Home Visit Scheduled for Monday! Tips, please!

kep

We're in the home study process of adopting from Korea, and I am so excited that our home visit is finally scheduled ... for Monday! YAY!

Please share any tips, advice, etc. I would love to hear about your home visit experiences. Our case worker said she would be looking in our closets. (Yikes!)

TIA!!

 

FinallyMrs.G

Yay! My only advice is to be yourself. Let us know how it goes! Mine is in two weeks, from today as a matter of fact. Yay!

ctbride08

how exciting!!

the "be yourself" tip is a great one.  Also? its never as bad as you think its going to be.  Our social worker did a really thorough check of our house but even still, it only took 20 mintues-ish; for some reason i pictured hours of him poking through every nook and cranny.  Of course I cleaned like a mad woman and made everything look neat and tidy. Because we're doing FA we also had to have a full nursery and everything needed to take home a child tomorrow.

I'm not sure if all agencies are as stringent, but we also had a number of safety requirements such as carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, ect ect.

Art Teacher

Our home visit only lasted about 30-40 minutes.  Our caseworker sat with us and asked us questions about the neighborhood, our house, and the community.  She walked around the house and briefly peeked in rooms.  She peeked out in our backyard, too, but it was pretty dark. 

We had cookies and coffee available.  She didn't say anything in particular was required, but we had already put the safety covers on the outlets and we had bought a fire extinguisher.  We also put up a carbon monoxide detector.  They weren't requirements, but we felt better. Oh, and we put any type of chemicals/cleaners up high (the highest shelf in the linen closet or on top of the fridge. 

Good luck!

GLynn2009

Yay for you.

Our SW took lots of pictures of everything. It not so bad, be yourself and it will go well.

jacksjerseygirl

Every home study seems different varied by agency, attorney, state, and indy SWer. It's crazy.

Our SW never looked in closets or cabinets. Though she did ask that all closets can be opened from the inside to ensure that a child couldn't get locked inside one.

Be yourselves. They don't expect you to be perfect. I think that it raises more red-flags if everything does look and appear perfect.

Good luck!

rottimom

Ours was supposed to be last night...but cancelled because she was sick....I was devastated because I CLEANED EVERYTHING!! 

So, I get to do it all again for Monday evening.

Be yourself, be honest, be open about their questions.  If they are really looking in closets, well, then clean them out, but really why would they bother? 

I make sure the house is clean but honestly, we live here and we have a toddler, who insists that her toys are for playing, not for showing.  So, a bit of clutter will have to be ok.

Basically make sure you home is safe, clean, roomy enough for a baby and all of the baby things to live there.

They don't want a robot, they want a warm and happy household.  I always serve snacks, but that's just me..not everyone does.

Good luck!