A typical Florida home study for adoption breaks down into two components: 

• Paperwork 

• Visits to your home 

If you intend to adopt a child in Florida, then you’ll need to complete the home study process in order to be approved to adopt. The purpose of a Florida adoption home study is to ensure that you’re prepared to adopt and raise a child — emotionally, physically, and financially. 

American Adoptions is a licensed provider of home studies in Florida. For hopeful adoptive parents, this means that instead of working with several adoption professionals, you can complete the entire adoption process from start to finish with American Adoptions. No need to juggle contacts and wonder who can help you out — we’ve got things covered. Follow this link to learn more about our home study services and how you can get this process started with our agency! 

We can provide all the benefits of a national adoption agency with the local touch of a local adoption agency, thanks to our Florida offices, located at: 

3001 North Rocky Point Drive East, Suite 200 
Tampa, FL 33607 
813-868-1000 

This guide to the home study in Florida will help you understand how things work, which will put you in a position to prepare for success.  

Not planning on working with an agency? We can still help you complete your Florida adoption home study, even if you’re pursuing a different adoption path. 

We are happy to answer any questions you may have about the Florida adoption home study, as well as how you can begin your private domestic adoption journey with us. You can visit us online for more information on adopting through our agency. 

Florida Home Study Paperwork [What You'll Need]

It can be helpful to start on this step of the Florida adoption home study process now because the documentation can be the longest stage of this family-building process. We recommend you begin gathering documents required for the Florida adoption home study as soon as possible, including: 

• Current health statements by your health professionals to verify you’re mentally and physically healthy enough to adopt and raise a child. 

• Current financial statements such as paystubs or tax returns to verify that you’re financially stable enough to adopt and raise a child. 

• At least five written references (like a letter of recommendation for adoption from coworkers, supervisors, friends, or whoever you think would best represent your intent to adopt). 

• Separately written autobiographical statements about your intent to adopt, your relationship, your journey to your adoption decision, your goals for raising an adopted child, and more. 

• State and federal background checks for every household member 12 years old and older to verify that a child would be safe in your home. 

If you have questions about any of the documentation required in a home study for adoption, don’t stress out. Your adoption specialist is there to resolve your confusion. You don’t have to figure it all out on your own. They can even provide a home study checklist for Florida to ensure you have all the proper documentation. 

Florida Home Study Visits [How to Prepare]

Your Florida home study adoption professional will schedule a pre-placement visit to your home. This is not to see whether or not you’re “perfect” but rather to confirm that your house will be a safe place to raise a child. 

The pre-placement visit has two parts: 

• A home tour 

• An adoption interview with the family 

The adoption home study tour is done to look for basic child safety features in your home, including: 

• Gated stairways 

• Electrical outlet covers 

• Window screens 

• Secure locks on all doors and windows 

• Child-proofed drawers or cabinets 

• Tall furniture bolted to walls 

• Toxic chemicals, cleaning supplies, and medicines stored out of reach 

• Any weapons locked in a safe 

• Family emergency plans for medical emergencies, fire, flood, etc. 

During a home inspection for adoption, your home study professional will point out any safety concerns you might have missed so that they can be fixed before placement. Safety recommendations don’t mean you won’t be approved to adopt in Florida — it’s simply meant to help you prepare for a new child! 

The adoption interview allows your adoption home study professional to get to know you better as a couple, individuals and as a family unit. Typically, you’ll talk about your parenting techniques, personal values, interests and hobbies, your childhoods, your relationship, careers and more. 

These topics help your FL adoption home study provider learn more about your feelings regarding: 

• Your relationship with each other and with your family, including your unity in adoption. 

• Adoption in general, including feelings that adoptees may experience as they grow, birth family relationships, cultural and racial diversity, as well as the processes for adoption in Florida. 

• Your upbringing and childhoods, and how you do or don’t want your early experiences to impact your parenting. 

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Talking about how you feel about adoption in your interview as a family will give your Florida adoption home study worker a glimpse of the type of parents you might be for a child via adoption. 

Post-Placement Visits and Updating Your Florida Home Study 

When a child is placed with you, your Florida home study for adoption professional will return within one week for post-placement visits that occur at least three times before your finalization. Post-placement visits are done to check in on the child and make sure that everyone is adjusting well. 

A Florida home study for adoption will need to be updated annually until you’re placed with a child or whenever you experience a shift in your life, like a move or a new job. 

Your Florida Adoption Home Study Checklist 

You’ll need a range of documents, detailed in-home safety features, training classes, background checks, and more in order to complete your adoption home study in Florida. But don’t worry — with the right knowledge and preparation, you can move right through the home study with little stress. 

Your American Adoptions home study professional will be able to walk you through the full adoption home study checklist. For more information on beginning your adoption journey with us, you can contact Michelle, a birth parent specialist and a birth parent herself, who is ready to answer any questions you have about adoption.     

“I am available to answer any questions that arise, particularly from birth moms, as I have been in your shoes and know how you are feeling,” Michelle said. “It was most helpful to me when I had someone to talk to who would just listen to me without making any judgments or conclusions about who I was as a person.”     

You can ask Michelle questions about the private domestic adoption process online. You can also get free information with our online contact form for prospective birth mothers considering adoption here. Adoptive families wanting more information on adopting a child can click here to get more information. 

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.