For almost all adoption procedures, the home study is a major step towards bringing a new child into your family. It is a very important part of the process, responsible for whether or not you may proceed with your goal of adoption. (If you have previously researched the adoption process as a whole, it is usually around step 2 or 3.) It is also the phase where you will be matched with a possible adoptee. Although the home study is not nearly as complicated as it might sound, it would be a surprise to absolutely nobody if you were to have questions and doubts throughout this huge ordeal. While I cannot answer all of them, hopefully, this article will be enough to bring some comfort in knowing a little more about it, as well as knowing that you are not alone in your questions.
1. What is an adoption home study?
It would seem silly to proceed without at least explaining what the experience is even about. An adoption home study is a process that is meant for three main purposes: preparing a prospective family for their adoption, evaluating the family’s capabilities to adopt, and gathering information that will help match the family to a child. They are conducted by licensed social workers or caseworkers from adoption agencies. Even if your adoption is a private one (as in not affiliated with an agency), all states will still need your family to complete a home study and all the necessary criminal background checks. In this case, your adoption attorney will likely refer you to someone who can do this for you. The caseworker or social worker will visit your house during this process, as well as interview you and your family on multiple occasions to talk about the purposes I mentioned above.
Note: This is not a test for the “perfect parents” or a “flawless household”. Beyond your general capabilities to adopt (your financial situation, support system, ages, etc.) adoption agencies are trying to match your ability to meet the needs of the child. For example, if they know a child with a disability specifically needs a home with an experienced couple and the more flexible finances to care for them, the agency will try to find a family with those qualifications. They will also do their best to match you with a child that meets particular characteristics you can ask for (these are not always guaranteed, but you are allowed to ask for children of certain genders, ages, races, and other characteristics). Adoption is equal parts adopter and adoptee, and they try their absolute best to keep it that way.
More information about general adoption home studies can be found here.
In Georgia specifically, the home study will usually include three separate days of visits from the agency social worker or caseworker from whichever adoption agency you are doing the process through. One out of the three visit days is required to be in your home, and all family members will be interviewed at some point during the process. They will often ask for the couple (unless, of course, you are adopting as a single parent which is completely okay) to be interviewed both together and separately, as to get a good look at both points of view on the discussed topics (see question 3).
- What are some of the requirements for the Georgia adoption home study?
- You need at least three references from other people who see you as a possible parent: One of these must be from a member of your extended family that does not live with you. If, in the past 5 years, you have worked with kids one of your references has to be from the employer of that work.
- Must be 25 years or older, or else have a spouse and be living with them
- Must be 10 years older than the child you plan to adopt
- You need to have been an official Georgia resident for (minimally) 6 months before the petition is filed
- The agency must declare you able to have permanent custody (you have to be physically able to perform parental duties, financially able to support a family, and mentally and emotionally able to take care of both yourself and any other family members)
2. What kind of questions will we be asked during the home study?
The study will include these topics of discussion:
- Your reason for adopting (often referred to as your “motivation to adopt”)
- How you plan to parent your child (have you and your spouse discussed this? Are you in agreement with each other?)
- The health histories of each family member (physical, mental, and emotional)
- Confirmation of your understanding of what it means to be an adoptive parent and the responsibilities that come with it (basically an evaluation of how well you comprehend and can adapt to the effects adoption can have on a family)
- You and your spouse’s finances and occupations (do you have the funds to raise a child functionally? If you are adopting a child with special needs, do you have enough money to accommodate those needs?)
- Where you live and where your community is (is your neighborhood safe for young children to be brought up in?)
- Criminal record background checks (these will be done for all close members of the family)
- Child abuse and neglect checks (also done on all members of the family)
3. When do I need to complete the Georgia adoption home study?
While there is no exact period of time stated for when this needs to be done, it is a requirement before having a child placed in your home, and it will be finalized before the adoption petition is officially signed. On average, this happens sometime between applying for adoption and having pre-placement visits. I apologize for not having a more solid answer, but if you are going through the adoption process you will have the help of an agency worker or adoption attorney and they will let you know when these steps are going to happen.
