What is a Home Study?
In addition to being a requirement for prospective adoptive parents, a home study serves as a compass which helps to direct families in their adoption journey. It is a multi-step process that educates and prepares individuals and couples for the adoption process and parenting an adopted child; and ensures they can provide a safe and nurturing home for a child. Adoption Options partners with families to create a home study report that is reflective of who they are, telling a story about their family of origin and the family they want to create or expand through adoption.
The home study process includes:
- 3 – 4 meetings, including a home visit by the adoption professional working with your family.
- Verification of employment and personal references.
- Reviews of necessary documents like birth certificates, criminal background checks, and financial information.
Rhode Island and Massachusetts law requires that all adoptive families have a home study completed by a licensed agency prior to adopting. Because Adoption Options is a licensed adoption agency in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, we are able to work with all families in Rhode Island and communities in Massachusetts that are within a 30-mile radius of Providence.
What is the Difference Between a Home Study Agency and a Placement Provider?
Adoption Options is a Home Study Agency which provides written home study reports that are widely recognized and accepted by other agencies located across the United States as well as internationally.
Responsibilities of the Home Study Agency include:
- Conducting the home study evaluation and writing the final report, valid for 1 year.
- Providing support and assistance throughout the waiting period (the time between home study approval and match with birth mother/child).
- Providing annual home study updates and addendums as needed.
- Conducting post placement visits under the guidelines determined by the state in which the baby is born.
The attentive professionals at Adoption Options are dedicated to forming a caring and authentic relationship with each family engaged in the home study process. We continue our commitment to our adoptive families through offering programs, resources, and community building after your child comes home.
A Placement Provider is the entity that connects prospective adoptive parents with expectant birth mothers. Families will first choose the type of placement provider that is a good fit for them: a placement agency, consultant, or adoption law firm. Next, the family selects the specific placement provider based on their needs or preferences to support them in their adoption journey. Adoption Options has developed professional relationships with various placement options/providers and can help guide a family in choosing the provider that would best support them and their wishes.
Responsibilities of the Placement Provider:
- Create a profile for expectant mothers to view.
- Match a prospective adoptive family with an expectant mother.
- Ensure a safe, ethical, and legally sound adoption process from start to finish.
- Support the “relationship” between prospective adoptive families and birth families.
- Aid in helping the family in finalizing their adoption along with an attorney of the families choosing.
Why Choose Adoption Options for Your Home Study?
Adoption Options offers a thorough process that will help you both qualify and prepare for this huge change:
- Our home studies are widely accepted. Because Adoption Options is a licensed adoption agency with a highly qualified staff, our home studies are widely recognized and accepted by other agencies. These include private, nonprofit, and state agencies as well as those in other countries. The home study document is valid for one year from the approval date and can be updated annually as needed.
- We’ll help you feel ready to adopt. Our caring and knowledgeable staff will take the time to work with you to explore your expectations, concerns, and decisions such as the type of adoption and degree of openness you would like to pursue. Families that have worked with Adoption Options have shared that the personal, thorough, and caring attention received from our staff helped them feel secure as they navigated the adoption process. We make a commitment to each of our families. Our staff is available from the first meeting, when we explain how adoption works, to the moment when a family joyfully welcomes their child home.
- We believe adoption is a lifelong process: We continue our commitment to our adoptive families through offering programs, resources, and community building after your child comes home.