Delaware Foster Care Home Study: What to Expect

The home study is the step that makes prospective foster parents the most anxious — and for understandable reasons. It's a deep evaluation of your life, your relationships, and your home, conducted by a stranger who holds significant influence over whether you get licensed. But understanding exactly what DFS is looking for takes most of the mystery out of it.

What the Home Study Actually Is

Delaware's home study is a comprehensive family assessment, not just a house inspection. It typically follows the SAFE (Structured Analysis Family Evaluation) model or a similar competency-based approach. An assessment contractor — not your regular DFS caseworker — conducts at least three home visits and interviews every member of your household.

The assessment has four components, and each one carries real weight in the licensing decision.

Component 1: Narrative Interviews

The caseworker will explore your childhood, your family of origin, your history with loss, and your current relationship dynamics. This isn't therapy — it's an evaluation of your resiliency factors. They're looking for evidence that you can handle the emotional demands of fostering, including managing anger, frustration, and grief in healthy ways.

If you're in a partnership, expect separate interviews as well as joint ones. Delaware requires both partners to be fully licensed and trained, so both of you will be evaluated individually on your motivations, your emotional readiness, and your parenting philosophy. The assessor is gauging whether you and your partner are aligned on the decision to foster, not just whether one of you is enthusiastic while the other is going along reluctantly.

Be honest. This isn't a test where you need to present a perfect life. Caseworkers are specifically trained to identify rehearsed answers. What they're looking for is self-awareness — do you understand your own triggers, your coping mechanisms, and your limitations? A foster parent who says "I sometimes lose my temper and here's how I manage it" is more credible than one who claims they never get frustrated.

The assessor will also ask about your expectations for the child. DFS evaluates your "capacity for setting realistic expectations" based on the child's age and developmental stage. If you're expecting a grateful, well-adjusted child who quickly bonds with your family, the assessor will probe that expectation — because it rarely matches reality, especially early in a placement.

Component 2: Physical Home Inspection

The room-by-room walkthrough follows the standards in 9 DE Admin. Code 201. This is the most straightforward part of the home study, and it's the one you have the most control over. Key checkpoints include:

Working smoke detectors on every level and near all bedrooms. Carbon monoxide detectors if you have fuel-burning appliances or an attached garage. Hot water temperature below 120 degrees Fahrenheit at all taps accessible to children — test this before the visit. Medications, chemicals, and alcohol in locked or inaccessible storage. Window screens present and intact on all ventilation windows. A fire extinguisher rated 2A 10BC in the kitchen, charged and accessible.

Bedroom requirements: at least 64 to 100 square feet per child depending on occupancy, separate beds for each child, no room-sharing between opposite-sex children over age five, and separate cribs for each infant. Firearms must be unloaded in a locked cabinet with ammunition stored in a separate locked cabinet.

Safety gates at stairs with four or more steps if children under three will be in the home. Built-in pools fenced per local ordinances with life-saving equipment; above-ground pools with ladders removed when not in use.

Component 3: Documentation Review

Have these ready before your first home visit: recent pay stubs or tax returns verifying your financial stability without reliance on the board rate, proof of homeowners or renters insurance, auto insurance for any vehicle that will transport foster children, and your completed autobiographical statement. The assessor needs to confirm your financial picture matches what you reported on the application.

The financial review is not about wealth. DFS looks for stability — can you pay your bills consistently? Do you have a history of evictions, bankruptcies, or utility shutoffs? These don't automatically disqualify you, but they need to be explained. The standard is that the foster care reimbursement should be used solely for the child's care, not to supplement your household income.

Component 4: Reference Checks

DFS requires at least three non-relative references. These are interviewed by phone or in writing to provide a "360-degree" view of your character. Choose people who know you well enough to speak to your patience, your stability, and your relationship with children. Former teachers, coaches, employers, faith community leaders, or long-term friends are strong choices.

Give your references a heads-up that DFS will contact them, and confirm their phone numbers are current. References who don't return calls are one of the most common causes of home study delays — not because the reference has something negative to say, but because a busy person doesn't call back an unknown number.

Timeline and Small-State Realities

DFS aims to complete the home study within 90 days of your PRIDE training completion. Delaware's compact geography means assessment workers aren't spending full days driving between visits, which theoretically speeds things up. In practice, however, the total timeline often stretches to six months when out-of-state registry checks are needed for household members who lived elsewhere in the past five years.

The biggest delays are self-inflicted: incomplete medical forms where the physician missed a required checkbox, missing insurance documentation, and references who don't return calls. Front-load the paperwork and prep your references well in advance.

If your assessment results in a denial, you have the right to request an administrative hearing within 10 business days. The hearing is conducted by an independent officer with no prior involvement in your case.

Our Delaware Foster Care Licensing Guide includes a complete home study preparation checklist, a room-by-room safety inspection worksheet, interview question examples, and tips for navigating the assessment process with confidence.

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