Home Study Packet Complete!

As I type this, our huge packet of home study paperwork is running through my copier!

We've had just one last piece of info to get together, and it's been weighing on me for weeks that it hasn't gotten done yet. (You know how I mentioned that it would be far easier to adopt before having biological children? Case in point).

Well, if she wasn't already sweet and helpful, I would think that Kindra offered to take the kids tonight just so that she didn't have to listen to me gripe and complain anymore that we still weren't done with our home study stuff. But because she is sweet and helpful, regardless of her motive, she did take the kids for a few hours tonight, fed them dinner, and gave us the uninterrupted time that we needed to finish it off!

I'm not sure if it's a reflection on my copier or the packet, but it's still going...

Anyway. I'm making a copy of the complete set of what I'm sending off, as I do with everything, just in case-even though I'll still mail it with delivery confirmation!

Ah, it's done. Want to know what's in it? Glad you asked.

1. Application
2. Office of Children's Services Clearance Form (2)
3. Residency Disclosure Statement (2)...every city and state we've lived in since age 18, with approximate dates.
4. Release of Information
5. Adoptive Applicant Health Report (2)
6. Financial Statement
7. Verification of Employment (2)...I thought about having the kids sign off on mine as my employers, but figured it would be best to just write N/A.
8. References Form (7 references: 2 family, and 5 people unrelated to you who hopefully like you and approve of you as parents)
9. Autobiographical Outline (all 13 pages of it, times two)!
10. Contract for Services
11. Client Grievance Procedure
12. Notice of Privacy Practices
13. Birth certificate copy for all 5 of us
14. Marriage certificate
15. Front cover of 1040 tax returns for past two years.
16. Plus...our FBI clearance should have been received by our social worker from our first set of fingerprints for background clearance.

All that, and a check for $800, and we're good to go! Our coordinator at Catholic Social Services will look over our packet and then will connect us with a home study writer to set up our interviews/home visits.

I know we still have a lot of hoops to jump through, but it feels soooo good to have this major chunk to check off. God is good! Now off to attack the dossier with a vengeance!

(Well...tomorrow night).