Preparing for a Home Study

I've decided to try and highlight some things you may need to know if you are preparing to do foster care and/ adopt. Yes, who ever you are going through will give you a list of things to do, but if you're anything like me you will not want to wait and want to start preparing ASAP!

Things you will need/ need to do:

• Smoke Detectors on each floor of the home
  
• Fire Extinguishers, minimum of 2A10BC five point, rated multi-purpose, dry chemical
  
  
  
• Banisters on open staircases
  
• Railing around decks or porches off ground level
  
• Furnace/ water heater safety, no storage within 4 feet with adequate ventilation
  
• # Bedrooms, minimum of 80 Sq. ft. provided in a single occupant bedroom, and a minimum of 60 sq. ft. per child in a multiple occupant bedroom, excluding storage space.
  
• Each foster child has a separate bed, plus storage space
  
• A working window in each bedroom
  
• First Aid Kit in home and auto (recommended contents to come in another post, I also carry one in my diaper bag)
  
• Medication: Locked box or cabinet
  
  
• Hazardous Chemicals: Locked storage
  
  
• Firearms: Locked (dismantled if possible, ammunition stored separately)
  
• Telephone with posted emergency numbers
  
• Auto seat beats, adequate number for family size
  
  for placements 0 - 5 years:
• infant or toddler car seats
  
• portable gates or doors on stairways
  
• safety plugs on outlets
  

What to expect during the home study:
The licenser will make an appointment to come to your home. You will have all of the above done already. The licenser will ask a lot of personal questions. They (at least ours did) will ask where you have your chemicals, medications and such. They will look around your home and will check to see if you have done all the above.

Feel free to ask more questions about foster care and more post to come!