Au Pair Sues Au Pair Agency for 1 Million Dollars Citing Sexual Abuse, Fraud and Sexual Battery

Courthouse News Service. October 7 2011

PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) - A teen-age au pair from Germany claims a placement agency aided and abetted an employer who sexually assaulted her, and that the agency knew or should have known that he had done the same thing to two other women the agency had placed in his home.

Amely Mae Conrad sued US Au Pair and Helene Young for fraud, negligence, sexual harassment and discrimination, sexual assault and battery, aiding and abetting and other charges, in Multnomah County Court.

Conrad, 18, says she contacted US Au Pair after seeing it promote itself on its website "a 'U.S. State Department-designated sponsor'" for au pairs.

During a 2-month process that included meetings with the defendants' partner in Germany, Munich Au Pair, Conrad says Young told her "she had found a wonderful family, the Guptas," for her to work with in the United States."

Young told her that "the Gupta family had passed an extensive background check," and that "the Gupta family had had a few au pairs working with them in the past, there had been no problems reported, and the au pairs had enjoyed their experience of working for the Gupta family," according to the complaint.

But Conrad says the latter statement is a lie, and Young should have known it - that US Au Pair had provided two other au pairs to the Guptas, both of whom were subjected to sexual advances by the father, Ashish Gupta.

In 2008, Conrad says, Gupta asked a German au pair "to send him a photo of herself wearing a bikini" before she arrived and "persisted in asking her about her sex life," after she told him it was none of his business. Gupta also rubbed her bare thigh, "inappropriately" fondled her and prohibited her from attending school, which was one of the main reasons she came to the United States, according to the complaint.

This au pair "finally has to leave the Gupta home because of Mr. Gupta's inappropriate behavior and retaliation for rebuffing his advances," the complaint states.

In 2009 US au pair placed a young woman, also from Germany, with the Guptas. Gupta again annoyed this woman with "very inappropriate and sexually proactive conversation," such as "when she had sex most recently, and the sexual positions she preferred," according to the complaint.

Conrad says Gupta also asked this young woman to go with him on a business trip, and asked "to see her in a bikini. Fed up with Mr. Gupta's inappropriate behavior and sexual advances, (the second au pair) left the Gupta home."

When she arrived at the Guptas' in September 2010, Conrad says, Gupta did the same things to her. She says that "almost immediately, Ashish ('Mr. Gupta') began behaving in ways that made plaintiff, who at the time was only 18 years old, feel very uncomfortable." She says Gupta made her "keep her bedroom door open at all times," repeatedly tried to ply her with alcohol, asked her often "to dress in hot shorts or a bikini," told her "not to change out of her pajamas in the morning," insisted that she let him go with her to a mall, where he told her "that she had a 'cute butt,'" then made her try on a pair of shorts, "squeezed her buttock, and said in a creepy voice, 'this feels good.'"

At this, Conrad says, she "was shocked and pulled away," but Gupta "undeterred, shamelessly asked plaintiff if her could 'smack' her buttock. Plaintiff, in horror and disbelief, loudly said no and walked away from him."

She says Gupta continued to molest her though mid-October in his home, sexually pawing her, kissing her "suddenly" without her consent, and trying to fondle her breasts and genitals. She says his molestations made her "devastated, embarrassed" and that afterward she "cried herself to sleep."

She said she repeatedly objected to his sexual pawings, which made Gupta "very upset, mumbling in anger under his breath."

As she continued to resist, Conrad says, Gupta "became abusive" and "began to mistreat her."

He told her she was doing a poor job and that he and his wife were unhappy with her, he docked her pay, made her work seven days a week, and demanded that she "clean the house, cook, and do other chores that were not part of her employment agreement," Conrad says.

Finally, Conrad called her father in Germany, who contacted US Au Pair through its German partner agency. The next day, Conrad says, defendant Young told her to pack her bags because she was being removed from the Gupta home. She says Young apologized for the harassment she had suffered, and promised to place her in a better home.

Shortly afterward, Conrad says, she found out about a previous au pair who had been "molested and victimized" by Gupta. Upon learning this, she says, she "felt she could no longer trust Young or US Au Pair to place her in a safe and healthy working environment," and returned to Germany, where she suffered "a full blown emotional breakdown and became suicidal."

Conrad demands $999,000 plus punitive damages from Young and the Lake Oswego-based business.
She is represented by Mitra Shahri.
Gupta is not named as a defendant.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/10/07/40401.htm

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Survey Results Reveal the
3 Top-Rated Au Pair Agencies and the NUMBER One Winner for Overall Excellence!

