Home Study

Now that we finally had our paperwork completed, we were approved for a home study.  This is a critical part of the process.  A person came to our home and interviewed us and inspected the home.  This was do or die time.  If we didn't pass, that was pretty much it.  I believe there is an appeals process and they do allow you a chance to remedy what's wrong, but still.

It took about two weeks after our paperwork was officially approved until the home study.  They will give all sorts of timelines for you, but don't believe them.  You really need to stay on top of your trainer to make sure things are still moving along.

Our home study rep came to our house and conducted the interviews.  To prepare, I would recommend reading the minimum standards document as well as the guidelines for home study officials, which is all available on the DFPS web site.  We had done so and felt prepared.  She interviewed both of us for a while and asked the same types of questions on the application - what genders, how many, race, etc...  This took about 30 minutes.  We felt quite at ease with our rep.

She then split us up and asked about backgrounds and such.  She asked about how we were raised, asked out our relationships with family members, work status, etc.  She also asked about any red flags that came up during our PRIDE class and references.  There wasn't much to discuss there.  The most useful part of this study was going over the issues that we would be able to deal with.  For example, we said that we could handle mild autism or emotional issues, but probably not a disability such as downs syndrome.  She put us at ease on those issues and really added a lot on what she thought we could handle.  We had no experience in that regard, after all.

Right before she left, she said that she was going to submit us as an approval.  Then there was more waiting...