DO I NEED A HOME STUDY?
Any family considering adoption will be required to have an approved Home Study document from a licensed provider in their state of residence before they can be matched and ultimately adopt.
Absolute Love has been providing Home Studies for PA residents since 2003. Our team is thorough, and well educated and is eager to support you through this process of becoming prepared to adopt domestically. We do NOT do Home Studies for families adopting internationally.
THE ABSOLUTE LOVE HOME STUDY
We are committed to being accessible, ethical, collaborative and well informed. Absolute Love is dedicated to continued learning and adoption news to ensure you are getting services that reflect the industry best practices.
One of the choices you will make in your adoption process is finding a Home Study Provider. Absolute Love has spent years fine tuning our home study process to ensure that families get the support and education they need to truly be prepared for adopting. Parenting by adoption is NOT the same as parenting by biology and we will support you in understanding why that is so through your home study process .
THE HOME STUDY PROCESS
A home study is a written report by a licensed professional social worker in your state of residence. The home study provider certifies that you are eligible to adopt. All prospective adoptive parents must have a home study before they are able to take placement of a child.
In PA home studies are current for 1 year and as such, must be updated annually. Additionally, clearances and medicals must also be updated. Click here to review the checklist of items Absolute Love requests.
HOW LONG DOES A HOME STUDY TAKE?
The question we are most often asked is “How fast can you get this done?”
Our response is that the time you are being home studied is more than just obtaining an approval to adopt. During our process together, you are asked to lean into learning about what adoption means for a child and adopting parents, and how to do it well. You are about to undertake the enormous responsibility of parenting a child, and one who comes to you through the trauma of separation from their birth family. There is a great deal to learn and understand about this path to parenting and it is essential that you begin this process before you bring a child home.
The families who have the most success with their adoption are those who fully immerse themselves in the home study process and focus on self reflection, building a foundational knowledge of adoption and engaging with a network of resources to support the child you hope to parent, and ultimately your success as parents.
While we make every effort to be efficient with the paperwork component, you are urged and encouraged to make the goal of preparedness the center of your process and not the speed of which this process occurs.
HOME STUDY PROCESS
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Text/EmailLet us know you’re ready to get started with your Home Study process!
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Open PortalYou’ll receive an invoice for $200 via email which once paid, opens your digital portal. Here you’ll upload all the documentation needed for the study.
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Complete ChecklistUpload documentation in the portal and pay the remaining $1500 for the Home Study.
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InterviewsAn adoption specialist conducts 3 interviews (1 solo for each applicant and 1 joint) ideally with a week in between during which time the applicants are continuing to work towards completing 20 hours of education. Our interviews cover topics that impact your adoption readiness: such as finances, spirituality, support, relationships, philosophy on discipline, career, etc.
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Home InspectionThe final step is a Home Safety Inspection to ensure your home is safe and can accommodate a child.
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ReportThe Adoption Specialist takes approximately 4 weeks to send you a draft to review. The specialist finalizes the report, stamps the official approval date, and forwards the document to your placing agency/attorney/consultant.
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Approval!The specialist finalizes the report, stamps the official approval date, and forwards the document to your placing agency/attorney/consultant.
Visit our FAQ for more information about Home Studies.
What is a Home Study?
A home study is a written report written by a licensed professional in your state that certifies you are eligible for adoption. All pre-adoptive families must have a home study before they are able to take placement of a child they wish to adopt.
It should not be a source of anxiety. Our goal is to ensure you are capable of parenting the child you wish to adopt, and that you have the resources to help that relationship thrive.
We will interview your about your childhood, significant life experiences, family dynamics, financial patterns, individual strengths and weaknesses and your motivation for and understanding of adoption.
Steps
- Call/Text/email Absolute Love and request access to a digital application.
- Fulfill $200 invoice and receive instructions to set up your online portal where you will then upload a checklist of documentation required.
- Submit all support documentation along with remaining $1500 fee and schedule your first of 3 home study interviews.
- An Adoption Specialist conducts 3 virtual interviews focusing on topics that impact your adoption readiness: finances, spirituality, support, relationships, career, etc. We also do a home safety inspection in person of your home to ensure if is safe and can accommodate a child.
- The Adoption Specialist takes 1-4 weeks to send you a draft to edit. You return with all edits and the specialist finalizes and submits to your placing agency, consultant or attorney.
- Your Home Study document lives on our portal which you can access as needed. There is no fee for ALA to send your document to the placing opportunities requesting your Home Study. You are required to update your study annually and keep clearances and medicals current.
HELPFUL TIPS
- Start collecting photos for your profile book.
- You will be required to take 20 hours of adoption training. Consider starting now.
- You need to submit child abuse clearances for each state lived in for the previous 5 years, as well as FBI and criminal clearances for PA. Get a head start on those.