The Good NEWS!

Looking at the ratings of all agencies combined, our 2010-2011 Host Family Satisfaction Survey shows an increase in overall satisfaction from last year’s survey findings:

• The percentage of top-ratings—“excellent”—given by host parents goes up from 39 percent a year ago to 49 percent in the latest survey!

This is certainly good news appears to reflects a very positive trend for customer service in the au pair industry.

Au pairs are highly affordable and are one of the most popular childcare choices for busy American families.

Finally, there is a better way to find an au pair!

While most au pair agencies receive very favorable customer satisfaction ratings from host parents, there are 3 agencies that receive positive evaluations that are above average and deserve our recognition in our yearly Top 3 Au Pair Agency List!

To read our Top 3 Au Pair Agencies for 2011, click here now!

Educare Au Pairs

Jerry N. from Utah emailed us this question about Educare Au Pairs:

"My children are now 10 & 12. We really don't need a full time au pair. She doesn't have enough to do all day, and we cannot expect her to do the family's laundry and housecleaning. She often sits home all day until 3:00 pm, waiting for the kids to get home from the bus. I am thinking about the Educare program - do you recommend this program?"

Yes Jerry, of course. Let me print out my new article on Educare that I was planning to add on the website by end of this week! Here it is:

Educare Au Pairs Are Great for School-Aged Children

Educare au pairs are just the thing for families with older children! School-aged children, who are in school all day, do not need full-time childcare.

If you have school-aged children and you don't need a full 45 hours of childcare per week, perhaps you can get by with 30 hours of childcare. If this is the case, the good news is, you pay less!

What are the Benefits of an Educare au pair?

• Au pairs participating in the Educare component receive 75 percent of the weekly rate paid to non-Educare participants. You save money with Educare au pairs. For 45 hours of childcare, the stipend for standard au pairs is $195.75 and for Educare au pairs, the stipend is only $146.81.
• Educare au pairs, who provide care for school-aged children, up to 18-years-old, are often more mature, older and academically oriented compared to younger, less mature au pairs.
• Au pairs from the Educare program are ideal for families that require childcare before and after school.

What are the Caveats of the Educare Program?

• Educare au pairs may not be placed with families that have preschool childcare (unless other childcare plans have been made).
• They cannot work more than 10 hours a day and only a maximum of 30 hours per week.
• Au pairs must attend 12 academic credits during the program year (compared to only 6 credits standard au pairs take).
• Educare host families are required to pay the first $1,000 toward the cost of the 12 academic credits during the program year (compared to only $500 education allotment for a standard au pair).

Between 20-30% of all au pairs in the cultural exchange program sign up for the Educare program. Au pairs who enjoy taking college courses appreciate the Educare program - these au pairs are often older and can be characterized as more mature and are more motivated to stay and finish their 12 month program.

Not all au pair agencies have Educare au pairs. Check out our Au Pair Agency Reviews & Ratings to see which agencies qualify.

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Read more about Educare au pairs on the new J1Visa Dept. of State website

Interview With Owner of Take-Care.me - Private Testing of Au Pairs

Yossi Pinkas is the CEO and Founder of Take-Care.me, an online personality assessment of au pairs, nannies, and babysitters. TakeCare’s AuPairTest helps parents assess potential caregivers by providing a better insight into their personality and traits. Assessments are professional, easy to use and understand, affordable and available online anywhere and anytime.

Yossi has served as VP Sales & Marketing for Nemesysco, where he gained significant experience in the field of credibility assessment and integrity tests. Prior to Nemesysco, he has held the positions of VP of EMEA for Expand Networks and Director of Sales & Business Development for Tadiran Telecom. He has, a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Technion Institute of Technology, Israel and an MBA from Henley Management College in the UK.

Yossi is a father to a daughter, age 14 and two sons (10 and 2.5) and has employed over the years 3 nannies and one au pair.

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Edina: Yossi, thank you for much for talking to our readers about your innovative business, TakeCare! I am excited to have the opportunity to talk to you about your new au pair screening test, called the NannyTest, which is available to host parents to ensure they are making a good, safe match.

Yossi, can you tell us more about your business and what NannyTest is all about?

