Friday, March 5, 2010

Our First Home Study Meeting!

We received a call from our caseworker Wednesday and we set up our first home study meeting already! YIPPEEEE!!! Its scheduled for next week Saturday! We're both so excited that everything is moving along so quickly! We have been so happy with FAC! They are so fast in moving us along!

For those of you who don't know what a home study is... we don't really either! Although I do know it is one of the most important steps we need to do in our adoptive journey!

From what I understand and have researched, it is an agency's way of making sure you are ready to be an adoptive parent. We cannot adopt until they have approved us... so needless to say, its a little nerve racking knowing they hold the power to approve or deny us to be able to adopt!

According to About.com... The adoption home study is a detailed written report of your family compiled and prepared by a social worker. This can take three to six months to finish. The adoption home study requires the prospective adoptive family to gather different documents, answer several questions, and explore their reasons for adopting. Through a series of visits and interviews the social worker can get a complete picture of who you are and what life is like in your family. The adoption home study is a part of the decision making process for both the prospective family and the workers. Not only can the adoption home study help the worker place a child into your home who would best fit into your family, but help the family and the worker decide if now is a good time for your family to adopt.

The home study usually includes the following pieces of information: autobiographical/family background, neighborhood, community/schools, physical health, financial statements, criminal clearances, references, interviews, and information about your children. The good news is that we have already collected and submitted much of this information, so hopefully we will be able to complete our homestudy quickly. Click here for more information on home studies.

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