You’ve prayed over it. You’ve asked all your friends and your mother for advice about what an adoption for you might look like. Your partner is on board and you’re ready for an Alabama adoption home study. Home studies are a required portion of the process to adopt a child in Alabama.
Many families in Alabama choose to foster as a route to adoption. Either way, you’ll need to meet certain preliminary requirements in order to get to the Alabama adoption home study.
Basic requirements to foster in Alabama
- You must be 19 years old
- If you’re married, your marriage must surpass a one-year anniversary
- If you’re married, one in your partnership must be a US citizen
- You must be medically considered able to provide care for a child
- federal and state criminal records checks and child abuse clearance for all household residents over 19 (no exceptions)
- Completion of TIPS (Trauma-Informed Partnering for Permanence and Safety) classroom meetings (10 meetings, 30 hours)
Basic Requirements to adopt in Alabama
- You must be 19 years old
- If you’re married, your marriage must surpass a three-year anniversary
- If you’re married, one in your partnership must be a US citizen
- You must be medically considered able to provide care for a child
- federal and state criminal records checks and child abuse clearance for all household residents over 19 (no exceptions)
- Completion of TIPS (Trauma-Informed Partnering for Permanence and Safety) classroom meetings (10 meetings, 30 hours)
- You must be willing to undergo Pre and Post Placement Alabama adoption home studies which include extensive documentation; a narrative about your family dynamic, motivations, and parenting expectations, resources you have available in your home and community to provide for a child’s needs; and an inspection of your home
Once you know that you can meet the basic requirements, you’ll want to follow the process for adoption, which includes several home study visits.
Home Study (Pre-Placement)
The state of Alabama has requirements for a home study is not something that needs to be feared. If you have a true desire to offer a loving home to a child, most of this will come naturally for you. Both you and your home study provider want to assess how well you and your family are in a position to take on the lifelong commitment of caring for a child.
Who conducts the home study?
In Alabama, a licensed social worker, or an agency/individual licensed by the agency can conduct the home study. Note that an “Adoption Facilitator” is not licensed in Alabama and would result in a home study not recognized by the state. You can rely on your agency to orchestrate your home study, or you can arrange your own Alabama adoption home study by contacting a licensed professional at 1-800-homestudy.com or Abby’s One True Gift.
The Paperwork
Collecting your documentation can take a lot of time, therefore you may want to start working through this checklist early on.
- State and federal background checks for everyone in your household who is 19 years old and above. This is non-negotiable. There are no exceptions.
- In compliance with The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act passed in 2006, Alabama is a state that requires everyone in your household 14 years and above to request a Child Abuse/Neglect Central Registry Clearance. This is also non-negotiable with no exceptions.
- All members of the home will be required to provide a current health report. The health report must be conducted within the last 12 months and will include tuberculosis (TB) screening. If you have a health concern that would affect your life expectancy, you may want to consider providing evidence of a plan detailing how the child would be provided for in a worst-case scenario. Medical problems that are manageable like diabetes or high blood pressure wouldn’t normally result in a negative response to your home study. Be prepared to list any/all medications that are prescribed to you and your doctor will need to
- Financial records will be requested as part of the Alabama adoption home study. Prospective parents should compile recent tax returns, several months’ of bank account statements, paycheck stubs, and verification of any other income. The home study report will need to include veritable evidence that your family can financially provide for the lifelong needs of a child.
The Interviews
At least three interviews will take place, but it could be more depending on your family. One interview will be with you, then you and your partner jointly, and then your partner separately. Other interviews are required with every member of your family beyond that. These interviews can be rather lengthy and you may see them as somewhat invasive since the questions will be fairly in-depth, but just keep the goal in mind. The interviewer will ask some questions to gauge the preparedness of you and your family, but you can also benefit from reflecting on and verbalizing your own expectations and motivations.
Your motivations will be questioned. Before these interviews, you may want to take some time for yourself and think about why you have felt led to adopt. If you have the sense that bringing another child into your home will repair something that’s been damaged in your marriage or will somehow repair mistakes you’ve already made in your past, you may want to consider working through those issues before proceeding with an adoption. Dr. Phil has said it best when he’s admonished guests on his show that children shouldn’t be brought into a family with a “job” to do. Don’t count on this new child to fulfill some sort of hole that you have in your own life. You should be at a place where you’re stable and you have enough of yourself to give in order to meet the needs of another human above your own.
What are your goals for your adoption and do you have a path and resources to achieve them? This may be a similar or related question to your motivations.
