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These guidelines are used by workers to complete foster and adoptive home studies. The guidelines indicate the issues that are required to be addressed with prospective foster and adoptive families. The minimum standards cited in this appendix appear in the Minimum Standards for Child-Placing Agencies published by HHS Child Care Licensing.
* for adoption purposes, the Home Study is also known as a Pre-adoptive Home Screening
General Information
Home Name:
Street Ln 1:
Street Ln 2:
City:
County:
State:
Zip:
Phone:
Phone Extension:
Email:
Heads Of Household
Name:
Age:
DOB:
Ethnicity:
Sex:
Languages Spoken:
Education:
Occupation
Marital Status:
Date Married (If Married)
Name:
Age:
DOB:
Ethnicity:
Sex:
Languages Spoken:
Education:
Occupation
Marital Status:
Date Married (If Married)
Home Annual Income:
Other Household Members
Name:
Age:
DOB:
Ethnicity:
Sex:
Education:
Occupation:
Role In Home:
(Note: If There Are More Than one "Other Household Members" Then Repeat The "Name" Through " Role In Home" Sequence.)
Initial Inquiry Date:
___ / ___ / ___
Pre-Service Training and Consultations
Attended Pre-Service Training:
From:
To:
Note: This topic addresses the following foster home minimum standard. 2420.2 Pre-Service training in areas appropriate to the needs of children in care.
Dates of Consultations:
Dates of Consultations:
Locations:
With Whom:
Note: The topic above addresses the following minimum standards:
§745.4033.a.1-4 a. Interviews for a foster home screening, a pre-adoptive home screening, or post-placement adoptive report for family applicants may be conducted in one visit and must include:
(1) Individual interviews with each prospective foster or adoptive parent;
(2) Individual interviews with each child three years or older living in the home and any other person living full time with the family;
(3) A joint interview with the prospective foster or adoptive parents; and
(4) A family group interview with family members living in the home.
§745.4035 You must document in the record all interviews and attempts to interview persons listed in §745.4033 of this title.
§745.4037 You must make at least one visit to the home when all members of the household are present.
Additional Information Needed:
List the names and species of each pet.
Directions to the Home:
Provide directions on how to get to the foster or adoptive home. Use a landmark as the starting point, such as a DFPS office.
State the applicants' initial reasons for wanting to become foster and/or adoptive parents. Include the length of time they have been considering foster care and/or adoption.
Include the applicants' stated reasons for deciding to commit to foster care and/or adoption after receiving preparatory training. Look for language indicating a desire to protect and nurture children, meet developmental needs, and connect children to lifelong relationships.
Indicate whether or not the applicants' have been verified to foster or approved to adopt by another child-placing agency. Address your perceptions and assessment of issues where appropriate, giving examples.
Note: The topics in Section I address the following minimum standards:
§745.4061.5 You must evaluate why the prospective parents want to foster or adopt at this time.
§745.4061.21 You must evaluate background information from child-placing agencies that previously verified a foster home or approved an adoptive home.
II. Applicants' Feelings About Themselves, Their Parents, and Their Childhood
Mother's and Father's History
(Include information for both mother and father for all these sections.) Description of Applicant. Describe the applicant's appearance (include height and weight) and personality.
Provide details about the applicant's educational background, work history, and present employment.
Include the applicants' citizenship and length of time they have spent at each residence over the last ten years.
Parents
Include the applicant's description and feelings about their parents or parent figures. (Include information about absent parent, if appropriate.) Describe the quality of their parent's marital relationship, support/nurturance, and decision-making. Address the applicant's understanding of the effects their parents had on their life.
Childhood
Present the applicant's description and feelings about their childhood, including the way they were disciplined and their feelings about it. What would they change about their parents and their childhood?
Address both the happiest and most traumatic memories of their childhood, and their overall feelings regarding their childhood.
Discuss the applicant's birth order, their relationship with siblings (past and present), and which sibling(s) they feels closest to. Does the applicant believe all siblings were treated equally and fairly? How was sex education handled in the applicant's family of origin? Include the effects on the applicant's current feelings and how they would handle (or has handled) this with their own child(ren).
