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I tried to search for this topic last night as I am sure it has been asked, but I couldn't find it. I'm wondering what sort of questions are asked in the homestudy? AND I'm wondering how to proceed with providing information about past mental health issues. If one has a long and substantial history of mental illness but has been stable for several years and "in remission" for at least a year and a half (with the aide of ongoing medication and therapy) will their case worker be less likely to license them? Especially if that mental illness was NEVER a danger to other people? My therapist who I have been seeing for 3+ years is willing to recommend me "without reservation" and thinks that I have the perfect skill set to be a foster parent... So my questions related to all that are: Will they specifically ask about history of mental illness? If they don't ask, should I volunteer that information? Should I just try to down-play it (not mention details of hospitalizations or how long the issue went on, etc) and just say that although I have a history of it, its well controlled and doesn't interfere with my life now? Will they want to speak with my therapist? I'm nervous about the whole process and would like to know what sorts of questions we need to be prepared for and sort of information they are looking to collect about us. How many references will we need to have and how long do they need to have known us?
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We have not had our face to face home study yet but in the big application packets their was a separate page for mental health issues. It required Doctor's name and phone number, diagnosis, medications, and treatments. I would imagine that it would be looked into. Everyone says to just be honest. If you have been stable for an extended period of time and your doc is willing to vouch for you then you will probably be OK. Good luck. Have you filed your application yet?
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With our HS, they asked about every aspect of our lives. As far as any issues you've had in life (mental health or otherwise), they're looking to see how you've dealt with it. They want "real people" not The Cleavers. You should be fine. Just be completely open and honest :) Good luck and try to take a deep breathe. It is extremely personal, but once ours was done, I realized it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be!
yes you need to be honest in your homestudy as the homestudy is to help determine if you will be a fit foster parent for the children. I would be afraid if you did not fully disclose and a issue came later with a child they would zoom right in on the stuff you did not tell or skimed over and you would not have a leg to stand on since you were not truthful in your homestudy.
I have a long history of depression and I was upfront with the Licensing worker. I told her I had not had an episode of depression in over two years and was on medication and had been in therapy. I really would not worry about it. Like a PP said, they are not looking for the Cleavers. They might ask for the recommendation from your therapist(they didn't with me) but I don't see where it would be a problem. Good luck and welcome to the forums.
In our home study (private Christian agency in TX), they began by interviewing my husband and myself together. Then we each had separate interviews where we were asked supremely personal questions such as "Are you happy with your sex life?" Uhhhh...what?!?! I think that, overall, they tried to gauge the stability of our marriage, support system, home life, beliefs on raising kids, community involvement and our own mental stability and willingness to reach out for psychological help if we needed it. If your home study is anything like ours, they will ask every detail of your mental health history (including any and every "psychotropic" medication you are taking...which I'm guessing that most depression/anxiety/etc meds fit that bill). They asked for my Dr. to write a letter stating that the 2 migraine meds I took at the time wouldn't affect my ability to parent, so I'd be ready for them to request a recommendation from your therapist. I didn't get the impression that they were overly strict on what was acceptable for any of these things in particular, but that they just wanted a VERY clear picture of who were are. Stick with the truth, expect tons of invasive questions, just roll with it and you should be fine.
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I know this is an old post. But, we just finished the homestudy, and wrote down what questions we were asked pretty much as soon as the social worker left so that we would remember what they were. We then posted them on our blog to help other people feel prepared (obviously every agency/state is different, but they will have some commonalities!). So, if anyone is still reading around looking for information, feel free to check it out: When the Stork Gets Confused: What to Expect when You're Adopting: Homestudy Part 2