HERITAGE ADOPTION SERVICES
HOME STUDIES AND POST PLACEMENT REPORTS

Heritage Adoption Services has been completing home studies and post placement reports for families adopting through other agencies or independently since 1991!  We are happy to help you with any range of services to SWIFTLY and PROFESSIONALLY move you through the home study and post placement process.

▪ Heritage can help you whether you intend to adopt within the United States or internationally.
▪ Heritage can help you whether you intend to adopt through an attorney or an agency.
▪ Heritage can help you when you are working with an agency in another state but need a local agency to complete your home study and post placement/adoption reports.
▪ Heritage is also able to provide home study updates and addendums as needed.

FIRST OF ALL, WHAT IS A HOME STUDY?

THE HOME STUDY IS A DOCUMENT REQUIRED BY THE STATE AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS FOR EVERY ADOPTION, DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL. It includes documentation such as birth and marriage certificates, tax and income records, police and child protective services record checks. You will fill out a questionnaire about your background, parenting practices and reasons for adopting. A caseworker will come to your home to interview you and all members of your household, and to be sure your home has no safety hazards for a child. She or he will write a report based on all the information received. Home studies for international adoptions will be reviewed by the USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) and the government of the country involved.  Home studies for domestic adoptions will be reviewed by the court where the adoption is filed.

AFTER PLACEMENT, ONE OR MORE FURTHER REPORTS ARE REQUIRED TO INSURE THAT ALL IS GOING WELL. These are called post placement reports and are also filed with the court and/or may be sent to the country involved for an international adoption. Post placement requirements vary greatly depending on state or country of origin and agency used for the adoption.  Most states or countries require between one and five post placement reports to be written.

WHAT SERVICES CAN HERITAGE PROVIDE?

Heritage Adoption Services is able to write home study reports for families living anywhere in Oregon, Washington and Montana and Alaska.

• Once all required paperwork is in our office, you will receive a call from the worker assigned, who will schedule one or more home visits, as required for your adoption. 
• The caseworker will interview all family members who live in the home, assess your home for safety standards, and write the report. 
• If you need a report finished very quickly, please contact us ? we are very flexible and understand special adoption circumstances that require quick action.

Heritage is also able to provide education, mediation, and counseling services for independent adoptions as well, please contact Deborah at info@heritageadoption.org for details.

At this time Heritage Adoption Services writes home study reports for all countries except Russia and the Ukraine.  At this time we are unable to complete Home Studies and Post Placement reports for families adopting from these countries due to their paperwork requirements. Heritage has extensive experience working with families adopting from all over the US, China, Guatemala, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, and Taiwan.

WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF HOME STUDIES AND POST PLACEMENT REPORTS?

This list does not cover all possibilities ? if you do not see a category that matches your adoption plan, please call 503-233-1099, or email us at info@heritageadoption.org.

DOMESTIC ADOPTIONS (child born in US) INDEPENDENT HOME STUDIES: to be filed in OREGON Note: this amount is set by the state of Oregon $1,500 HOME STUDIES: All other independent or inter-agency $1,500 INDEPENDENT POST PLACEMENT: filed in OREGON - if your adoption is filed in an Oregon court this is paid through your attorney ($550) POST PLACEMENT: All other independent or inter-agency $350     INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS   HOME STUDIES: $1,500     POST PLACEMENT: $350     Just moved into our neck of the woods? Switching programs? Immigration approval expiring and need an update? Heritage is also able to provide home study updates and addendums as needed and charge appropriately on a case by case basis, depending on the amount of documentation, visiting, and writing required.   IMPORTANT:  For families living outside of our office areas (outside the Portland-metro area for Oregon families; outside the Vancouver area for Washington families; and outside the Bozeman or Helena areas for Montana families and parts of Alaska), additional travel and mileage expenses must be paid directly to the home study writer. Rates for mileage are determined by the current federal reimbursement rate which fluctuates between .45 to .50 per mile and travel time (round trip) is $20 per hour. This helps our social workers defray the cost of wear and tear to their cars (estimated at about $1.50 per mile!). Those fees shall be paid at the time of the home visit directly to the home study worker, whenever necessary. We make every effort to assign a home study writer who lives as near to you as possible. Whenever necessary, mileage is billed from the writer's point of origin to your home and back to the point of origin. Should an overnight stay be required, or alternate travel arrangements (such as in the case that a short flight might be cheaper than mileage), the adopting family is responsible for making arrangements in coordination with the home study coordinator at the Heritage Portland office and may be responsible for providing meals and lodging at a reasonable rate. All home study fees and travel expenses are non-refundable.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

A packet with an application, required forms, and instructions for gathering paperwork is available through our office.  Give us a call at 503-233-1099 or email us at info@heritageadoption.org.