History of Child Abuse and Neglect. Discuss the applicant's history of child abuse (physical and sexual) and neglect, if any, and their resolution of this experience.
History of Drug and Alcohol Use. Discuss the applicant's history of drug or alcohol use, if any, and her resolution of this experience. (Address these issues regarding other members of the family if appropriate.)
Abuse/Neglect and Criminal History Checks. Explain any criminal history and subsequent rehabilitative activities. Document the results of both checks.
Physical, Mental and Emotional Status. Include an assessment of the physical (health), mental (psychological), and emotional status of the adoptive mother and father in relation to their ability to provide foster and/or adoptive care. (Report their perceptions and your own.)
Disabilities. Discuss any disabilities the applicant has in relation to their adjustment to the disability and any limits it imposes on their ability to care for a child.
Summary Statement. Discuss the applicant's feelings about themselves now; include their work, education, personality, and appearance. (Include a summary of the mother's caregiver capabilities based on the Risk Assessment, if one was completed.)
Note: The topics in Section II address the following minimum standards:
§745.4061.18 and Appendix. L Criminal backgrounds and abuse/neglect backgrounds.
§745.4061.4.A and C
You must include in the history:
A. The length of time spent at each residence for the past ten years;
C. The citizenship of the prospective adoptive parents and whether they are legal or illegal immigrants. This is required to assess the stability of the home.
§745.4061.6 You must include the physical, mental, and emotional status (including substance abuse history) of all persons living in the home in relation to the family's ability to provide a foster or adoptive home and to assume parenting responsibilities. Consideration must be given to the health and age of the prospective adoptive parents. There must be a plan in place to ensure the child will be raised in a stable and consistent environment to adulthood.
§745.4061.7 You must evaluate individuals who are disabled in relation to their adjustment to the disability and any limits the disability imposes on the prospective foster or adoptive parents' ability to care for a child.
§745.4061.9 You must include any history of abuse or neglect experienced by the prospective adoptive parents and their resolution of the experience.
Previous relationships. Include discussions of previous significant relationships and marriages. Describe the history of their past relationships including how they met, their courtship, and their decision to marry, if applicable. Include discussions of children by previous marriages or relationships, parental visitation, and child support. How were the relationships ended and resolved? Include date and place of divorce(s), if applicable.
Current relationships. Describe the applicants' interactions as husband and wife. Describe the history of the relationship including how they met, their courtship, and decision to marry. Report the date and place of marriage. Discuss any separations and/or marital counseling. Address their decision-making processes (including financial), how they handle disagreements, their support for and nurturance of one another, their individual feelings about themselves as spouses, and their sexual relationship. Discuss the effects of adding a child to the home. Describe the strengths and needs of their marriage, including their perceptions and your own. Describe other emotional support systems each applicant has.
Couples with children. Address the same issues as noted above with "current relationships." Describe the applicants' interaction as parents. Address their decision-making processes, their agreements about parental discipline, their disagreements and how they are resolved, their support for one another as parents, and any other issues of possessiveness, excessive control, and so forth.
Single parents. Discuss the applicants' single-parent support system. Describe the applicants' significant relationships with both men and women, including sexual relationships.
Issues of infertility. Discuss applicants' condition of infertility, their feelings about infertility, how infertility was and/or is handled, and how this has been resolved. Identify whether infertility has affected their sexual relationship.
Parenting. Include an assessment of the physical (health), mental (psychological), and emotional status of each child living in the home in relation to the family's ability to provide foster and/or adoptive care. Ask children how they are disciplined, what the rules are in the family, their opinions/perceptions of the family's decision to foster/adopt, etc. (Report their perceptions, your own, and your observations of the children's interaction with parents.)
Include the applicants' feelings about themselves as parents. How do the applicants describe each of their children? Describe the realism of the applicants' expectations of each of their children and the foster and/or adoptive children.
