Seems like you really have to be careful these days if you are a young girl applying to become an au pair. These have been a few news stories over the last few days about men exploiting au pairs (both here in the states and abroad) for sex. One of the stories quoted about 20,000 young women are brought here to America each year for prostitution and some form of sex exploitation.

Who is screening the host families? Are agencies doing enough to ensure that au pairs are safe and will be protected from harm and exploitation while they are so far from home?

Ideally, a counselor/LCC makes a home visit to the prospective host family, makes sure ALL family members are present, interviews the entire family and walks around the home, making sure it is clean, safe and has an appropriate bedroom and bath for the au pair.

While they are doing these tasks, they should be sizing up the couple - is there marital discord that can cause problems within the family and for the au pair? Is both wife and husband on board with the idea of hosting an au pair? Are the children polite and demonstrates they will not pose a safety threat to the young woman who will be in charge of them?

Unruly children have been known to strike au pairs - I had a family once where the children bit, scratched and threw bricks at the au pair. And they were not young - they were 9 and 12 and old enough to inflict damage on a person. I pulled the au pair from that home and the family was dropped. They were lucky the au pair didn't sue them for the scar on her forehead from the brick that the boy slammed into her head!

As summer begins, the bulk of all au pairs who arrive in the country for the year are arriving daily!

With that in mind, we posted an article on welcoming your au pair at our National Clearinghouse on the Au Pair Industry (www.aupaiclearinghouse.com) and today we want you to think about the basic requirements of a host family. Do you meet these requirements? Are you unsure you can provide the basics listed below? If so, you may want to reconsider hosting an au pair.


Read the following and make sure you can provide for the young woman who will be left in your charge:

1. Be willing to accept an au pair into your home as an extended family member (and not just as an employee).

2. Be willing to include the au pair in family meals, outings, holidays, birthdays, weddings and other events.

3. Speak English in your home and with the au pair daily. In addition, you must be a U.S. citizens or a legal permanent resident.

4. Be able to provide good, wholesome meals and a private room for your au pair.

5. Reside in an area covered by one of the agency's counselors or LCCs (you cannot be more than an hour away from that counselor's home).

6. Agree to the terms set by the U.S. Department of State (U.S. Department of State au pair exchange programs URL: www.exchanges.state.gov./jexchanges/programs/aupair.html)

By Edina Stone, at 06/03/2009