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Pre-Adoption Home Study

You may be wondering if you need to have a pre-adoption home study done. If so, read on!

Utah law requires that a preplacement adoptive evaluation (often called a home study) be completed prior to the child being placed in the adoptive home. However, the law also allows the court to authorize "temporary placement of a child in a prospective adoptive home pending completion of a preplacement adoptive evaluation."

A home study must be done by someone with certain credentials such as a certified social worker (CSW), clinical social worker (LCSW), marriage-family therapist, or supervised social service worker (SSW). Home studies typically cost around $1,000 (subject to change, of course) and usually take several weeks to complete.

Before continuing, please note that even if a home study is not required, a criminal background check and a DCFS Child Abuse Central Registry check are still required. Thus, stepparents, grandparents and other relatives who want to adopt must still have these two background checks done.

Foster Child Cases:

DCFS handles the home study in foster child cases. When we take on a new case, the Utah Adoption Law Center will obtain the home study from DCFS and upload it to the court as an exhibit. The home study has important information the judge needs to be comfortable with approving the adoption.

Stepchild Cases:

A home study is not required in stepchild adoption cases.

Private Adoption Cases:

A home study might be required in other types of child adoption, depending on the relationships involved.

Home Study NOT Required if adopting parent is related to child or pre-existing parent as:

Home Study IS Required in all other cases (usually)

Stepparent

As of this writing, the UALC is seeking legislation to clarify that a home study should not be required where the child has lived in the adoptive home for long duration.

Sibling


Grandparent


Aunt / Uncle


First Cousin


But Court can still require a home study if judge has concerns.


The Content of the Home Study:

Utah law requires the "preplacement adoptive evaluation" to include the following:

  1. A recommendation about the suitability of the prospective adoptive parent.

  2. A description of relevant in-person interviews .

  3. A description of references from at least three people--two who are not related and one who is.

  4. Medical history of the prospective adoptive parent made within two years before the date of the application.

  5. A description of the home inspection "to determine whether sufficient space and facilities exist to meet the needs of the child and whether basic health and safety standards are maintained."

Postplacement Adoptive Evaluations:

After the child has been placed in the adoptive home, "a postplacement evaluation shall be conducted and submitted to the court prior to the final hearing in an adoption proceeding." The social worker's report will address the child's progress in the adoptive home and make a recommendation on whether adoption is in the best interest of the child. In layman's terms, the court wants to make sure the child is bonding with the adoptive parent(s) and progressing in the adoptive home. It is possible to ask the court to waive this requirement if it is in the child's best interest.

Summary:

Preplacement adoptive evaluations are the primary way the judge learns about the child's and adoptive parent's background. A judge does not have time to visit the home and interview friends, etc. so the home study promotes judicial efficiency. It is also an incentive for the adoption parent(s) to ensure everything in order (such as smoke detectors and firearm security) prior to the child being placed.

At the Utah Adoption Law Center (UALC), we have excellent working relationships with several home study providers in the state. If you have questions about whether you can adopt, please email us at info@utahadoptionlawcenter.com or call (385) 200-1972.




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