We're one month (+ a few days) into the home study for adoption #3, and here's where we're at:
Done
- Uploaded proof of medical, life, and car insurance, 1040 tax form from 2022, and Grace's birth certificate
- Pet license and vaccine records for Mr. Bailey (the easiest government-issued thing so far!)
- Fire inspection*
- Fire safety survey + family emergency plan
- Autobiography updates
- Guardianship forms
- Employer / salary verification
*It cracks us up how different each of the three fire inspections we've had at the same house (!) This time, the curveball was that we needed to have smoke alarms IN the sleeping area for the baby - meaning, attached the ceiling in the master bedroom, even though there's one already a few feet away in the hallway.... thankfully, Dan had thought ahead and had an extra alarm, and dashed up the stairs to install it. The inspector noted that he clearly "was doing it" and let us pass without waiting for it to be fully installed ;) You just never know!
In process
- Certified driving records (requested from the state)
- Medical paperwork for the kids (will get done at Grace's 4 year check-up later in September)
- Medical self-assessments (working on it)
- Four references
- Background checks (CPS and child support) - submitted to state via Barker, haven't received results yet
Not done
- Upload proof of finances + fill out financial form
- Physicals for Dan and Bethany
- 10.5 hours of online training (but did purchase the classes)
- Live virtual class about transracial adoption (will happen September 16)
- Fingerprints (they only take about 48 hours to be processed, and then have a "shelf life" of one year before we have to redo them, so we're waiting until closer to the end)
Overall it's going really well! It feels like a peaceful pace but we're making progress, which is nice to see. Our working goal is to get everything done by early October, so we can schedule our home study interviews in October / November and *hopefully* have our home study complete by early 2024.
So, please keep praying for us and for whatever future child we may be welcoming into our home!