A New Way to Screen Au Pairs

Pinkas: Thank you Edina for giving me the opportunity to introduce the NannyTest to America. TakeCare’s mission is to improve the screening process of caregivers by providing parents with an access to a professional screening tool. Our NannyTest allows parents to gain a better insight into an au pair’s personality traits as well as highlight possible risk factors.

Edina: How did you start your business and what motivated you to design and offer a childcare screening test to parents worldwide?

Pinkas: I started my business by partnering with a leading provider of psychological assessment tools and had them develop a screening tool that is specifically designed for the assessment of au pairs, nannies, babysitters and other childcare caregivers, and making it easy enough to use by non-professionals.

Before founding TakeCare, I worked for a company developing and marketing various screening tools for corporate and government customers. When my wife and I started looking for a nanny for my youngest child, I realized that we really could have benefited from a childcare screening tool, but there were no tests available for parents at that time. It took me a year or so to gather enough courage to start my own company that would provide a test that could help parents to better screen the person they hired to care for their children!

Edina: Who designed your test? What steps did they take to check the validity of NannyTest?

How the Nanny Test is Designed

Pinkas: Psiphas Psychological Applications, a leading vendor of psychological assessment tools, designed NannyTest. Psiphas has been designing tests for nearly 20 years and serves major government and corporate customers such as FedEx and IKEA.

Our personality assessment is based on the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) that has been well researched and validated in numerous studies by various researchers. The CPI is used extensively in the U.S. for individual personality screening and enjoys an excellent and popular reputation for its usefulness among psychologists.

I do wish to emphasize the NannyTest, as any psychological tool, is not and can never be 100% accurate. NannyTest should be used as part of a complete screening process, along with interviews, reference checks, etc., and test results should never be used as the sole factor in making a hiring decision.

Edina: Yes, of course, no psychological test can ever be 100% accurate! Certainly, a host parent would use the NannyTest in conjunction with the phone interview, criminal background checks, all other references, etc. Yossi, I am familiar with CPI, a highly respected and valid test that is recognized worldwide by the American Psychological Association (APA). It is impressive that the NannyTest is based on this worldwide known inventory.

Parents Receive a Written Report Summary

What I like about your test is the fact host parents receive a prospective au pair's summary report in an easy to read format. They now have control over a key part of the au pair's screening! This new technology is revolutionary for the au pair industry and I am not sure if parents understand how fortunate they are to have this kind of screening available to them at this time.

You really have to get the word out about this new and exciting development in the au pair interviewing process.

Pinkas: Yes, of course, we are spreading the word and, as a result, we are enjoying a very good response from childcare agencies worldwide. Thank you Edina for the opportunity to inform and educate host parents about the NannyTest.

Edina: As you know, the 13 legal au pair agencies in the United States are required by the Department of State to conduct personality screening on each prospective au pair. Therefore, by law, each au pair approved by each agency has already undergone a personality “test.”

When should parents conduct a second screening? Under what circumstances should host parents conduct a second screening?

Pinkas: As a matter of fact, the accurate wording of the Department of State requirement is “Personality Profile” rather than “Personality screening.” Not all tests designed to build a Personality Profile can be used to screen job applicants.

Two Critical Weaknesses of Current Au Pair Screening Tests

I have noticed that some agencies are using tests that are designed for job counseling rather than for screening job applicants, and serve the au pairs more than they serve the parents, telling an au pair whether a childcare position matches her inclinations and preferences, rather than assessing whether the au pair has the capabilities or personal traits required to perform the job.

Furthermore, typical personality tests lack the component of risk assessment, which I consider to be the most critical component of the screening process.

Edina: You make an excellent point here and I agree – several of the tests currently used by au pair agencies do not identify traits required to perform childcare duties nor do they assess potential risks.

In addition, not all American au pair agencies use the same personality test and some tests are better than others.

For example, one agency simply uses a series of questions they developed themselves, with “yes” or “no” responses. For example, “Do you see things that are not there? Do you hear voices coming from the TV?” Many au pairs who “see things that are not there” would be inclined to say “no” since they may feel paranoid about answering “yes” or they may be secretive about their visions and want to keep them hidden (for good reason). But, that would not help an agency to identify a risk factor here at all – and this au pair may “pass” such a test and be accepted into the program based on her ability to “hide” her pathology (i.e., hallucinations).

The list of questions this particular agency uses was created by the agency instead of a psychologist or team of psychologists and has no checks for its validity. It appears that the Department of State is okay with au pair agencies using their own “homemade” personality tests.

Why Would You NOT Rely on the Experts?

