Home Study

You will be interviewed several times by your case worker. These interviews will help you develop a relationship with your case worker that will enable her to better understand your family and assist you with an appropriate placement. You will discuss the topics addressed in the home study report (see below). The first meeting with your case worker is called the initial interview and will occur in the Mary Kendall Adoption Program office. The next meeting will be individual interviews with you and your spouse. They can occur on the same day or on different days and will be conducted at the Mary Kendall office. (Some programs, like China, require additional face-to-face meetings with each parent.)

You do not have to be rich to adopt; you just have to show you can manage your finances responsibly and adequately. (Some countries may have specific income requirements for intercountry adoption.) Prospective parents will be asked to verify their income by providing income tax forms. You will also be asked to provide information about savings, insurance policies (including health coverage for the adopted child), and other investments and debts.

You will be asked for the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of five individuals to serve as references for you. One of them should be your pastor, either past or present. References will help your case worker form a more complete picture of your family and support network.

If possible, references should be individuals who have known you for several years, who have observed you in many situations, and who have visited your home and know of your interest in and involvement with children and one must be a relative. Good choices for the non-relative references might include close friends, an employer, a former teacher, a co-worker, a neighbour, or leader of your faith community.

Approval would rarely be denied on the grounds of one negative reference alone. However, if it were one of several negative factors, or if several of the references were negative, the agency might be unable to approve the adoption.

The home visit primarily serves to ensure that your home meets state licensing standards (e.g., working smoke alarms, safe storage of firearms, safe water, adequate space for each child, etc.). Your case worker will need to see all areas of your home, including where the children will sleep, the basement (if you have one), and the yard. She will be looking for how you plan to accommodate a new family member (or members, if you are planning to adopt a sibling group). Your case worker will not be inspecting your housekeeping standards. A certain level of order is necessary, but some family clutter is expected.

Prospective adoptive parents will be required to have criminal and child abuse record checks conducted. While the vast majority of prospective adoptive parents have no criminal or child abuse history, it is important for children's safety to identify those few families who might put children at risk.

Do not hesitate to talk to your case worker about specific situations that might disqualify you from adopting. Agencies are looking not just at your past experiences, but at what you've learned from them and how you would use that knowledge in parenting a child. If the case worker feels you are being deceptive or dishonest, however, or if the documents collected during the home study process expose inconsistencies, the social worker may have difficulty trusting you.

Prospective adoptive parents are required to have a physical exam. We just want to know that the prospective parents are essentially healthy, have a normal life expectancy, and are physically and mentally able to handle the care of a child.

If you have a medical condition that is under control (for instance, high blood pressure or diabetes that is controlled by diet and medication), you may still be approved as an adoptive family. A serious health problem that affects life expectancy may prevent approval. If your family has sought counseling or treatment for a mental health condition in the past, you will be asked to provide reports from those visits. Our agency views seeking help as a sign of strength; the fact that your family obtained such help should not, in and of itself, preclude you from adopting.

You will be provided a set of questions to which you will be asked to respond openly and honestly. This autobiographical information will help your case worker better understand your family and assist her in writing the home study report (see below). While writing about yourself can be intimidating, the exercise is intended to provide information about you to the agency, as well as to help you explore issues related to the adoption.