Home Studies/Family Profiles
If you live in the U.S. and are going to adopt domestically, internationally or a waiting child through the Statewide Adoption & Permanency Network (SWAN), you will need an adoption home study prepared by a licensed adoption agency. A home study must be completed before a child can be placed in your custody as foster or adoptive parents.
The home study is often the lengthiest step when preparing to adopt. It is a very thorough overview of your life—including background checks, your finances, your relationships and much more—and is used by the courts to assess if a stable environment exists for a family to receive an adoptive placement.
We recommend that you complete a home study as one of the first steps you take on your road to adoption.
How We Help
- The Family Hope Connection (FHC) is a licensed adoption agency and can complete your home study and ensure that it is completed to the best standards. We have completed hundreds of home studies since our inception.
- FHC can complete the home study for you, regardless of whether we are handling other aspects of your adoption. We often complete home studies for local couples working with an out-of-state firm or attorney on an international adoption.
- We can update a home study prepared by FHC or another agency before it expires or if there is a major life change that should be reflected in your home study.
- FHC staff will provide the post-placement supervision visits which are a follow-up to a home study and which occur after a child has been placed with you. These visits from our adoption case workers are required by the state of Pennsylvania as well as other states to assess and confirm the well-being of the child placed in your custody.
Meet the People We Help
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Sharon* and Leon* were planning to adopt a little boy from Russia, but they were nervous about the international adoption process. Family Hope Connection was able to make the experience a relatively smooth one for the couple, providing the local support they needed, including preparing their home study.
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Tammie* and Kris* had been foster parents for a few years, and generally their foster kids stayed with them for just a few months before returning to the homes of their parents or other relatives. However, Tammie and Kris hoped to adopt one of their foster children, and Family Hope Connection caseworkers worked with them to prepare for that day.
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*Name changed to protect client confidentiality.