4. How long is a home study valid?
If a child has not been placed in your home within 1 year of when you completed the study, the agency will document the reason(s) why it has not happened and will update the home study. This applies to both private and public agencies.
5. If I need to have a home study updated, what is required?
The new home study will include (at minimum):
- At least one more home visit from the social or caseworker
- An update on both prospective parent’s current employment situations
- All family member’s most recent medical reports, including new diagnoses and medications
- Any changes in the composition of your family (new members by either marriage or birth, divorce, and/or separation)
- All updates on the types of children being asked for (regarding race, medical history, contact with the birth parents, and budget)
6. Will there be more home studies after the child is placed?
Yes. There are post-placement Studies that come after the child has been placed but before their adoption petition is officially signed. The social/caseworker will make two or more visits to the house, these can be any time after placing. For children that are 1 year old or younger, these visits are separated by two weeks. For older children, the separation period is one month. Until the adoption petition is signed (this would be when the adoption is official and finished), home visits will be done once per month to make sure that everything is going as smoothly as it can and that the parents are providing good care.
7. Will a home study be done before a parent has surrendered their parental rights?
No. However, if you want to be part of the foster care system a home study will be done before you can participate in any of it. If a child has been removed from the parent by order of the court and wishes to reunite with them, a home study will be done before that can be allowed.
8. Can prospective adoptive parents pay to have a pre-adoptive home study?
Yes, if you would like to have a home study done beforehand you may pay to have one. The prices vary from agency to agency and can also depend on the time/state of the economy. This is valid for both private and independent adoptions.
9. How long does it usually take to complete a home study?
On average, a home study with criminal background checks (not including the post-placement visits) will take about 60 days. Please notice that this is an average, the time it takes to complete a process such as this will vary from case to case.
10. How does the court define a relative?
A relative is defined as anyone related by blood, marriage, or adoption.
11. What is a relative placement?
Relative placement is an arrangement made where a family member other than the child’s parents will foster or adopt them, either temporarily or permanently.
12. Who counts for a “relative placement”?
Georgia considers people related by the first, second, and third-degree for relative placement. The first degree consists of the dad, mom, brother, sister, daughter, and son. The second includes the grandpa, grandma, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, and first cousin. The third is made of the great-grandparents, great uncle, great aunt, grand-nephew, grand-niece, and second cousin.
13. Does Georgia do Priority Placing?
Yes. If a child spends a significant amount of time in either the Department of Children and Families or the foster care system, the court will order a priority placement. Priority placing refers to the general consensus that relatives are the first to be considered when a child has been removed from their parent’s care. For the most part, the government will want to try and keep the child as connected to their family as possible, so there are statutes in place to ensure that all qualified adult relatives receive the first notification that A) the child is being taken out of their parent’s custody, B) the number of options they have in volunteering their care for the child, and C) the requirements they need to meet to take in and/or foster the child.
14. Are criminal background checks needed for all kinds of adoption home studies?
Yes. Whether you are a prospective parent adopting a child, someone taking care of children through foster care, or a non-parental relative taking a family member in, you must have a criminal background check done. Just to cover everything, you even need criminal background checks for any sort of job working with children (babysitting, teaching, etc.). To be honest, I am surprised that this question was asked as frequently as it was.
15. What types of criminal background checks are needed?
There are four types of criminal background checks required for the adoption home studies: Federal, State, Local, and ANR. All four are needed for all kinds of adoption.
16. How long does it take for criminal record results to be processed?
It usually takes 4-7 days for each kind of check to be cleared.
More questions can be answered by going to either the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children website (wow, that is a mouthful) or to the Georgia Adoption Home Study wiki page on adoption.com.
Hopefully, this cleared up at least some of the confusion that can surround the Georgia adoption home study. The process of adoption can seem a daunting task to tackle, and I know that I could never cover all the questions surrounding it, but I hope I got enough answered that somebody was able to feel a bit better. Remember, this whole process is in the best interest of those who want to adopt and those who want to be adopted. Do not stress on being the “perfect parent”. Instead, pour your focus into doing your best so that the agency may find the perfect match. Wherever you are in this long, complex journey, I hope the home study goes well for you.
