very much a newbie question -- homestudies

JellyTwoPointO

Thank you SO MUCH for the warm welcome on my intro post! You ladies are lovely and I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you. 

DH and I are still in the first phases -- we're hopefully filling out the inquiry/application paperwork this month.  But I know the homestudy comes after the classes here in Indiana and I'm already thinking about it and slightly nervous.  The DCS website gave some general, vague concepts of what's covered in the home study, but I was hoping for more in depth answers as to what goes on.  We're going to do foster-to-adopt, btw. 

I'm actually most concerned about two things in the homestudy:  the physical house and the requirements for it and what they're looking for in the term "financial stability." 

1. For the house.... our basement leaks, no matter what we've tried, so I'm constantly battling a wet basement and the woes that come with it.  I know I need to get it fixed and have yet to know what (or how much money) that entails.  But if it's something we're working on, is that going to be a safety breaker issue to have the old fashioned, unfinished style basement? I'd planned on it being off-limits to kids anyway.  Also, what do I need in place for the house?  I know things like fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.  But what else should I get or have in place or clear out of the way for the home study portion?  Also, we live in an old style house and some (not all) of the windows are painted shut.  Do you think I'll need to replace all the windows or can I find a way to get them un-shut and that will be sufficient?

2.  Finances.... *sigh* We do have debt, but I don't consider it enormous.  Both of us have some old medical bills from when we had emergencies and no insurance or were under insured.  We're trying to pay them off little by little.  I'd say all together we have maybe 3 thousand-ish dollars in medical debt.  Mine I've been able to chip away at little by little every month and it's not TOO bad, but DH's were racked up a few years ago when he had no insurance and was a lot less responsible, so the majority of those have gone to debt collectors by now.  Since we're NOW in a better place financially (not rich, but ok) and can now begin working on those more diligently, is that going to be seen as ok for the home study, or because we do have some back debt, is that going to be a deal breaker?  We have no credit card debt, no car loans, and a regular mortgage payment.  It's mostly this medical debt. 

Holy crap, I'm sorry that was a novel.  I'm just completely naive to the home study process right now and I'm trying to use this application/class taking time period to get us as prepared as possible!  Thank you!

silliestbunny

Welcome

I do not think either concern is great.

Unfortunately, for most Americans, including PAPs, debt is normal.

As for the basement, its possible that if it's noticable they'll want to know more about the leak but unless it is gushing and causing mold, it may not even be noted.

What you may want to do as a precaution, esp since it is off-limits, is to make sure a lock towards the top of the door is installed to show that it will be offlimits.

Dr.Loretta

Welcome.

I always say to be upfront with questions like these with whomever is doing the homestudy. They all seem to be a little different from agency to agency, so what may be a bigger deal with one may not be as bad with another.

That said, I don't think either of your concerns are deal breakers. Our basement was finished but full of stuff, and our SW just wandered through and made a note that we had one. DH put a combination lock/knob on the basement door so a child couldn't get down there anyway. Our agency didn't require fire extinguishers, and our SW was overwhelmed with how many we had (DH and his mom have an irrational fear of house fires). I would think as long as you have window egress from every living/sleeping area you should be OK, but again someone doing the HS should be able to tell you.

As for the finances, as long as you have a reasonable debt/income ratio, you should be fine. I don't know many (if any) people who are debt free, so you don't have to have perfect finances to adopt, that's for sure. $3K is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

FWIW, the HS was DH's biggest hurdle to overcome in adoption. He thought they'd be pawing through our drawers and asking about our sex life. He had a long talk with our SW before we even started the process, and she walked him through what they're looking for. Another thing to keep in mind is that they're not looking to disqualify you. They're looking to make sure you pass. Even if that means they come back with some things you need to change/upgrade. Their best interest is (should be) the child, so they just want to make sure the home works for a child.

GL and keep us posted!

cogbot

I doubt the leaky basement will be much of a concern, especially if you have it locked so that the children are not going downstairs.    We needed to show smoke detectors in every bedroom and one on each floor.  We needed a fire extinguisher on each floor and a map with our fire escape route.

The debt shouldn't be an issue.