Homestudy Report

 

What is homestudy?

“Family Situation Report”, more commonly referred as a homestudy report, is a document that reflects who your family is to several different entities, including the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the foreign adoption authorities (FAA). The homestudy itself assesses your physical home and your emotional environment that an adopted child will enter. It is a key document in your I-800A or I-600A adoption petition with the USCIS and in your adoption dossier to FAA.

Who should write your homestudy?

The homestudy should be written by a qualified social worker, who is authorized to conduct homestudies for international adoptions. China specifically asks that the homestudy agency must be Hague accredited. The social worker must be licensed by the State where you are residing and bound by specific State laws and guidelines. You are encouraged to search for a local homestudy agency in your residing State as they can assist you to conduct a homestudy that meet your State’s requirements for intercountry adoptions. And depending on where you live, Faith International can provide you with contacts of homestudy service providers, who we have worked with and are capable to do homestudies for intercountry adoptions.

How much is the homestudy?

Homestudy fees vary by agencies, but generally range from $1,000 – $4,000. If your homestudy needs to be updated for any reason, there will be a fee associated with this update. The updates are required for expired homestudy, re-applying with USCIS, or any significant changes in your home. Homestudy agency will also be responsible to do a specific number of post-adoption reports for your family. So, please discuss and make sure they are included in the service packet.

What are the requirements for homestudy?

Homestudy preparation requirements vary depending on where you are living. Each state has different rules that apply to homestudy preparers. There are different between homestudies for a Hague adoption and a non-Hague adoption. If you intend to adopt from a Hague country, you must choose the country before the homestudy is conducted. If you intend to adopt from a non-Hague country, you may complete the homestudy before choosing the country. Generally a homestudy cannot be older than 2 years at the time of submission. This is different by country, so please check with your adoption case manager. The homestudy process can take up to 2-3 months to complete. This is primarily due to the required clearances that need to be reflected in the homestudy before it is completed.

General Requirements for Homestudy

Homestudies must generally include the following:

  • An in-person interview and home visit with the prospective adoptive parents (PAPs). In addition, all adult members of the PAPs’ household must also be interviewed.
  • An accurate evaluation of the physical, mental, and emotional capabilities of the PAPs and any other adult member of the household.
  • A detailed description of the finances of the PAPs, including but not limited to: incomes, debts, expenses, and the costs of supporting other members of the family.
  • A detailed description of the PAPs’ living conditions.
  • If applicable, a detailed description of the PAPs’ ability to provide proper care for a child with special needs.
  • A description of counseling provided to the PAPs or plans for post-placement counseling.
  • Specific assessment of how the above factors would affect the PAPs’ ability to care for an adopted child, the number of children that the PAPs may adopt, and any restrictions on the children who should be place with the PAPs.
  • A check of child abuse record, and inquiries into substance abuse, child or sexual abuse and/or domestic violence. These checks and inquiries must relate to each adult member of the PAPs’ household. The results of these checks and inquiries must be noted in the homestudy.
  • If there were any previous rejections for adoptions, or if an unfavorable homestudy was ever prepared regarding any adult member of the PAPs’ household, explanations must be obtained.
  • A criminal history of each adult in the PAPs’ household to disclose any record or arrest/or conviction, history of any substance abuse, sexual or child abuse, or domestic violence may result in a denial of the I-600A or I-800A.

How many copies of homestudy do you need?

The social worker should provide four (4) notarized originals of your complete homestudy to Faith International. We will then prepare them for the necessary authentications as required by FAA. We will send one fully authenticated homestudy to you. Please keep this document in a safe place, as you will need to bring it when traveling to foreign country to complete your adoption. Faith International will use three authenticated homestudies to (1) file with your immigration application, (2) submit with your adoption dossier to foreign country, and (3) keep as a back-up copy in our office.

Homestudy review and approval

Before the homestudy is finalized and notarized, it must be reviewed and approved by both Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAP) and Faith International. The review and approval process are taken in 2 steps:

  • Step 1: After finishing writing, the social worker should send the draft of homestudy to PAP to review to make sure all details are correct. Please pay attention to name spellings and dates.
  • Step 2: After reviewed by PAP, the social worker should send the revised homestudy to your adoption case manager as an email attachment. The document is recommended to be in an editable format (Microsoft Word). After reviewing the homestudy, the adoption coordinator will return the report to social worker with comments and feedback on how it should be revised to meet the requirements by USCIS and foreign government. The social worker should make all the suggested changes and again email the final version of homestudy to Faith International. Upon receiving the homestudy with all necessary changes already made, adoption coordinator will approve the homestudy. And the social worker can now mail 4 notarized originals of homestudy to Faith International.

USCIS Tip Sheet

The homestudy must meet specific requirements by the Hague Adoption Convention (for Hague adoption) and the by the USCIS. While the USCIS is not able to specifically advise about documentation and specific material that needs to be included in the homestudy, the office makes a tip sheet available to adoption service provider and PAP to provide guidance for some of the areas where there have been many questions. The Form M-738 (Hague) and Form M-760 (non-Hague) are available to be downloaded at USCIS website.

International Adoption Training

All Hague adoptions must meet the training requirements by the Hague Convention. Therefore, adoptive applications must obtain a certain amount of hours of verified education on international adoption issues as part of the homestudy process. Faith International Adoptions recommends Adoption Learning Partners as an educational resource to help you to meet these requirements. Adoption Learning Partners offer the Hague Package, which provides you with complete education and help you meet the adoption training requirements by USCIS. Besides the Hague adoption training, your State may require for additional ones. Please check with your homestudy agency for their recommendation on any necessary courses to meet your State’s requirements for international adoption. The adoption training is not mandatory for non-Hague adoptions, but families are encouraged to learn and educate themselves on international adoption matters. Depending on where you live, your homestudy agency may require you to complete some training on relevant topics to meet your State’s requirements.

Country Requirements

In addition to the general requirements by USCIS and Hague Convention, an adoption homestudy must also meet specific requirements by the FAA. Each country has its own set of requirements for homestudy, please make sure to discuss it with your social worker.

  • India Homestudy Instructions (download)