Do you think host parents should be concerned about this? Why is it important to use tests that are designed by experts/psychologists?

Pinkas: Host parents should definitely be concerned about it. Constructing questionnaires and tests should only be done by professionals with expertise in Psychometrics. Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of educational and psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits.

Constructing proper tests requires knowledge and expertise in both Psychology and Statistics. When questionnaires and tests are designed by non-professionals, one can never know how reliable and valid are the tests, and whether the results have any significance at all.

Edina: This is of great concern to me and should be for all host parents. If they are not comfortable with their agency’s au pair personality test, they should consider using your NannyTest for peace of mind!

Yossi, can you tell our readers how your NannyTest was validated?

Pinkas: Our test is based on the CPI (California Psychological Inventory) for personality assessment. Many research studies have validated the CPI and ithas been extensively used in the U.S. for many years. The risk assessment validity results from both construct validity of the test itself and the concurrent validity of the algorithms that were developed using discriminate analysis (and I do apologize if most readers are unfamiliar with those terms but I cannot explain it in a simple way without diving into a rather long lecture).

What Makes the NannyTest Unique?

Edina: Yossi, would you tell us about your test and what it measures?

Pinkas: The NannyTest is unique in combining both personality testing and risk assessment into a single test.

In the personality test part we evaluate personal traits suitability for the role of a caregiver. Those traits include responsibility, obedience and discipline, self-control, emotional stability, coping with pressure, service awareness and positive attitude.

The risk assessment part of the tests identifies risks related to violent behavior, drug abuse, drinking habits, general integrity, truthful reporting, respect for property (theft), commitment to place of work, bribery and gambling habits.

The test is an interactive online test and can be performed anywhere and anytime. It includes some 300 hundred questions, takes some 30 minutes to complete and requires the applicant to be fluent in reading English, Spanish or Portuguese.

Edina: I think both components are equally important, risk assessment and personality traits, and critical when screening au pairs (or nannies). Working with au pairs for many years, I can confirm that not all au pairs are “suited” for childcare. They may be lovely young people, friendly and pleasant, but they do not have the particular traits needed to care for children all day: patience and good judgment are two that come to mind immediately.

Risk assessment is a critical piece of the puzzle when interviewing for a safe childcare giver. Parents need to know if their au pair is truthful, non-violent and certainly, does not struggle with addiction problems (drugs, alcohol or gambling).

Host Parents Need More Information

Although au pair agencies must administer psychometric tests to all of their prospective au pairs, they are not required to share the results with host parents. Agencies could send host parents a report of the au pair’s results, if only just a brief, one page summary, but they don’t.

When parents use your test, they receive a report within minutes after the prospective au pair completes the test online. Would you tell us what the report includes? Would you talk about your report that is sent to parents?

Pinkas: The test report has been designed very carefully to be easily understood by parents and does not require any professional background to understand the results!

The first part of the report is a summary, showing whether it is safe to hire the au pair or if certain risks were identified. Only if no risk is identified, will the summary also show graphically how suitable the au pair is to taking care of children. The bar graph will presenther personal traits suitability scorecompared to the general population (above average, average or below average).

The second part of the report details the score for each risk factor and the third part presents the score for each personality trait assessed, so that parents can identify how well the au pair is scoring on the different personality traits.

Altogether, the report provides parents with a detailed insight into the au pair’s personality traits, and clear indications about possible risks in hiring her.

Edina: I think your report is excellent, easy to read, informative and highly useful for parents who are hiring au pairs over the phone, sight unseen and if they are uncertain about a particular au pair they have in mind. For parents who want to look at a sample report, they can download one here easily. One shows a "postive" report, the other shows red flags:

Download sample positive report

Download sample negative report

Two New Test Improvements

Yossi, there are two new improvements in your test regarding languages. Would you tell us about these new changes and how they can benefit host parents?

Pinkas: Because our NannyTest is timed, it requires the applicant to read the test language fluently. We initially launched the test in English only, but in the past few months, and based on market demand, we have added Spanish and Portuguese. Parents interviewing Spanish-speaking au pairs and au pairs from Brazil (who speak Portuguese) can use NannyTest with confidence. We will support more languages in the near future, to allow as many host parents to benefit from the NannyTest as possible.

Edina: This is great news – the largest au pair population in demand by American host parents includes both Spanish speaking au pairs and Brazilian au pairs.

