Adoption Home Study Questions: What to Expect

Inviting anyone to come into your home can be quite nerve-wracking. Not only do you feel that your house needs to be super clean, but it can also make you see things in your home that may need repairs. Any adoption home study includes at least one, if not several, visits in your home where an evaluator will come in to visit. Most home studies include a series of home visits that not only check the house for legal requirements needed to adopt a child but also ask a few questions to learn more about your family.

You can prepare for your home study by prepping yourself with some of the most common questions. It is also a good idea to make sure that you and your family have discussed some of the basic care questions before your home visit. Learn more about what questions to expect during your adoption home study:

Basic Needs

Do you have enough room for the child?

Most states also have minimum square footage requirements when adopting a child. Making sure that your adoptive child has enough space to sleep, play, and store clothes is essential.

Where will the child sleep?

Most states require that an adopted child have their own bed. Having a child share a bedroom depends on state laws as well as the ages and sex of the children.

Who will care for the child during the day?

Make sure that you have a plan as to who will care for the child while you are at work. Knowing this beforehand helps eliminate some issues later on.

What safety measures do you have in place?

Making sure that your windows have safety locks as well as adequate door locks will help keep a child from getting hurt. Other safety measures are required if the home has a water feature or other dangerous area.

Community

Where will the child attend school?

Your home study worker will want to know the plans for schooling the child, whether it be in a public, private, or homeschool setting.

Are you close with your neighbors?

Living within a tight-knit community is essential when it comes to adopting a child. Knowing your neighbors, as well as the safety of your neighborhood, is vital for your home study worker to understand.

Do you have friends with children the same age as the child?

Many adoptive children struggle with social aspects of life. Making sure that you have some built-in playmates that you can invite over or meet at the park is vital to the health and wellbeing of your child. Knowing families with the same ages of children can be helpful when raising an adopted child.

What extracurricular activities are you involved in?

Knowing what kind of places your child will visit on a regular basis will help the home study worker understand where the child will be traveling. Many families enjoy sports, church, or other activities during the week, which help create a well-rounded experience for a child.

Do you have the support of family and friends in adopting?

This question is crucial to your home study. Having the support of family and close friends will help when times get tough with an adopted child. These people will provide extra support when you need a break as well as vital emotional support for both you and your child. Home study workers like to know that you have people close to you that could support you, but this doesn’t always mean that family members have to live locally.

Future Security

What is your profession?

Being able to provide for the needs of your child is extremely important in adoption. Your job and career goals can tell a lot about the future of your family. Your home study worker will also ask the future outlook of your job and if you plan on staying in your career or have aspirations for other careers down the road.

Can you afford extra therapy if your child needs it?

Many adoptive children need extra therapy and services at some point in their lives. Treatment can cost a lot, and adoptive families should have the means to pay for these services when needed.

Do you have reliable transportation?

This may seem like a silly question, but home study workers understand that an adoptive child needs to have a reliable form of transportation. Children often need to visit the doctor, go to school, or attend critical social outings during their development.

How will you handle your child when they act up?

As with any child, there are days when everything seems to go wrong. Misbehavior is part of learning and is a normal occurrence when raising children. Knowing how you will handle these issues is essential as well as what forms of correction you will use. Having a plan of action before being in the heat of the moment can help future parenting.

Family Relationships

If married, how what are the strengths and weaknesses of your partner?

This can be a bit odd to answer in front of the family, but a home study worker may ask this question to get a better feel for you and your spouse. This question also helps them see that you are not perfect, and don’t claim to be and that you recognize where you can improve.

How will you handle a situation where you and your partner disagree?

If married, there will be times when you and your partner disagree on how to handle something. Your home study worker will want to know how you and your partner handle disagreements and how you think you would handle something involving your adopted child in the future.

If you have children, how will that affect your adoption?

Children may be individually interviewed during a home study. It can be scary at first, so make sure that your child understands that they can be honest about their feelings with the home study worker. Adoption can be hard for siblings, and home study workers expect children to have reservations about the process.

There are many different questions that a home study worker will ask during their home study visit. You will probably have multiple visits with different sets of questions. Although many, if not all, of these questions are answered within your home study documents, you will still need to answer them in person during your home study visit. Knowing what to expect before your first home study visit can help alleviate some nerves about someone coming to evaluate your home.