What should I know?

[shemarie82]

Alright, our home visit is Thursday, what do I need to know before she shows up?

I will be cleaning like a maniac tomorrow to make sure that everything is spotless. The crib is set up in the foster room, we have a locked box for medicine, and the chemicals are in a cabinet with a safety closure. Anything else that they will be looking at?

[jwinct]

Keep in mind we're getting licensed through CT DCF and our age range is 0-4... your state's requirements may be different, and I can't remember when age range you're getting licensed for.

Our SW looked for smoke detectors on each floor, a CO detector in our basement, where our boiler is, a fire extinguisher (we have one mounted near our fireplace). In the basement, she also checked to make sure the area around the boiler and the fuse box were clear and easily accessible.

Make sure the crib is not hear any cords or wires. We made sure our crib was away from the windows because we currently have blinds, but I plan to switch to shades, so that we can put the crib on the other side of the room. We made sure to have the outlet covers in and we had a new baby gate installed at the top of the stairs (we had one already, but it was falling apart).

She looked at all the walls in every room to make sure there were no holes in the walls or peeling paint, not exposed wires. Pools and alternate heating sources also have to be inspected, but we don't have a pool.

I'm sure you'll do great. Good luck!

[gnomesweetgnome]

Some will depend on your agency. Our foster agency requires chemicals to be high up for children under 8, and locked for children over 8. Typical child proofing locks for cabinets don't count as locked, except the magnetic ones. I would guess that they gave you a check list beforehand, but if not you'll be able yo fix the problems before approval.

[shemarie82]

I have asked several times for a checklist...but...well, no other way to put it, she sucks! I actually asked again last week, since there is a different county doing the licensing than the one that we have been working with. Hopefully we have everything covered!

[gnomesweetgnome]

That stinks. You may be able to check your state website for a health/safety checklist that your DFPS/CPS has published. I have that plus an agency specific page of guidelines that I got from them, but our agency is pretty awesome.

[drl]

Just remember that any issues they might find are easily correctable and easy to document. You'll do great.

[shemarie82]

Is it silly to bake cookies so the house smells good when she gets there?!

[jwinct]

Apr 21, 2015 13:51:27 GMT -5 shemarie82 said:

Is it silly to bake cookies so the house smells good when she gets there?!

I had candles burning during our visits because I'm paranoid that our house smells like dogs, even after we clean it thoroughly. So, I don't think it's silly at all! You can even just put some cinnamon on a baking sheet and bake that for a little bit. We did that when we were selling our condo. I'd bake it for a little bit and then turn the oven off right when we left.