Other household members. Discuss other household members, including any who reside in the home part time. (Include grandparents, college children, exchange students, and part-time or full-time help.) Also include the results of both abuse/neglect and criminal history checks of each person 14 years of age and older in the home.
Religion. Describe the family's religious background and practices. Discuss the family's ability to be accepting of religious practices other than their own. Also discuss the family's willingness to take a child to the church of his or her choice. Describe the health protection plan the family will give a child if their religious beliefs prohibit certain medical treatment.
Family rules and boundaries. Discuss in regard to expectations, responsibilities, division of labor, nudity, privacy, etc.
How family members handle stress and express negative feelings. Be specific. Include examples of statements and behaviors that support your assessment.
Extended family. Describe the applicants' interaction with their extended family and the community. Describe the applicants' relationships with members of their extended family, friends, neighbors, church, and community. Discuss the attitudes extended family members have toward the applicants becoming foster and/or adoptive parents, including their degree of acceptance.
References. If information from the applicants' references is positive, summarize them briefly using direct quotes. If information from the applicants' references raises any concern, address the concerns carefully. At least one contact must be made with each adult child and each minor child 12 years of age or older of the foster and/or adoptive family who is no longer living in the home. This contact may be made in person, by letter, or by telephone.
Summary statement. Address the overall quality and stability of marital and family relationships in relation to the family's ability to provide a foster and/or adoptive home. Address your perceptions and assessment of issues where appropriate, giving examples.
Note: The topics in Section III address the following minimum standards:
§745.4033.b b. Interviews for a foster home screening and a pre-adoptive home screening for family applicants must also include any minor child 12 years old or older or adult child of the prospective foster or adoptive parents not living in the home. These interviews may be conducted by telephone, in person, or by letter.
§745.4061.3 Each prospective foster or adoptive parent must provide information about what emotional support system he or she has in place. You must document all marriages, divorces, deaths of former spouses, and significant relationships.
§745.4061.8 You must describe the quality of the relationship in relation to the family's ability to provide a foster or adoptive home. You should assess the stability of a couple's relationship.
§745.4061.10.A-C You must evaluate prospective foster adoptive parents on:
A. Their willingness to respect and encourage a child's religious affiliation, if any;
B. Their willingness to provide a child opportunity for religious and spiritual development, if desired; and
C. The health protection they plan to give a child if their religious beliefs prohibit certain medical treatment.
§745.4061.14 The attitude of the prospective adoptive parents' extended family regarding adoption.
§745.4061.18 Each person 14 years of age or older who will regularly or frequently be staying or working at the home while children are being provided care, must obtain a criminal history and central registry background check The results of those checks must be documented.
§745.4061.19(adoption only) You must include information about the couple's fertility. The couple's fertility is important only in relation to unresolved feelings about their infertility and their ability to accept and parent a child not born to them.
The applicants' home and neighborhood. Describe the income level and age group of residents, the racial makeup, the maintenance of the property, and so on.
In the description of the applicants' home, include sleeping arrangements and physical descriptions of the foster and/or adoptive child(ren)'s room(s), as well as the applicants' housekeeping standards.
Address the applicants' home and neighborhood as an environment for child care, including the adequacy of space for children to play both inside and outside.
Safety issues. The applicants' knowledge of basic care and safety issues must be discussed along with firearm safety issues, water safety, and basic home health and safety issues (pool and trampoline issues are addressed here). If firearms are present, all necessary precautions must be taken (firearms and ammunition must be kept separate from each other and in locked compartments at all times). Discuss the family's plan to keep medications out of children's reach and how these plans meet minimum standard requirements.
Financial situation. Identify the applicants' employment history, income, expenses, and ability to manage money.
For foster families only, address the family's ability to manage the expenses of caring for foster children prior to receipt of the first foster care reimbursement payment.
For adoptive families only, verify income and insurance coverage (medical and life) of all household members, including the children to be placed. (Children being placed may have private insurance coverage or be eligible for Medicaid through SSI or adoption assistance.)
