Tips for Home Study Survival

An adoption home study can seem intimidating and daunting, especially given the pile of paperwork you are required to fill out!  Here are some survival tips that will make your adoption home study proceed more smoothly, and be a lot less stressful.

1. Relax!  Take each step of the home study process one step at a time.


2. Answer your profile and social worker questions as accurately and concisely as possible.


3. Complete your paperwork and gather documentation in a timely manner.


4. Make copies of everything.  Items and pages have a way of getting lost in the shuffle with the large amount of paperwork and documents that you will need to turn in.  Making copies to keep for your own file will save time should something suddenly become lost.


5. Remember that the home study is a process, it takes time.  Don’t expect your worker to have it completed and approved overnight.  Give her ample time, and speed things along by promptly completing your part of the paperwork.  You can expect a home study to take an average of six weeks to complete.