A home study or homestudy is a screening of the home and life of prospective adoptive parents prior to allowing an adoption to take place. In some places, and in all

international adoption International adoption (also referred to as intercountry adoption or transnational adoption) is a type of adoption in which an individual or couple residing in one country becomes the legal and permanent parent(s) of a child who is a national of ...

s, a home study is required by law. Even where it is not legally mandated, it may be required by an

adoption agency Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

. Depending on the location and agency, different information may be sought during a home study. A home study can be used both to aid the prospective parents in preparing to raise an adoptive child, and to rule out those who are not fit to be parents. The ultimate purpose of a home study is for the benefit of the child, not the parents. Therefore, screeners are instructed to be thorough in their examinations. There is typically a cost to a home study, which is usually several hundred to several thousand US dollars. In most cases, the prospective adoptive parents are responsible to cover the cost.

Information

The types of information that may be sought from a home study include the determination if there is abuse in the past, family background, employment history, a

criminal background check A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and oth ...

of the prospective parents, a

credit check A credit score is a numerical expression based on a level analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a credit report, information typically sourced from credit bu ...

medical record The terms medical record, health record and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care across time within one particular health care provider's jurisdic ...

s, and an examination of the home. A home study, as its name implies, examines the dwelling of the prospective parents. Factors that may be taken into account include the cleanliness and condition of the home, fire safety,

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation syste ...

, and the well-being of the neighborhood where the home is located. Factors pertaining to the people may include their desire to adopt, their understanding of the relationship between adoptive parents and children, and their willingness to share with an adopted child the fact that they are adopted.

Criticism

Home studies are criticized by many who feel they are intrusive, or who feel that there may be discrimination against certain people who are perfectly capable of parenting, but are ruled out due to various issues.

References

Adoption law Adoption {{law-stub