Verify that the applicants have been informed of the application process for the adoption assistance program (subsidy), including the non-recurring adoption expenses program (adoption only). Address the adoptive family's ability to support a child with and without a subsidy or prior to reimbursement.
Summary statement. Address the family's ability to provide a safe home environment. (Include a summary of the home environment on the Risk Assessment, if one was completed.) Address your perceptions and assessment of issues where appropriate, giving examples.
Note: The topics in Section IV address the following minimum standards:
2510.4 of Appendix F "All medications must be kept out of the reach of children or in a locked storage area."
2510.5 of Appendix F "Medication requiring refrigeration must be separated from food in a designated container."
3200.1.a-e, Appendix F "The foster home and outdoor areas must be maintained, repaired, and cleaned so that they are not hazardous to the children in care.
(a) Outdoor areas must be well drained.
(b) Windows and doors used for ventilation must be screened.
(c) Equipment and furniture must be safe for children.
(d) Children must be protected from inflammable and poisonous substances.
(e) Explosive materials, firearms, and projectiles such as darts, arrows, and B-B's must be stored out of reach of children."
3300.2, Appendix F "A sleeping room must have at least 40 square feet of floor space for each occupant. Single occupant bedrooms must have at least 80 square feet of floor space."
3300.3, Appendix F "Each child must have his or her own bed and mattress; two children of the same sex may share a double bed."
3300.4, Appendix F "Each child must have storage space for clothing and personal belongings."
3620.1 "Before verifying an agency home, the agency must perform an inspection and document that the home meets appropriate minimum standards. Verification must include that either no firearms are or will be present in the home or that all appropriate precautions are taken."
§745.4061.17 "Financial status and ability to support a child, including employment history and insurance coverage."
4310.5 "Before placing a child into a home, the child placing agency must discuss basic care and safety issues with the adoptive parents, and ensure that the home provides an environment safe for the child or children to be placed. This must include firearm safety, water safety, and basic home health and fire safety."
4310.6 "Before placing a child into a home, the child placing agency must give prospective adoptive parents information about the TDFPS adoption assistance programs, including the non recurring adoption expenses program."
V. Supporting the Child's Needs Regarding Birth Family
Information about the child (Only include if this is an adoption by a relative)
the child's name, age, general health, and any specific medical problems;
the child's history of previous placements and a description of the current placement;
the child's school adjustment (include at least the following information: grade, academic performance, conduct problems);
the child's feelings about the relative and the amount of past and current contact with the relative; and
any observations of the child's interactions with the relative.
Birth family connections. Discuss the applicants' sensitivity to and feelings about children who may have been subjected to abuse and/or neglect; and who are dealing with their separation from, and the loss of, their biological family.
Describe the applicants' sensitivity to and feelings about the (prospective foster and/or adoptive) child's birth family.
Address the applicants' sensitivity to and feelings about maintaining sibling relationships.
Discuss the applicants' acceptance of the (prospective foster or adoptive) child's feeling about his or her birth family, and the applicants' ability to help the child deal with these feelings.
Describe the applicants' ability to support the child's relationship with his or her birth family, including extended family. Include the degree of support for contacts between the child and his or her birth family and siblings. Describe the adoptive parents' expectations about any ongoing relationship with the birth family.
Address the applicants' feelings, willingness, and ability to work with birth families towards reunification, including methods used to support this plan (foster only).
Discuss the applicants' ability to support a child's search for his or her birth family (adoption only).
If this is an adoption by relatives, address the relatives'
plan for protecting the child from exposure to the conditions from which the child was removed,
attitudes towards the child's parents and other members of the child's family,
thoughts and feelings about the parents,
frequency of contact with the child's parents,
attitudes towards parental visitation and contact, and
proximity to the child's parents.
Other significant relationships. Describe the applicants' sensitivity to and feelings about the child's need to stay connected to people (other than birth parents) who have been important in the child's life (foster parents, teacher, friends, siblings).
