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The Adoption Homestudy
Necessary Evil or
Helpful Experience? By Michele St. Martin
Paperwork, Paperwork and More Paperwork!The homestudy meetings we've talked about are just one aspect of the homestudy. In addition to talking with you about your parenting views, family relationships and other important matters, you'll need to do lots and lots of paperwork. Though the prospect of dealing with a mound of papers can be daunting, Giovanni says it's not that difficult to get it done. "Your agency should provide you with a checklist of everything that's needed, and you can record your progress as the documents arrive," she says. "I'm not that organized, but I was motivated and if I can do it, anyone can!" The proof of her motivation: 2-year-old Jasmine, who was adopted as an infant from Korea.
Helpful Experience?
Bridget Lahti, a single mom with two adopted daughters, agrees that being organized is key and also suggests that you follow up on making sure your documents are received by the homestudy agency. "They have many clients' paperwork to keep track of, and you only have your own," she says."It's really in your best interest to make sure that things are being received in a timely manner."
Documents needed depend on the type of adoption, but the following is a list of the basics:
- References Generally agencies request two or three written references, and they often don't accept references from relatives. Norburg says that he looked for friends who were supportive of their adoption and who had observed them with children. Former teachers, clergy members, neighbors and long-time friends are potential choices. "An one other thing our agency asked for three references, but we asked four friends to write reference letters and send them to the agency," he says."We knew that some people would take longer than others to write the letters and didn't want waiting for one reference to slow down our homestudy." He and his wife are now the proud parents of a 21-month-old girl from China.
