If you're considering adoption in California as a way to grow your family, you'll be required to complete a home study.

A California adoption home study is an overview of a hopeful adoptive family’s life, after which a social worker determines whether or not the family is ready to pursue adoption. Your social worker will educate you and help to match you with prospective birth parents as well as evaluate your fitness to adopt. 

Each California adoption home study has three main parts: an in-home visit, a documentation phase, and a home inspection. These serve to make sure all family members are safe and dedicated to pursuing adoption, as well as ensuring that your family is physically, mentally, and financially healthy enough to adopt.

As a licensed home study provider in California, American Adoptions has streamlined your home study process to provide a more efficient and cost-effective home study. Follow this link to begin your California with our agency.

In the meantime, continue reading to learn more about the home study process.

How does the home study for adoption process work in California?

A California adoption home study may seem complicated, but it’s actually completed in a few simple steps:

Step 1: Choose American Adoptions as your home study provider in California. 

Step 2: Complete background checks. In California, you’ll be required to submit fingerprints and obtain criminal records from law enforcement. Having a criminal record doesn’t necessarily ban you from adopting.

Step 3: Meet with your social worker to determine what you’ll need for the rest of the California adoption home study process.

Step 4: Prepare all necessary documents to give to your home study provider. (See below for a list of everything you’ll need.)

Step 5: Have the social worker into your house for the home visit.

Step 6: Review and confirm all information in the home study document. If there are any mistakes or changes, inform your home study provider immediately.

And that’s it! Just like that, your home study is complete and you’re eligible to pursue adoption opportunities. If you undergo any significant life changes between the time you complete your home study and the time you adopt a child, you will be required to update your home study.

Adoption Home Study Checklist

If you’re in the process of beginning your California adoption home study, the documentation phase can be a little overwhelming. It’s the most time-consuming part of the process, and there’s only so much your social worker can do to help you complete it. To help you get ready, we’ve compiled a list of the types of documents you should be preparing:

• Driver's Licenses and Proof of Insurance
• Birth Certificates
• Marriage Certificate
• Green Card, if applicable
• Passports, if pursuing international adoption
• Health Statements. Naturally, it’s important to ensure that you’re healthy enough to raise a child in your home. You’ll want to have up-to-date checkups and be prepared to give information about your weight, height, etc. Your mental health is important as well, so be sure to have a statement from a mental health professional clearing you to adopt if you’ve ever struggled with any kind of mental health condition.
• Background Checks and Clearances. While you’re waiting for your home visit, you’ll need to obtain both your fingerprints and your background checks from relevant law enforcement agencies.
• Financial Information. Prepare items like payment stubs, income statements or tax returns in order to show you can financially provide for a child. This doesn’t mean you have to be wealthy; it just means you’ll need to prove yourself capable of providing your child with everything he or she needs.
• References. While you may not necessarily need an adoption reference letter, you should have the names, phone numbers, and addresses of three to five people your home study provider could use as references.
• Autobiographical Statements. You’ll each need to write stories about yourselves, which will include information about your life from childhood to the present. This will help your home study provider to get to know you and understand your desire to adopt.

For your home, you’ll need to make sure you have:

• Smoke detectors
• CO2 detectors
• Fire extinguishers
• Covered trash can
• Locks and screens on all doors and windows
• First-aid kit
• List of emergency phone numbers
• Safeguards around any fireplaces or heating equipment
• Covered outlets
• Fences around any pools
• A home evacuation plan

For more information about adopting with our agency in California, call 1-800-ADOPTION to speak with a social worker or request information here.

 

 

Disclaimer
Information available through these links is the sole property of the companies and organizations listed therein. American Adoptions provides this information as a courtesy and is in no way responsible for its content or accuracy.