We received a call today from our home study social worker. She will be here next week for her visits! October 13th and 14th are the magical days. I really don't know what to expect, except that she told me that she will meet with us together first and then the next day will meet separately at our house with her while the other person is in another room. She said she will not do the white glove test but she will go through the house and check smoke detectors, outlet covers, and fire extinguishers. We don't have outlet covers and I told her that up front. Do you think we should get them now or wait until our child is ready to come home? I need to have Randy check both of our extinguishers and make sure they aren't expired.
We are leaving for Fredericksburg, TX tomorrow for Oktoberfest. We are taking our RV there and meeting up with some friends that we like to RV with. So that leaves only the week for us to get things ready. Really all we have to do is vacuum, mop, and dust and we'll be fine. But heaven help us if she wants to see the garage. I hope she travels with a hard hat!
Feel free to let me know what to expect so we aren't surprised by anything.
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Ours really wasn't that bad. They just want to make sure the child has a safe place to live. We hadn't started to childproof and the baby's room was still our guest room. Our social worker completely understood since the Russian process is so long and we'd have plenty of time to get things ready.
We passed even after our dog went pee on the couch from all the excitement. I'm not sure our sw even noticed (or she was polite enough not to mention it)
Oh and congrats on getting the dates for your homestudy!!
Congrats and relax! You really don't have to worry about the home study. We have been through 2 of them and we still don't have the house childproofed. The majority of the visit was spent going over our autobiographies and then a quick walkthrough of the house and the backyard.
Well, the HS isn't really bad at all - although she did look at our garage and had us put all of the chemicals up high so that little hands can't reach them. Fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and chems are the main things. Also, she had us put the chems that are in our utility room up high. Really, just be yourselves and you'll be fine.
Congrats on getting the dates - one step closer to the baby!
Congrats on another milestone! Don't worry about the homestudy. We had not babyproofed yet as they really couldn't expect it to be done. They did check smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and we had to have a unexpired first aid kit easily accessible as well. We also received kudos for having a carbon monoxide detector. They'll want to see the child's 'room' even if it isn't the room yet. They just want to know there will be a designated space. They also walked around our backyard to be sure there any hazards.
Remember - they want to approve you!!
First aid kit huh? Hadn't even thought about that one. Does hand sanitizer and duct tape count for a first aid kit?? :-)
Yeah! You're on your way! The home study we went through was fairly painless. The social workers we had were very friendly and helpful. They also gave us lots of great advice!
We didn't have to have outlet covers in, but we did have to have all of the chemicals put away and behind childproof latches (under the kitchen sink, laundry and garage). Our homestudy went soooo much better than I expected. I was a nervous wreck but if she spent 30 mins here, that was long. Good luck and congrats on the dates!
The interviews are not bad at all. Our social worker basically went back through our autobiographies and asked us questions related to what we had written. As far as the home visit, I worried way too much about it. I even straightened closets, our garage, and our basement--we overprepared, but it was nice to get the house straight! :) We did go ahead and baby proof by putting in the outlet covers, making sure fire extinguishers were up to date, and getting CO detectors upstairs and downstairs. She did check for these things. We also childproofed cabinets where the cleaning supplies were located. The only thing she mentioned was getting a gate for our stairs-which we will do once we finally get a referral! :) Please feel free to email me with any questions! Good luck!
Your home study will go great. Don't worry! We cleaned our house from top to bottom and had started babyproofing, and our social worker was surprised we had done so much. She said she just needed to make sure our house wasn't falling in and dangerous for a child. She didn't expect any babyproofing at that stage of the adoption process. I do recommend doing it before your child comes home though! ;)
We were nervous about the interviews, but they went so well. I guess it depends on your social worker as far as how "safe" your house needs to be at this point, but definitely don't worry. If she sees anything that needs to be done, she'll tell you. You won't fail the home study!
Congrats on getting dates!
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