Home Study

Pre-Adoptive Home Screening (Home Study)

In order to adopt a child in Texas, you are required to complete a Pre-Adoptive Home Screening (Home Study), which must be on file with an approval by Colores Adoptions before you can match with a birthparent.

Since we are licensed in Texas and this is where placement is made, your Pre-Adoptive Home Screening must not only meet your state's requirements, but also all of those required for Texas. Some states, such as Texas, allow certified social workers with M.S.W. credentials (but not necessarily affiliated with an adoption agency) to complete these studies, in which case you may contract with any certified (M.S.W.) social worker with applicable credentials and experience to have your Pre-Adoptive Home Screening done. If you live outside of Texas, your state may require that you have your Pre-Adoptive Home Screening done through a licensed adoption agency within your state (as is the law in North Carolina, New Jersey, Georgia and Wisconsin.) The fees charged for Pre-Adoptive Home Screening are negotiated between you and the provider and are independent of Colores Adoptions agency fee structure.

If you have already had a Pre-Adoptive Home Screening done at this point, the study may have to be supplemented so that it meets state requirements. This is usually just a matter of contacting the social worker who did the original study and having him or her provide us with an addendum covering issues not included in the original study.

If a child has not been placed with the adoptive applicants within one year from the time the Pre-Adoptive Home Screening is completed, the adoptive home screening needs to be brought up-to-date before a placement can be made. Updated information must include:

• At least one visit to the home when all household members are present
• A review of each area of the original Pre-Adoptive Home Screening, noting changes