Personal identity. Include the applicant's understanding of child identity issues related to child abuse and neglect. These issues could include questions about reasons for care, being a good or bad person, desire to find birth parents, "where did I come from" questions, "who am I" questions, gender identity questions, and questions pertaining to sexuality. (Do not include any general assessments pertaining to ethnic and racial identity.)
For adoptive parents, include the applicant's plans regarding the child's name.
Note: The topics in Section V address the following minimum standards:
§745.4061.12 You must evaluate the prospective foster or adoptive parents' sensitivity to and feelings about children who may have been subjected to abuse, neglect, separation from, and loss of their biological family, if the applicants are planning to adopt a child who is not a newborn. You must evaluate whether the prospective foster or adoptive parents' environment is appropriate to nurture such a child. The environment includes the prospective adoptive parents' interest and ability to help the child deal with these experiences, and the available community resources.
§745.4061.13 You must evaluate the prospective foster or adoptive parents' expectations about any ongoing relationship with the birth family as well as their sensitivity to, and feelings about, birth families.
Address the applicants' understanding of the dynamics of separation and placement, significant losses, how these have been dealt with, and how they have been managed and/or resolved. You may include stages of grieving. Examples: the deaths of friends or relatives, the death of a child, miscarriages, infertility, experiences of victimization, loss of job, children leaving home, health losses, and natural disaster.
How have the applicants' own losses equipped them to help an adoptive and/or foster child work through his or her losses?
Discuss the applicants' ability to communicate with and help the child deal with his or her foster placement and/or adoption.
Address the applicants' ability to separate from a foster child when the child leaves their home.
Discuss the applicants' ability to help children grieve by accepting feelings of denial, anger, and depression.
Address the applicants' ability to help build continuity in the child's life. Address work on the child's memory/life book and support work on DFPS's efforts on the life book.
Address your perceptions and assessments of issues where appropriate, giving examples.
Note: The topics in Section VI address the following minimum standards:
745.4061.12 You must evaluate the prospective foster or adoptive parents' sensitivity to and feelings about children who may have been subjected to abuse, neglect, separation from, and loss of their biological family, if the applicants are planning to adopt a child who is not a newborn. You must evaluate whether the prospective foster or adoptive parents' environment is appropriate to nurture such a child. The environment includes the prospective adoptive parents' interest and ability to help the child deal with these experiences, and the available community resources.
VII. Dealing With Children Who Have Been Physically, Sexually Abused and/or Neglected
Discuss the applicants' understanding of the dynamics of child abuse and neglect.
Address the applicants' sensitivity to and feelings about children who may have been subjected to abuse and/or neglect; and who are dealing with their separation from, and the loss of, their biological family.
Include the applicants' understanding of how these issues and feelings will affect them as well as the children they will foster and/or adopt.
Include the applicants' ability to help the child with their experience of abuse and neglect and the availability of community resources to meet the needs of the child.
Note: The topics in Section VII address the following minimum standards:
§754.4061.4.B You must include in the history:
B. An assessment of the available community resources to meet the needs of children; and
§745.4061.12 Sensitivity to and feelings about children who may have been subjected to abuse, neglect, separation from, and loss of their biological family.
§745.4061.15 The prospective foster or adoptive parents' expectations of foster or adoptive children.
Discipline. Describe the ways in which the applicants were disciplined as children, and their feelings about the discipline they received then.
Discuss the applicants' values (parenting philosophy) regarding child discipline and care.
Describe the applicants' current methods of disciplining children, and their feelings about the discipline of children. If their current disciplinary practices are incompatible with DFPS's discipline policies, how do they plan to reconcile their practices with DFPS's policies? Include the applicants' ability to support DFPS's discipline policy.
Child-Care knowledge. Describe the applicants' knowledge of child development.
Discuss the applicants' child-care experience if they have no children.
Address the applicants' expectations of the foster and/or adoptive children and of working with these children. Are these expectations realistic? (Include examples of behaviors and activities that can help facilitate discussion include parents' expectations about school visits, school performance, public displays of inappropriate behaviors, etc.)
