If a person wants to take custody of a child that is alleged to be an abused, neglected or dependent child, either with Children Services filing a complaint, or a private party filing a complaint for custody, those prospective custodians must have a home study conducted before they can take the child.

Homestudies may also be conducted when a parent wishes to have custody changed from the original residential parent to him or her.  In this instance, the Court may want to learn more about the prospective residence.

Many people get nervous when the issue of a home study is raised, fearing that outsiders will soon be prying into their lives in ways that seem untoward or unfair.  However, homestudies are rather pro forma  and the items the investigators are interested in are very basic in nature.  When Children Services or a private organization conduct a homestudy, they are effectively looking primarily at the following:

1. Is the home structurally sound?

2. Is there adequate room in the home that would allow the custodians to take-in another child?

3. Is the home sanitary and safe in all respects?

4. Who lives in the home? And would any current resident present a danger to this particular child if he or she were to be brought into the home?

While this is not the entire list of factors the investigators will look at (according to the investigators themselves), the truth is that the above list consists of the primary factors the investigators will be interested in. Like most agencies, Children Services is overworked and is constantly having to place children in safe environments and no case can be investigated in the manner it would be in a perfect world.  Therefore, when investigators visit a home they are looking for basic and immediate red-flags that would caution against placing the children in this particular home, mostly because the lack of resources prevent the  sort of in-depth investigation that all of us would prefer.

As long as the home is safe, sanitary and well equipped to take in another child, the homestudy should be positive in the end.

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