I have a background in psychology and therefore I am very familiar with psychometric tests – and as an au pair expert, I am quite familiar with the screening process au pair agencies provide. There are many weaknesses in the screening process that could be greatly improved by using your test. Because I believe so strongly in the NannyTest and in the idea of giving parents more options and education in their search for the best au pair, I provide a link to your test from the Clearinghouse home page.

I highly recommend NannyTest for any parent who wants more control over the screening process and professional confirmation that their choice is an educated one.

Aren’t our children worth it?

Yossi: Thank you and yes, of course, our children are worth it!

I really appreciate your help in helping us create awareness for NannyTest. All articles and guides on screening caregivers that I found on the web limit the discussion to interviews, reference checks and background screening, so most parents aren’t aware of the existence of additional screening tools. The reason for that is probably that such tests were not relevant to parents as they were not accessible to them, but now, with NannyTest, any parent can perform such a test on their own, easily and at a very reasonable price.

Edina: Yossi, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to the Clearinghouse and to share your insights and expertise with au pair personality testing.

We hope you will come back again to keep us updated about this critical issue, and as more exciting news develops with your NannyTest.

Yossi: Yes, I will do that! Thank you so much Edina for the opportunity to present and discuss the NannyTest to your readers.

As a father, I know what it is like to find the best person to care for my children. I went through the process and it was daunting! My three children are the most important priorities in my life, next to my wife, and my concern and love for them were the motivating factors that lead me to creating the NannyTest. I want to share the ability to take more control over the screening process with as many parents as possible.

Edina, as you say here on your invaluable and very useful host family resource, the Clearinghouse, parents need more information to make the best choices. NannyTest provides parents with the kind of information that is critical in the choosing of the person who will be responsible for the care, safety and well-being of their children. They are worth it!

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Read More about the NannyTest:

Testimonial from Host Mom

Why Use TakeCare's Online Personality & Risk Assessment Test?

How to Interview & Screen Au Pairs

What Every Host Parent Needs to Know About Au Pairs & Culture Shock

FAQs from Host Parents:

1. What is Culture Shock?

Culture Shock is a phenomenon that occurs when a foreigner enters a new culture and experiences unpleasant adjustment symptoms that can range from problems sleeping, mental fatigue, a delay or refusal to speak the new culture’s language, a desire to return home and feelings of hopelessness. All au pairs experience some form of Culture Shock when they first arrive in your home.

Your counselor should have explained this phenomenon and what to expect and how to recognize the symptoms. However, many au pair agencies do not address this critical issue!

2. What should I expect when my new au pair arrives?

Au pairs experience culture shock in varying degrees when they arrive.

Most au pairs adjust quickly and are excited to meet the challenges of her new culture and all that is has to offer.

A significant number of au pairs never adjust and they usually return home soon after their arrival due to a number of reasons.

Culture Shock can disrupt the entire family's schedule and can result in a broken match. Protect your family's well-being and secure your match by knowing the facts behind Culture Shock & Au Pairs. Avoid costly rematches and time away from work.

3. How do I know my au pair is suffering from Culture Shock?

Recognizing Cultural Shock in your Au Pair

You will need to recognize the symptoms of cultural shock before you can help reduce the problems that may arise between your au pair and your family. If you understand how difficult it is for these young girls to adjust to a new country and a strange and different culture, you can be proactive in minimizing the disruption it can have on your family and for your au pair.

4. What happens if the problem doesn't get resolved?

Depression Can Set In

If left unchecked, Culture Shock can result in a clinical depression in your au pair. Some of the warning signs of depression are: homesickness that does not go away in 2-3 weeks, lethargy and sadness. If your au pair develops depression, she will be sent home in order to receive the proper medication and psychological intervention.

5. What should I do if I am a new host parent? How can I be prepared?

Educate yourself! Know as much as you can about Culture Shock so you can deal with it before it results in poor communication, childcare mistakes and/or rematch!

Do Not Hire an Au Pair Before you Read Our Comprehensive Report on Culture Shock and how it can affect your au pair and her relationship with your family and, most of all, your children!

My Wish List for Au Pair Agencies

Most American Families Do NOT Know That Au Pairs Are Very Affordable

It is true that many working families do not know how affordable au pairs are! I think one of the reasons is that the term au pair may scare off many parents who think you have to have money to hire a French babysitter! Most middle income families have little idea what an au pair is, or how affordable they are!

I was talking to a woman in the supermarket the other day and she was stressing out about her babysitter who just quit. This woman runs a dry cleaner and works long, hard hours. She was paying over $700 a week for a babysitter to care for her 2 children from 8 am - 5 pm. Her husband came home at 5 pm to relieve the babysitter.

