the SW to contact them directly to confirm this. Is "gift" money considered acceptible means to supplement how we would cover the costs for adoption? Or should he "gift" us before we start the process so the money will already be sitting in our bank account?

~Traci~ · 10-28-2005, 03:22 PM

We just said we would get ours from our checking acct. I don't even think at the time the $$ was in our checking acct (it was in our savings acct). From how I understand it, not every SW is going to ask where it's coming from and you don't have to have it immediately available just tell them where it's coming from and they write it down on their info sheet (or maybe it was on the financial form). It definately didn't go in the HS report b/c I don't remember reading it in there. I think it was just for their info. So I really don't think you'd need a letter but that would defiantely be something to ask your agency what their requirements are.

Good Luck!
Traci

Bertiebugg · 10-28-2005, 03:26 PM

We did the first parts of our homestudy. We did the initial interview and we had our first home visit, now we are waiting until January to go through our PRIDE classes. From there we have a few more classes to take and we are hoping to have a completed homestudy in March.

We were really worried about our credit... its really not that great. They do not do a credit check, but they want to hear that we are working on it, and that while working on it you can still live month to month and be able to support a child or sibbling group

mia_2005 · 10-28-2005, 04:46 PM

Thanks guys for the info. It sounds like I need to quit worrying! I appreciate your help.

destin2BaMOM · 10-28-2005, 05:00 PM

I too have worries... ours will be adoption through surrogacy and washington requires a home placement study.

our home is a 4 level, and im remodeling it as well.. 2 bedrooms ( 1 to be nursery ) are unfinished. nothing some drywall, carpet and paint isnt going to fix but still i dont want to wait till its done.. then wait for the home study... and then so on.
I wanna start it now.

For those of you have have been there - should i start now or later? and how long did it take.

Bertiebugg · 10-28-2005, 08:19 PM

Hey April! Dont worry about it... washington is not as mean as it seems. I would suggest finding the surrogate first. If you go through some of the different matching clinics they probably offer some assistance with the homestudy. Also, remember that the house doesnt have to be perfect... but it does need to be safe. So what I would suggest is just make sure that if the 'babys' room is not completely ready have a second option, like an office that can be quickly converted. Point out that yes there is construction and that this is babys intended room, but if for some reason construction doesnt go as planned then this room will be available until it is. Also, your home study has to be complete before the baby is born. Not before pregnancy.

destin2BaMOM · 10-29-2005, 02:03 AM

(( (bertie )) long time no see--- so this is where you have been hiding! I MISSED YOU IN THE LLB!!!

anyways i think were going to use mikes sister. So its a family adoption. Shouldnt be as tricky im told.

In washington it is illegal to pay a surrogate for anything other than maternity medical expenses. We cannot pay for time or comfort legally. So this will be tricky!

Thanks again for your input!!

Apes