Home Interview

This post is two weeks overdue. The home interview went very well. Although my social worker warned that it would take 2-3 hours, it only lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes (my mom timed it).

The social worker reviewed a questionnaire I'd filled out about my childhood. The questions were deeply invasive. She asked why my parents divorced and how it affected me. I told her about growing up with stepbrothers and my mother's second divorce. We talked about the sexual abuse I experienced in my childhood and how I healed. She wanted to know about the drug and alcohol abuse by some of my family members. We talked about my strained relationship with my siblings. We even discussed when I lost my virginity.

Whew. Some of the interview was difficult because I had to recall painful experiences. And my mom was in the guest bedroom with Maxwell, so at times I lowered my voice. I almost felt like a child airing our dirty laundry.

After the interview, the social worker took a 3 minute tour of the condo and finally met Maxwell – who growled and cried because he was locked in the room away from me. She checked my closets (which was weird), the fire extinguisher and smoke detectors.

This is only part one of the home interview. She told me that she's juggling 6 active cases before she would begin interviewing the rest of my training class. The Dept. of Social Services is in a rush to interview new adoption/foster families before the launch of a marketing campaign for more families.

This stage will take 2-3 months. But I'm at a crossroads. Now is the time when I really need to decide what age and sex I want to take. Once I'm approved, the process will finally speed up and I need to be ready.