Preparing for Our Foster Care Home Study

We’d checked off the training classes, logged the hours, and now stood face-to-face with the part that made it all feel real – the home study inspection.

I wasn’t too worried about tidiness. Our house has always been reasonably clean and organized. But preparing for a foster care home study isn’t just about dusting shelves or sweeping floors. It’s about making your home safe and welcoming for kids of all ages – even if you’ve never had children in your home before.

And in our case, we hadn’t. We rarely had kids visit, and while our house was “safe enough” for friends’ children, we definitely weren’t baby-proofed or teen-proofed. Foster care training required a whole new level of preparation.

The Safety Checklist We Didn’t Expect

Although we had chosen a younger age range for placements, we were still required to prepare our home as if children of all ages could arrive – from toddlers through teenagers. That meant:

Installing child locks on cupboards and drawers.
Locking up all medications, both prescription and over-the-counter.
Securing cleaning supplies in locked cabinets and closets.
Removing knives from the counter and putting them in a locked drawer.
Adding fire extinguishers on every floor, along with updating smoke detector placement.
Practicing an emergency escape plan with our caseworker and purchasing escape ladders for the second floor.

Some of these changes made perfect sense. Others felt a little awkward in real life.

I’ll never forget asking a store employee if they carried refrigerator locks. The horrified look on her face said it all. I rushed to explain we were preparing for foster care and that made it seem even worse. In the end, we moved our alcohol to an extra fridge in the basement and added a lock so we didn’t need one on our main kitchen fridge.

I wanted our home to feel safe, not sterile. But as I quickly learned, safety looks a little different when you’re welcoming kids who’ve walked hard roads.

Reality Check: Our First Placement

Even with all that preparation, I quickly learned there’s a difference between meeting the foster care safety checklist and being truly ready for a child to live in your home.

When we welcomed our first respite placement, I realized just how much I hadn’t thought through. Each room was set up with clean sheets, fresh towels, and a small welcome gift for each child. I’d stocked the house with kid-friendly snacks and felt both relatively prepared and completely terrified at the same time.

I assumed they would treat our home the way I treat a friend’s house – with respect for personal space. Instead, bedroom drawers were opened, all closets explored, and even my laptop (tucked away in a drawer in the room) was taken out and handled.

Looking back, I would’ve completely emptied each bedroom dresser and closet. I’d have treated every closet in the house as a potential adventure zone or added a lock if I didn’t want it opened and explored. And I would’ve actually locked away the personal items I thought would be fine tucked in a drawer or closet – like my laptop.

That first experience was eye-opening. It wasn’t about being “invaded” – it was about understanding what kids need when they enter a brand-new space. They’re curious, anxious, and sometimes testing boundaries. My preparation needed to go beyond locks and checklists to creating a truly safe, child-friendly environment.

Practical Tips for New Foster Parents

Looking back, I realize the state’s required preparations were just a starting point. The real learning came once we had a child in our home.

So if you’re preparing for your first foster care home study, here’s my advice:

Do the checklist, but also think practically. What would you not want touched or explored? Move it.
Think like a child. What would catch their eye in each room? Secure or remove it.
Give them space. Clear closets, drawers, and shelves so they feel like the room is theirs, even if it’s only for a weekend.

Every foster parent learns as they go. Preparing your house is just one step – the real work (and joy) comes in opening your heart.

Let’s Talk

If you’ve gone through a foster care home study, what surprised you most about the preparation process? What advice would you give to someone just starting out?

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