The home study provider will ask extensive questions about your background and upbringing. This portion will be evaluated for your most likely parenting plan and style. Each prospective parent will be asked to discuss their personal childhood background. Educational experience, any type of employment, family dynamics, and memorable events will be discussed. If you’ve experienced or witnessed child abuse, sexual/emotional/physical abuse, substance abuse, or any type of domestic abuse, that will need to be discussed. The home study provider may want to understand how you’ve dealt with such a thing, if you’ve overcome it, or if some of those things are still a struggle for you. Remember, the goal of the home study is to make sure you are ready and able to commit to a child. You’ll want to be open and honest so that you too can evaluate your own preparedness.
Your interview will discuss any parenting skills you have already implemented with other children. Have you kept nieces and nephews for the weekend or taught vacation Bible school? Do you already have other children of your own? Try to offer a scenario to showcase your parenting skills. How and when did you relay your behavior expectations to those children? What was your plan for how to respond if a child fell short of an expectation? Were you able to execute your plan or was it interrupted somehow? You don’t have to paint a picture of a time when everything went perfectly. In fact, you’d be better off discussing a scenario that didn’t go smoothly. The most important part will be your reflection on your process and your thoughts about how to improve in the future.
What are your thoughts about discipline?
You may be asked to respond to a few different scenarios. What should a parent do if the child has been asked several times to complete a task but fails to do it? How would you respond if you received a call from the child’s teacher because your child was caught cheating on a test? What are your thoughts about corporal punishment? What are some definitive boundaries you intend to set and why? How will you enforce them? Your responses will help the home study provider develop a picture of your views on appropriate parenting.
What do you see as your strengths as a parent?
Think about the positives you’ve witnessed in your caretakers as a child. Do you possess any of those same characteristics? Reflect on any of the experiences you’ve had with being a caretaker for children and identify a scenario that was particularly positive. What was your role in that situation? How did your supervisory strategy ensure a positive experience for the child in your care? That’s a good place to start.
What is your knowledge base about adoption?
You might be asked to reveal your experience if any with previous adoption or fostering and you would be given a chance to discuss your thoughts about your experience and your current knowledge-base. You’ll also be asked to share your plan for how you want your child to perceive his/her adoption. What will be the narrative that you share with your child and how did you arrive on that narrative? If birth parents will be involved, what will that relationship look like?
If you’re married or in a relationship, be prepared to discuss the dynamics of your relationship. You’ll need to think about the stability of this relationship. Every relationship goes through tough moments, but what is the frequency of your tough moments? And what do tough times look like? Picture an additional child sitting in to witness those tough moments. Would that scenario be something that a child could learn from as far as how adults interact and compromise or is that scenario best for a child not to witness?
What is your childcare plan?
Do you work full-time? Does your partner also work full-time? You’ll be required to produce a viable action plan to ensure that your new child will be properly cared for at all times.
References
You may be asked to provide up to six references. It’s important to include references from different facets of your life. Good choices would be close friends, a colleague, some relatives, an employer or former teacher, a neighbor, or your pastor.
Home Inspection
Your home study provider will generally take a tour of your home to confirm that you have basic home safety in mind for your new addition. You can check to make sure your house is generally tidy, but there’s no need to fear that you’ll automatically “fail” the inspection process if you’ve overlooked something. The social worker may be able to help point out any little details you’ve missed and allowed you to rectify them. He/she will look for smoke detectors, a safe pool environment if applicable, window screens, electrical outlet covers, prescription medications are housed safely, you have an emergency plan/fire extinguishers, gun ownership and storage will be explored if applicable, the household structure is up to code, etc.
Pre-Placement Approval.
Within 60 days of finishing the pre-placement approval, your report will be submitted. If your pre-placement home study is approved, you’re ready to move through the next steps of the adoption process. Note that the home study results are good for 24 months. After 24 months, the process will have to be repeated.
Home Study (Post-Placement)
A post-placement home study in Alabama is required within 45 days after the child has been placed in your home. Since you’ve developed a good relationship with the licensed representative who conducted the pre-placement home study, it’s likely you’ll want to invite the same person back to your home for the post-placement investigation. The post-placement study will verify that everything which was checked in the pre-placement is still in place. The post-placement home study provider will also interview you, your partner (if applicable), and the child if applicable to confirm that the arrangement is taking place in the way that was expected according to the pre-placement assessment.After your post-placement has been approved, you will follow the process with a lawyer to finalize your adoption. You will likely be introduced to resources provided by the Children’s Aid Society of Alabama to ensure that you can continue caring for your child and that you have assistance to face any obstacles that may arise.
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