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Hello everyone! I am beginning this journey to foster-adopt and I am so excited. I have read extensively about home studies/inspections/ safety requirements, but I haven't found the answer to a couple of my questions. I thought I would ask you guys! I don't have my informational meeting until next week. First, my home is older - not old, by any means, but it's got older cabinets, smaller windows, nice but not 'new' flooring. I know they don't expect you to have to best of the best, but are there certain things in an older home that would cause them to not license you? Also, I have an above ground pool with a deck, so removing the ladder doesn't sufficiently block the pool since the wooden deck is still there. Has anyone every been able to keep their pool up and build a safety gate on the steps/around the deck area to keep children out? I have a fence around the entire yard, but not directly around the pool. Last, I have also read about the water heater not being easily accessible to the children. Mine, being I have an older house, is located in the bathroom. It has a closet door on it, so would it be sufficient to place a lock on the top to keep the kids out? I know that closets cannot have locks on them so that no child can be locked in, but in the water heater closet - there is room for the water heater and that is it! Thank you in advance for your time to look at these questions! Like I said, I have been researching and plan to ask these questions during my trainings, but if there were some definite NO's, I am not in the position to buy a different house right now and would put off this journey until that time. Thanks!
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Welcome. :) The water heater closet I would think is fine to lock, especially if that's the only option you have. I can't imagine they'd have an issue with that.The pool may be an issue... in Arizona, we're required to have a 6 foot fence around the pool, no exceptions. In fact, a friend of ours said that they were written up for having a rock too close to their fence because it made the height less than 6 feet. I don't know how other states do it, but they're pretty strict on that here. Your best bet is probably to fence it; I've heard before that there are even ways to receive assistance for that kind of thing if you're trying to get licensed, but don't quote me on that.When they do the home inspection, as long as everything is in safe condition, they're not going to worry about its age. Hopefully I helped, but you'll probably get much better (and accurate) answers when you ask your agency. Best of luck!
Last update on June 24, 12:15 am by bookishmom.
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I have an older home, and one of the issues I and some other folks I know ran into is window size, because it was not up to code. Here, there is now a exception in the fire code for older homes, but some still don't have large enough windows. A lot of it depends on where you are.Here, they would alsp not allow a lock on the outside of the water heater closet. I would suggest asking at the information session, but if there is a regular doorknob on it, just replace it with a locking one. If not, there are different kinds of cabinet latches for baby proofing that might work. Remember that the issue is not being able to lock a child in a closet (or room, for that matter), so a doorknob that locks is fine, since it can be opened/ unlocked from the inside without a key.
My agency requires the you complete the fire and health inspections prior to taking classes. I'd call your appropriate civil authority as soon as possible since my city only does them once a month and the next month was full, so it was scheduled for 2 months after I called instead. Not a big deal, but something to note. It was a quick 15 to 20 minutes for both the health and fire inspection. Only note was a bigger fire extinguisher and a fridge thermometer would be nice. Still passed it.
I agree with bookishmom, Here in New South Wales government has made a strict rule for having a Fencing around swimming pool for the purpose of child safety. So just a few weeks ago I was searching for a good Glass pool fencing service provider, then a good friend of mine suggested me to have a click on this website of glass pool fencing Sydney ( ), which is one of the renowned store which provides high quality glass pool fittings and other required accessories.
Last update on April 24, 2:54 am by Carol Potter.
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