When you decide to open your home and your heart to a child with a desperate need for both, a mandatory part of the process, at least in the United States, is the home study. A home study is a 3- to 6-month long in-depth look into the very essence of your family. While the actual procedures and scope of a home study can vary from agency to agency, state to state, and even country to country, there are still some things you can do to prepare.
Preparing Your Home
Firstly, you can prepare your home. Keep in mind that your social worker is not coming to judge your taste in furniture, your choice of decor, or your concept of "clean." He or she is coming to determine how safe and comfortable a child or children will be in your home. While it won't hurt to spruce up your home, it would be a much better use of your time to walk through your home like a health inspector. Are your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors working? If you or your spouse are licensed to bear arms, are your firearms stored safely in a locked cabinet? Do you have exposed sockets, frayed wires, or overloaded circuits? Make sure you address any potential safety issues beforehand, and you will breathe much easier during your meetings with your social worker.
Preparing Your Family
Secondly, you can prepare your family and friends. Social workers will often conduct interviews of the people in your life who are close to you and therefore, likely to be close to your adopted child. Start by talking to your friends and family about your decision to adopt and informing them of the potential impending interviews. Encourage them to discuss any concerns they have with you upfront so you do not receive any terrible surprises during the home study. Even more importantly, encourage them to be honest with the social worker. Your social worker doesn't need to come away from these interviews thinking that you are perfect; he or she needs to come away understanding who you really are. Remember, social workers’ goals are to make sure that you and your new child will be compatible, and they can't do their job very well if they do not receive honest feedback.
Preparing Yourself
Thirdly, and possibly most importantly, you can prepare yourself and your spouse. By the time you reach the home study part of the adoption process, the two of you will hopefully already agree on your current course of action. If you don't, it is best to work through these things privately in advance; social workers are trained to discern division between the adopting parents because division has the potential to hurt the child. The two of you should also be fairly comfortable with your parenting and relationship styles.
Preparing in these three areas will be beneficial for your home study. You will be more confident and comfortable discussing the private details of your life if you have prepared to do so in advance.