Describe the applicants' ability to:
assess and identify a child's needs,
promote a child's self-esteem,
follow through on professional advice, and
prepare an older child to live independently as an adult.
Address the applicants' plans for child care, if both are employed, and their plans for any baby-sitting needs during emergency or occasional outings.
Child management. Discuss the applicants' ability to manage the behaviors of children who have been sexually or physically abused and/or neglected. (Explore the applicants' abilities to manage specific behaviors, e.g., sexual acting out, aggression, abusive language, etc.)
Discuss the applicants' ability to manage a child's behavior associated with separation and loss.
Summary statement. Address your perceptions and assessment of issues where appropriate, giving examples.
Note: The topics in Section VIII address the following minimum standards:
§745.4061.11 The prospective foster or adoptive parents' values, feelings, and practices in regard to child discipline and care.
Describe the applicants' participation in pre-service training.
Describe the applicants' ability to accept and act on suggestions.
Describe the applicants' willingness to participate in continued training (foster only).
Discuss the applicants' willingness to participate in post-adoption services when appropriate (adoption only).
Explore the applicants' understanding of their role as caregivers in partnership with DFPS, and their ability to advocate for the child's needs.
Discuss the applicants' willingness to support the child's plan of service.
Address the applicants' understanding and acceptance of DFPS's decision-making process.
Address the applicants' knowledge of who to contact if they have complaints about the screening process and that they have been notified of their right to appeal.
Include the applicants' ability to communicate with DFPS workers about a foster and/or adoptive child's adjustment and needs.
Include the applicants' ability/willingness to transport the child to medical, therapeutic, educational and visitation appointments (foster only).
Address your perceptions and assessment of issues where appropriate, giving examples.
Note: §745.4061.20 You must include telephone numbers for entities where it is appropriate for the subject of the study to file complaints about how the pre-adoptive or foster home screening was conducted.
XI. Verification of Compliance with Minimum Standards
The following statement MUST be on each home study:
The (name of family) is in compliance with all minimum standards as outlined in Minimum Standards for Child-Placing Agencies, including Appendix ___.* These were discussed with the applicants, and the applicants were evaluated and found to be in compliance with the standards.
Foster Homes only: choose one or more of the following:
Discuss the type of child the parents are best qualified to foster and/or adopt. Include specific special needs and/or disabilities and behaviors the family is best qualified to manage (such as: sexual acting out, withdrawal, hyperactivity, noted emotional problems needing counseling, noted mental delays or retardation, minor to severe medical problems, etc.). Identify any special abilities or qualifications the family has to meet the needs of special-needs children. Discuss behavior, background, special-needs status, or other characteristics of a potential foster and/or adoptive child that the family cannot accept.
Address the family's ability to accept a child with parents who have
a documented physical or mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.);
alcohol abuse and/or drug usage;
criminal history; or
no available background information.
Address your perceptions and assessment of issues where appropriate, giving examples.
Note: The topics in Section XII address the following minimum standards:
§745.4061.16 You must evaluate the behavior, background, special needs status, or other characteristics of a potential foster or adoptive child that the family cannot or will not accept.
§745.4093.4 Evaluate all areas required for the foster home screening and make recommendations regarding the home's ability and approval to work with children with respect to their age, gender, special needs, and the number of children.
Summarize the family's gifts and strengths (what the family can give to the child) related to the following categories: educational, emotional, medical/physical, behavioral, relationship-building, and spiritual.
Summarize what the family needs from the child to feel successful in the following categories: educational, emotional, medical/physical, behavioral, relationship-building, and spiritual.
Summarize the concerns of the family in the following categories: educational, emotional, medical/physical, behavioral, relationship-building, and spiritual.
Summarize the Risk Assessment if one was completed. (Use statements such as: "The Risk Assessment revealed no areas of concern except for.…")
Make specific recommendations about the family's capacity to work with children. (Be specific about what type of special needs the family can handle and why).
This family is best able to parent (describe the age, sex and number of children.)
Mr. and Mrs. state a desire to adopt a child of (provide a description of the child or children).
