1st Home Study tomorrow!

tjlovesthepokes

I mentioned that we were having our first home study done soon, a few days ago in my intro post. It's tomorrow.

I'm not really nervous like I was at first... I just don't like going into a situation completely blind. I have no idea what to expect for the 1st visit (there will be 3 total - I don't know if that's the norm or not) - we've only talked to the woman assigned to do it once... and that was on the phone. I'm sure all home studies vary but if you could give me an idea as to what to expect, I would love you forever! Tips? Suggestions? Etc?

Go_Dawgs

All three of our home study meetings were very casual and informal.  Our first was basically a session to educate us about adoption.  The social worker talked to us about the process, what the home study looks at, asked about what we're interested in as far as age, race, number of kids (the home study has to specify this), and then she educated us about drug use, transracial adoption, and more. 

If your home study is anything like ours, there is truly nothing to be nervous about.  The social worker isn't looking for reasons to deny you.  In fact, they want you to get approved, and if there is an issue, they will help you figure out ways to resolve it so you can pass the home study.

babywisher

For our first homestudy I was CRAZY nervous! After it was over I could not figure out why it was I was so nervous. Our SW just talked with us about adoption and what we were wanting. She checked out the house basically to make sure there was enough room and to see that it was safe. I cleaned every nook and craney of our house and she barley peeked into the rooms. The first visit she was basically getting to know us and wanted to make sure that we both wanted the same thing as far a the baby and our future parenting. Good luck!

GLynn2009

Go_Dawgs:

All three of our home study meetings were very casual and informal.  Our first was basically a session to educate us about adoption.  The social worker talked to us about the process, what the home study looks at, asked about what we're interested in as far as age, race, number of kids (the home study has to specify this), and then she educated us about drug use, transracial adoption, and more. 

If your home study is anything like ours, there is truly nothing to be nervous about.  The social worker isn't looking for reasons to deny you.  In fact, they want you to get approved, and if there is an issue, they will help you figure out ways to resolve it so you can pass the home study.

This.

Our first was in her office which looked like a tornado had just came through so I knew when she came to our house it would be fine. Our SW was very easy to talk to about everything. Good Luck you will do fine.

rwunderlich13

We only had two visits total but the first one we had we just sat and talked about our autobiography a bit and she asked a couple of questions about certain things in it that she felt needed clarifying. (Like if she needed more info on a school or employer or whatever) She also went over the big checklist of things we had to have done. We had almost everything done by that point but she let us know what else we needed. Than she went over what her home inspection was going to be like, gave us the list of things she'd check and things that we needed to have completed by the time she came back. (baby locks, tools and paint put up high, knife block put away, electrical sockets covered, guns locked, they check your car, smoke detectors are tested, fire extinguisher in kitchen, flashlight and water in an emergency bin, etc.)

 Both times we had coffee and bottled water and she only ever wanted the water. First visit was about an hour and a half, second visit was about 45 minutes.

Good luck! I was nervous for the first one but she was so nice I didn't even think of being nervous for the home inspection.

hway24

Yall's posts made me feel really good! We have our first appt on Tues, adn I know I shouldn't be too nervous, but ofcourse I am and had no idea what to expect. I've been cleaning every inch of the house. Just wanted to say thanks!