project waterbear adoption saga: homestudy inspections.
Quick adoption status update from Ted while it's still November:
We got our homestudy approved! And we got our profile books printed! So we’re approximately 96% to joining the waitlist. Super looking forward to seeing our agency’s statistics for 2021, which will give us some information re: typical wait times to be picked/matched.
Now that we're more in the waiting phase, I wanted to dive into a little more detail about how we got here. One harrowing part of the homestudy experience? The actual study of our home: Inspections.
Home Inspections
Our homestudy required two types of home inspections, essentially to verify it’s safe for a baby.
Fire Inspection
We got our home approved by our local fire department. Their goal was to confirm that our home is safe, not to be a stressful testing experience, so they kindly gave us the answer checklist beforehand to prepare. Our family should be protected against fire, smoke, and carbon monoxide, and the fire department should be able to access the place in case of emergency. No big surprises there.
For the curious, here’s an overview of the key checkpoints:
- Enough smoke detectors at correct locations
- Enough fire extinguishers at correct locations
- Enough carbon monoxide alarms at correct locations
- A home map and escape plan with egress routes
- No exposed wires
- No hazardous materials or flammable liquids in accessible locations
- Baby crib in parents’ bedroom
- Confirm that child will not sleep in unfinished crawlspace or attic, etc.
I generally keep the house prepared and in good working order. But I had to get more smoke/CO alarms to have enough! The rule is 1 per bedroom and 1 per story, at minimum. Now, we're good to go.
Fortunately, it was easy to request the free inspection on the city’s website. Then I had a phone call and text conversation with the local captain to confirm scheduling details.
No big deal, right? It was still nerve-wracking to have a fire department squad (they brought the big red truck) judging our home. It turned out just fine – they were friendly and professional and approved the Important Inspection Document.
Assessor Safety Audit
Our case assessor, the social worker assigned to us from the adoption agency, also reviewed our house’s safety. She’s a lovely and kind person, and she certified that we did not have any easily accessible projectile weapons in our home, among other things.
Like the fire inspection, we got the answer checklist in advance. This document was from the Ohio state government. It covered basic items (paraphrased) like:
- Home is clean, safe, and prepared for family habitation.
- First aid and prescription medications are kept in appropriate locations.
- Written evacuation plan with mapped escape routes.
- UL approved or certified fire extinguisher ready near the kitchen.
- Pets are kept in safe and sanitary manner.
- Cribs are reasonably safe and compliant with US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Yay we also passed that test!
It was relatively simple in retrospect. (Rebecca edit: Thanks to Theodore, here, for investing so much time and effort into our home over the past three years!) BUT GREAT MERLINS BEARD getting our home judged was stressful! What's more, it felt like there was a lot riding on getting an essential A+ on these tests: Partial credit usually flies, but in this case could mean danger for our kid!
If you're approaching a homestudy inspection, ask for the checklists in advance, and remember that while duh audits are scary, everyone's goal is just to make sure that your family is safe.