By Bridget Nash Staff Writer
Leslie Klamm of Enid is a home studies specialist, a job not many people maintain.
“Home studies are used primarily for adoptions,” said Klamm.
The word adoption generally evokes an image of a couple who can’t have children receiving a child from a woman who won’t be able to provide the best care for her baby.
However, that is only one aspect of adoption. Klamm calls it a non-relative adoption.
When a home study is a must
Non-relative adoptive parents can adopt a newborn child, a child from a foreign country, a child who has been removed from his or her primary home and placed in child services or, in some cases, a child who is the biological child of a spouse.
“If you are adopting a child, you have to have a home study unless you are a parent who has been married to the biological parent for more than a year,” said Klamm.
Home studies also are used when grandparents or other relatives are adopting a child and to determine suitable foster parents. Occasionally, home studies are used to resolve custody battles, said Klamm.
Who can provide a home study
Klamm completes home studies through Adoption Services of Oklahoma and also provides her services to Oklahoma Families First, Oklahoma Home Studies and several private attorneys.
In Oklahoma, a home studies specialist must have at least a master’s degree in a behavioral or social science and two years experience in children’s services. A home studies specialist also must take a class every three years.
“Every state has different requirements,” said Klamm.
The purpose of home studies is “to protect the safety of a child,” said Klamm.
What to expect in a home study
A home study requires several pieces of information:
• A series of interviews with all members of the household.
• Medical information on all members of the household.
• A study of the actual residence, which must feature proper utilities, general cleanliness, appropriate sleeping quarters, adequate privacy, adequate space and proper storage of firearms, cleaning chemicals, medicines and other dangerous objects.
•A child abuse and neglect registry check.
• FBI fingerprint check. This check also automatically checks the national sex offender registry.
• References.
• Employment verification and verification of adequate income.
• Pet history (including up-to-date pet vaccinations).
When it doesn’t work out
Klamm said there have been times when she has recommended a child not be placed in a home she has studied. Sometimes there are certain requirements that need to be addressed the family can take care of to receive recommendation.
One requirement for which there never is an exception is an adult seeking to adopt who is on the sex offender registry. In that case, that person can never adopt a child, said Klamm.
Coming up with a family plan
Different types of adoption are cause for different types of discussion during the household member interviews, said Klamm.
• For example, a grandparent who is adopting a child who has been taken away from his or her biological parents must discuss and have a plan in place on how to protect the child if the need arises.
• Couples who adopt children from other countries must discuss how they will integrate the child’s biological culture into the life of the child.
Klamm said in Enid there is a group of families who have adopted children from China, and they will get together to celebrate Chinese holidays.
When it does work out
When home studies go well and parents are recommended to become adoptive parents, the adoption process can begin.
Klamm said most women who choose adoption for their child are in their late-20s to early 30s and already have several children.
While the teenage pregnancy rate is on the rise, teenagers “normally choose to parent their child,” said Klamm.
She said it is important for teenage mothers to realize choosing to parent the child is not necessarily the “easy way out.”
“Parenting has to have a plan,” said Klamm. “If teens are going to make the choice to parent (a child), then they’ve got to understand what it takes.”
Klamm said adoption is a good process that usually is beneficial to the child.
“I like to see adoption. I have a lot of respect for the women who place for adoption,” said Klamm. “It’s a very special person who can place for adoption. They see the child’s needs above their own.”
