#1 is of interest here as well. I suspect there's a plist configuration profile but this seems like a common thing that more pre-configured options would be available.

I am also trying to change the Safari Homepage. I cannot seem to locate a method.

I work with another person here who put in more effort on this. He used a Configuration Profile and within that, created "web clips" to make the necessary pages accessible with a tap since it appears that configuring a homepage can only be done manually on the device.