One part of becoming a certified foster parent, is the home study. This involves a foster care agent coming into your home and seeing how you and your family live. It generally includes multiple visits and will also involve some questions. These questions are meant to ensure that you are a good fit to become a foster parent, and the ultimate goal is to make sure that any child placed in your home will be safe and well cared for. Having somewhat of an idea of what the questions will be like beforehand, will make it easier for you to prepare for them, and will help you to feel more confident when the time for your home study comes. Here are three types of home study questions to prepare for.
Personal Questions
It is important that you are prepared to answer a variety of personal questions. You will be asked to describe yourself, explain what your interests are, describe your personality, parenting style, job experience, and more. These questions are the first glimpse into who you are as a person, and they help the agent get to know you.
Questions About Your Past
The agent doing your home study will also take the time to ask you some questions about your past. They will ask you about your experience growing up, what your family was like, how you feel about your childhood, what your relationship was like with your parent and siblings, what your home life was like, etc. These questions give them a good look into your past and help them to see what type of circumstances helped shaped you into the adult that you are.
Home Environment Questions
There will be questions asking what the environment is like in your home. These will include, are you married, do you and your spouse get along, do you have children, do they go to school, how do you and your spouse parent them, what are the strengths in your relationship, what are the weakness, etc. These questions help them to learn what your home environment is like.
To learn more about what types of home study questions to prepare for, or to start the process of becoming a foster parent today, visit us at TFI Family Services.