Ok, so maybe the picture is a slight exaggeration....but trust me, some of the questions they have on the Home Study documents we have to answer may end up taking several rain forests worth of paper to answer. I really should be working on it, however, I think better on a full stomach. It will have to wait until I'm done with this lovely little blog post and have eaten something. Ah, I digress....
So this paperwork...I thought what we did in MAPP class was extensive, but for a smallish (comparatively) packet, the things they want from us are pretty in depth. Some of the forms are repeats of what they *should* already have in our file, but we'll redo them just to be safe. At this point in time we have to have a completed Adoptive Home Application, references from 2 friends, 2 family members and one from our jobs a piece, a MEPA Statement, completed Family Profile, completed Child Characteristics Checklist, completed Central Abuse Hotline Record Search and last but certainly not least, a physical from our doctors stating that we are healthy enough to care for children. I'll give DCF kudos. The majority of our paperwork is in gender-neutral language (IE: parent 1, parent 2), so I have half a hope that maybe, just MAYBE we can adopt together. It may be wishful thinking, but it's worth asking about.
There are 13 essay type questions on our forms and fortunately, some don't apply to us at all. Here are the questions:
- Describe your motivation to adopt or be approved as a non-relative caregiver. If this is for placement of a specific child, describe any prior knowledge/relationship that exists between the child and yourself. If you are a two-parent household, address both care givers mutual desire to care for the child.
- Describe/discuss your childhood history. Discuss issues including significant losses, life milestones and any experiences with substance abuse and/or domestic violence, whether past or current, either child or adult. Address treatment received and/or needed. Please address each person separately.
- Describe your mental, emotional and physical responses to stress. Please address each person separately.
- Please discuss your level of education, employment history and job skills. Please address each caregiver separately.
- Describe each caregiver's current and previous marriages and significant relationships. Include reasons for dissolutions/divorce and address children involved. Document all marriages and divorce verifications. How do you each resolve conflict?
- Describe your relationship between other household members and extended family and friends. What is your support system, formal and informal? What are your family's cultural and religious beliefs and your willingness to accommodate children of different faiths, beliefs and ethnicities and/or cultures?
- What expectations do you put on children (respond in terms of children already in your home)? Please discuss each child separately including developmental history/issues, personality, health, education level, special needs and behavioral challenges.
- Describe/discuss your parenting practices separately including capacity, skills and experiences. If you have not parented a child, discuss any child caring experiences and any qualities that would contribute to your success in parenting practices.
- Describe/discuss each caregiver separately with regard to disciplinary beliefs and practices, including your own childhood disciplinary experiences. Discuss forms of discipline for each child in the home already and plans for any prospective child placed.
- Discuss your home's physical environment, including a description of your home; address the interior, exterior, number of rooms, bathrooms, etc and sleeping arrangements (each person). What changes if any, need to be made in order to accommodate child/ren? Do you plan to remodel in the next year or two?
- Discuss your capacity to protect a child from all unauthorized contacts. Assess ability and willingness to participate in the judicial process and to comply with all court orders and the case plan.
- Describe/discuss the adjustment and integration of children previously adopted by or permanently placed with your family. Discuss any failed placements in term of the cause, resolution and any differences or changes that will be made in the future placement as a result of lessons learned.
- Describe/discuss your (each caregiver separately) acceptance of removal and placement in/out of home care and willingness to support reunification efforts (if applicable), including visitation and contact between the child, parents, siblings, relatives and others. Discuss your family's willingness to help support and preserve connections significant to the child.
Mama S hasn't read over the forms yet, but I'm a bit OCD and have already developed 2 outlines for my responses and will be working on this over the weekend too. Yes, it is probably overkill, but c'est la vie! I already foresee a phone call to our case worker's supervisor about how long winded they want us to be. Some of the questions will take pages to answer in totality. With that being said, time to get cracking on the paperwork. Hopefully there won't be too many loss of tree-lives in the answering of our Home Study questions!
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