As a former Au Pair Host Mother and Community Counselor I encourage all families that are looking into getting an Au-Pair to seriously research the Agency that you are going to work with. Through the years I have noticed many new agencies pop up online. A quote from IAPA (International Au Pair Association)shares my concern, "Newspaper, internet advertisements or one of the many web-based matching services may appear to be acceptable and inexpensive alternatives for securing an au pair placement. There are, however, potential risks in arranging a placement in this manner." I offer you words of caution and suggest you make a checklist before signing on with an Agency. Checklist: *Be sure they are a federally designated agency. To date there are only Eleven such Agencies. *Be sure they allow you to interview your candidates and not THEM doing the match for you. Some allow only 1-2 candidates, while other agencies allow you to sift through their entire database so that you can be the one making the decision. *PLEASE make sure that the agency you go with has health insurance for the au pairs!!!!!! SOME DO NOT!!!!!!!! *Check with IAPA (International Au Pair Association) for pertinent information about guidelines for hosting or becoming an Au Pair in the United States *Be prepared to help your Au Pair attend approximately 3 classes during the year they are here. This can be a challenge to find classes within the federally allotted funds by the Government so do your homework. *Some Agencies now offer an extension program that allows the Au-Pairs to stay longer than a year. Please check out the pros-cons for this. *Be sure they offer training for the girls before they step foot in your home. *If you have a child under 2, the Government requires higher trained individuals to care for your child, please check that the agency you choose differentiates their candidates for under 2 childcare. *Make sure a Criminal Background check is done by the AGENCY or an affilliated partner. *Who Interviews the candidates before you actually get to speak to them. Some agencies will take any girls that sign up. It is pertinent that they go through a screening process before being approved by an agency. *Does the agency actually check references? Are you allowed to see them and follow up on your own? *Have the individuals been thoroughly screened by a health care provider? Are you allowed to see these records. *Be sure to ask that you can view all of the information about the candidate that they agency has on record. If they do not have it or will not show it to you then something is amiss *How long has the Agency been in business? *Do they offer any referrals of their own? *Are these things included in your price: o Round Trip Airfare o Health Insurance o Background checks o References o Health Screening Check o In-Depth Interviews o Development and Safety Instruction *Is there a community counselor in your area? This is so important for the Au Pairs to have a physical support system close to them. *Are there many other Au Pairs close to you? *Does the Agency assist Au Pairs to get the appropriate Visa? *Do they mandate and require certain Visa's before accepting them into the program? It is always best to do your homework before delving into something that can affect your children and your entire family. Au Pair's are wonderful additions to families and can be the best experience in the world, BUT, if you don't do your homework it can be a nightmare. If you have any specific questions that you feel I can assist you with, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to answer. I plan to follow up with more information with advise about the differences between Au Pair, Nanny, Child-Care, baby-sitting and how to actually interview a potential Au-Pair, and an inside look at being a Community Counselor. |
