Homestudy on hold

I'm feeling a bit sad because our homestudy is on hold right now. Our social worker's husband is seriously ill and is in hospital. I completely understand that she can't work right now but it is just hard being patient. I knew this process would have lots of road-blocks but I was just hoping that they wouldn't happen so soon!

So, in the attempt to feel productive I have started to compile our dossier. For those of you who aren't in the adoption world this is a bunch of paper-work and notarized documents that will be sent along with our homestudy report to Ottawa (for approval) and then on to Ethiopia. I honestly thought it would be much worse. So far I think it is pretty manageable. In case you are curious this is the list I got from our agency that they said we could begin working on now:

Dossier Required Documents Checklist:


□ Completed Homestudy
□ Provincial Letter of Approval

Medical Information (not over 2 years old):
□ Medical report from family physician, including HIV testing - male applicant
□ Medical report from family physician, including HIV testing - female applicant
□ Other: Medical specialist report if applicants have been under the care of a specialist

Security Clearances (not over 2 years old, of all members of household over 18):
□ Interpol/RCMP fingerprint police check – male applicant
□ Interpol/RCMP fingerprint police check – female applicant
□ Other: Criminal record check for countries in which applicant has lived for 6 consecutive
months or more

Financial:
□ 2 original copies of current Notice of Assessment from Revenue Canada – male applicant
□ 2 original copies of current Notice of Assessment from Revenue Canada – female applicant
□ 2 original copies of Letter from Employer – male applicant
□ 2 original copies of Letter from Employer – female applicant
□ Summary of Health Care and Life Insurance Benefits


Notarized/Certified:
□ Notarized Power of Attorney
□ Notarized Consent to Exchange Information
□ Notarized Letter to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs
□ Notarized Power of Attorney to Ethiopian Representative
□ Notarized Undertaking regarding Follow up Reports
□ Notarized/Certified Birth Certificate – male applicant, and photocopy
□ Notarized/Certified Birth Certificate – female applicant, and photocopy
□ Notarized/Certified Marriage Certificate, and photocopy
□ Notarized/Certified Divorce Decree, if applicable

Character References
□ 2 from non-relatives, paragraph format, typed, original signatures

Other:
□ Clear, colour photocopy of passport – male applicant
□ Clear, colour photocopy of passport – female applicant
□ 2 passport photos – male applicant (submit 1, keep one for visa)
□ 2 passport photos – female applicant (submit 1, keep one for visa)