Home Study Assesment Part 1

I wondered about using here to record each appointment as it happened and decided that I wanted to as I expect each one will highlight different things.

This afternoon was our first appointment with our social worker and I was really excited to meet her and get on with the process - I was not disappointed! She was really lovely and went through lots of little bits and pieces. After discussing the preparation course in detail and our expectations of the home study we moved onto the pet assessment.

I was not sure how you could assess to moggies but luckily it was a tick sheet with name, age and breed plus details on character, behaviour, sleeping habits and toileting habits. I think they passed with flying colours and it certainly helped that Marmite gave our social worker a cheeky wink. The second questionnaire was the health and safety assessment and included every room in house and then the garden and was mainly full of common sense so where are cleaning chemicals and medicines kept, are knives and other sharp or dangerous things out of reach, is the house clean and all furniture in good state of repair, any trip or strangulation hazards, tools locked away and sufficient lighting as well as space.

It was also really nice to go through things that we need to do like installing stair gates, fire guards and cupboard catches so we have an idea but there are all things that will not be checked until placement so we have time to get them sorted. I was concerned that we would be expected to do them all now but this was not the case at all. There was only one question mark left with us and that was whether we needed a thermostat on the hot water system - something to be looked at in the next few weeks.

Moving on we have our next appointment in 2 weeks time but in the meantime we have homework. It has been years since I had home work to do and I can't wait to get stuck into it. This weeks challenges are a family tree and a chronology, neither complicated but I want to get as much detail in as possible.