When the adoption social worker has all the required paper work and the home study is written adoptive families may or may not be given a copy of the actual documents. Some states do give families a full copy of the home study for review either automatically or upon request and others states do not. We did not receive a copy of the home study our social worker prepared and had to trust that it was a true and clear picture of our family. If adoptive families are able to obtain a copy I would recommend doing so and reviewing it for any errors or mistakes.
In many states the social worker will have to submit the full home study and supporting documents to the state main office of child permanency planning or adoptions. In that case the state office will review the home study for missing documents or any information the office may find objectionable.
If everything is in order the state will certify the home study and families will be able to start reviewing the bulletins and profiles of babies, children and siblings groups needing adoptive family placements. In my state approved adoptive families receive a post card informing them they may start their search for a match. In other states it may be the responsibility of the social worker or the county office to certify a families eligibility to start searching for a match.
Potential adoptive families should be provided with information about how their state or county processes the home study and what requirements there may be for the certification of the home study. This information should be part of the training provided or something the adoption social worker outlines early in the process. It is not possible to list here how each state and county certifies an adoptive parent home study.
The important thing is to be sure interested adoptive parents have a certified state adoption home study as families may not be able to find children within their own county or state and may need to look at the children in other states for possible placement. If this is the case the certified state adoption home study will be needed.
Interested adoptive parents with certified state adoption home studies may also want to register with AdoptUSKids a national waiting child listing. Babies, children and sibling groups who have been in care the longest or have special needs and are difficult to place will eventually be listed nationally with the hope an adoptive family may be found someplace.
The majority of states have babies, children and sibling groups with the status of legally free meaning the rights of the birth family have been terminated and the child is free to be adopted. Most states also have some method of tracking children who are in the process of having the parental rights terminated. These children are considered legal risk with case plans for adoption. Often, the state will create a profile or bulletin for children who are legal risk and families with approved home studies will be able to look at these children as possible matches.
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For more information about parenting special needs children you might want to visit the Families.com Special Needs Blog and the Mental Health Blog. Or visit my personal website.