What exactly is a “home study”?
A home study is an assessment of your household, everyone who lives there, your financial stability, health, legal clearances, safety of the home, and verification of important information such as employment, income, birth and marriage, etc. A home study should not be confused with a home inspection in which a certified inspector checks out the structural integrity of your home or certain types of inspections in which the home is inspected only for cleanliness and sanitation.
Why is a home study necessary?
A child is not in a position to determine whether a household is the best place for him or her to live. While you may be wonderful, caring, nurturing people desiring to open your home up to one or more children, the court that has the responsibility of making that decision has no way to know this without an independent, professional assessment. In matters of adoption, TN state law requires a home study by a licensed child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, or when indigent, by the TN Dept. of Children’s Services. The home study requirement may be waived for step-parent adoptions but this decision is up to the court.
What is involved in a home study?
You will meet with a licensed clinical social worker or a representative of a licensed child placing agency for several sessions for discussion of the adoption process, interviews, and review of the information that has been presented. You will be expected to complete a number of forms including an application, financial statement, several verifications, autobiographical information, and for those to whom it applies, marriage relationship information. You (and all adults in the home) will consent to background checks including fingerprinting through the FBI and TN Bureau of Investigation, other various law enforcement records, and a review of available registries. Your home study social worker will visit your home and will review inside and outside areas with regard to health and safety needs of the child. You will obtain medical information from your provider on all household members to verify that they are free of communicable disease and physically able to care for a child. Dependent upon the age of the child being adopted and the circumstances of placement, you may be required to complete pre-adoption training although with independent / parental placement adoptions, this is not typically required.
How long does it take to complete a home study?
That depends a great deal upon the timeliness in which you complete forms and gather documentation as well as the policies and workload of the agency you select to do the home study. At Appalachian Family Outreach, we can often complete a home study within six weeks if there are no complications and if you submit the needed information in a timely manner. In urgent situations, it can be completed sooner and when there are delays or issues, it may take longer.
Is there a cost for a home study, and if so, why?
For a private adoption, independent of children in the custody of the State of Tennessee, there is a cost except in those instances where a family is indigent, the Dept. of Children’s Services is ordered to do a study for an independent adoption. This is a professional service provided by the agency and the agency’s costs must be recovered from those who receive the service, or by donors who support the agency, or both. Fees may vary among agencies. Fees for Appalachian Family Outreach (in 2019) are $1,400 for the home study. Our agency allows for incremental payments when needed.
What do I need to do to start the process of getting a home study and when do I need to begin?
Your first step is to contact us at Appalachian Family Outreach or if you select another agency, get in touch with them. We will ask a few basic questions to better understand your situation and needs to make a determination if we can best serve you within the time frame and circumstances described. If so, we can send you the forms to begin by email if desired, so you can get started immediately. If you do not have email or prefer to receive the information through the postal service, we will gladly accommodate that request as well. Once you become aware of the need for a home study, it is best to get started at once.
Are there things I can be doing in preparation for the home study?
Definitely. You will need several documents that may take a little time to gather so you can begin locating them and making copies. Among the documents needed are birth certificates for everyone in the household, marriage license, divorce decree(s) when applicable, copies of paycheck stubs and the front and back of your most recent income tax form, copy of adoption decree for any previous children you have adopted, copies of driver’s licenses, copies of auto insurance, copies of medical insurance, copies of homeowners or renter’s insurance, and verification of rabies vaccinations for pets.
What areas do you serve?
You must live in the State of Tennessee for Appalachian Family Outreach to be able to serve you, as we are a Tennessee Licensed Child Placing Agency. We are located in the Tri-Cities area with our office in Bluff City, TN. We mainly serve the following counties of Tennessee: Carter, Sullivan, Washington, Unicoi, Greene, Johnson, and Hawkins.
A home study is an assessment of your household, everyone who lives there, your financial stability, health, legal clearances, safety of the home, and verification of important information such as employment, income, birth and marriage, etc. A home study should not be confused with a home inspection in which a certified inspector checks out the structural integrity of your home or certain types of inspections in which the home is inspected only for cleanliness and sanitation.
Why is a home study necessary?
A child is not in a position to determine whether a household is the best place for him or her to live. While you may be wonderful, caring, nurturing people desiring to open your home up to one or more children, the court that has the responsibility of making that decision has no way to know this without an independent, professional assessment. In matters of adoption, TN state law requires a home study by a licensed child-placing agency, a licensed clinical social worker, or when indigent, by the TN Dept. of Children’s Services. The home study requirement may be waived for step-parent adoptions but this decision is up to the court.
What is involved in a home study?
You will meet with a licensed clinical social worker or a representative of a licensed child placing agency for several sessions for discussion of the adoption process, interviews, and review of the information that has been presented. You will be expected to complete a number of forms including an application, financial statement, several verifications, autobiographical information, and for those to whom it applies, marriage relationship information. You (and all adults in the home) will consent to background checks including fingerprinting through the FBI and TN Bureau of Investigation, other various law enforcement records, and a review of available registries. Your home study social worker will visit your home and will review inside and outside areas with regard to health and safety needs of the child. You will obtain medical information from your provider on all household members to verify that they are free of communicable disease and physically able to care for a child. Dependent upon the age of the child being adopted and the circumstances of placement, you may be required to complete pre-adoption training although with independent / parental placement adoptions, this is not typically required.
How long does it take to complete a home study?
That depends a great deal upon the timeliness in which you complete forms and gather documentation as well as the policies and workload of the agency you select to do the home study. At Appalachian Family Outreach, we can often complete a home study within six weeks if there are no complications and if you submit the needed information in a timely manner. In urgent situations, it can be completed sooner and when there are delays or issues, it may take longer.
Is there a cost for a home study, and if so, why?
For a private adoption, independent of children in the custody of the State of Tennessee, there is a cost except in those instances where a family is indigent, the Dept. of Children’s Services is ordered to do a study for an independent adoption. This is a professional service provided by the agency and the agency’s costs must be recovered from those who receive the service, or by donors who support the agency, or both. Fees may vary among agencies. Fees for Appalachian Family Outreach (in 2019) are $1,400 for the home study. Our agency allows for incremental payments when needed.
What do I need to do to start the process of getting a home study and when do I need to begin?
Your first step is to contact us at Appalachian Family Outreach or if you select another agency, get in touch with them. We will ask a few basic questions to better understand your situation and needs to make a determination if we can best serve you within the time frame and circumstances described. If so, we can send you the forms to begin by email if desired, so you can get started immediately. If you do not have email or prefer to receive the information through the postal service, we will gladly accommodate that request as well. Once you become aware of the need for a home study, it is best to get started at once.
Are there things I can be doing in preparation for the home study?
Definitely. You will need several documents that may take a little time to gather so you can begin locating them and making copies. Among the documents needed are birth certificates for everyone in the household, marriage license, divorce decree(s) when applicable, copies of paycheck stubs and the front and back of your most recent income tax form, copy of adoption decree for any previous children you have adopted, copies of driver’s licenses, copies of auto insurance, copies of medical insurance, copies of homeowners or renter’s insurance, and verification of rabies vaccinations for pets.
What areas do you serve?
You must live in the State of Tennessee for Appalachian Family Outreach to be able to serve you, as we are a Tennessee Licensed Child Placing Agency. We are located in the Tri-Cities area with our office in Bluff City, TN. We mainly serve the following counties of Tennessee: Carter, Sullivan, Washington, Unicoi, Greene, Johnson, and Hawkins.
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Appalachian Family Outreach
Address: 337 Carter St. Suite #5 Bluff City, Tennessee 37618
Telephone: (423) 833-7317