When I told her she could host an au pair for half that amount she was thrilled, but said, "we don't speak French!"

Au Pair Agencies Do NOT Do a Good Job of Educating the American Public

There are many misconceptions about au pairs in this country - even after 25 years. A quarter of a century is more than enough time to educate the American public about au pairs, who they are, where they come from, and how much they cost, etc., but the au pair agencies have not done a very good job of it.

Many times, the only media attention au pairs get is when they do something wrong - then they are on the 5 o'clock news! These sensational stories do nothing for the au pair industry - if anything this reactive media attention serves to push the cultural exchange program further into the background of American childcare options.

Au Pair Programs Focus on Marketing Instead of Educating Their Customer Base

Why do au pair agencies do such a poor job of educating the American public about au pairs? Well, first, they don't have a long term vision of their business and the future of childcare in this country. They work pretty much day to day, to meet their quota of family enrollment to pay the bills and make a nice profit.

As long as this happens, au pair agencies don't really care about educating the American public, except to market their programs - these two goals are very different. You will never read a newspaper article about au pair programs unless it ends in a marketing sell. You don't read or hear from many VPs or CEOs of these unique businesses, not even in the Wall Street Journal or on the local news, unless again, it ends with a marketing plug. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between.

AuPairClearinghouse Educates and Shares Information with American Families

AuPairClearinghouse is the:

• First business to interview experts in the au pair industry and share with the American public how programs are run behind the scenes.
• First business to write loads of content on au pairs - who they are, how did the programs start, where they are recruited from, different nationalities, cultural differences, etc., even before the au pair programs did this themselves!
• Only third party business to rate and review the au pair agencies, giving parents the information they need to make educated choices when hiring a foreign stranger over the phone.

Au Pair Agencies Play Catch-Up, But Are They Gaining?

Now, little by little, au pair programs are placing blogs and content on their website for their host families. However, this is, in part, in reaction to the Clearinghouse's impact on the industry, but is it too little, too late? They had 25 years to educate the American public and they lost that opportunity. They cannot get that time back.

So, they play the marketing game, struggling to steal other agency customers by offering discounts, host family loyalty programs, etc.

Au Pair Programs Need to Educate the American Public

If they spent more money (and it doesn't cost that much to write about the program and send this information to newspapers in print and online; placing articles on their own website costs very little or next to nothing except to pay for a writer) on educating the American Family about au pairs, they would have more customers than they could handle.

Most agencies are small and cannot handle more than the 200 host families they service, but they also do not have people in charge who have the business acumen and vision to take their program to the top! What business do you know of that says "no" to more customers and more yearly revenue?

First Agency To Recruit Au Pairs Flounders

Once a leading agency, an older au pair agency, who is losing market share every day to their faster, sleeker competitors, actually tell their counselors they cannot give them money to place their au pair program stories in newspapers! They continue to tell their counselors that "word of mouth is the best marketing ad" and to just "keep providing good service". Well, they made the wrong decision years ago and now they are at the bottom of the bigger agencies and may soon call it quits. As their clusters dwindle, experienced counselors are jumping ship, because they need to replace lost revenue, and now the company is run largely by young, inexperienced counselors who are not giving the same good, quality service.

What Is Down the Road for Au Pair Agencies?

Keeping up with the times and current technology is important for any industry - the au pair programs struggle to keep their heads above water and to make themselves seen online to potential customers. But, you hardly hear from them - only occasionally, and most of the time the news story or press release is in the form of an ad or price reductions or a new discount. Older agencies have to freshen their marketing methods, get up to speed, replace old, outdated websites and hire writers to place good, useful content on their host family pages.

What should today's au pair agencies deliver today?

I have a few things on my wish list:

• Free Skype access to all host families and au pairs - in today's world, NO family should have to hire an au pair sight unseen over the phone!
• Personality Screening Disclosures - what kind of screening do agencies use and what do these tests reveal? Who makes the decision to block a prospective au pair based on this test?
• Au Pair Personality Reports that summarize this test and show how well (or poorly) the au pair did on the test. Allow the host parent access to this information so they can make an educated childcare choice!
• Full Disclosure On Rematch Au Pair - too many times programs will not share why rematch au pairs failed in their first and sometimes second family. Families have the right to know the facts! Let host families have access to this kind of information so they can make educated decisions for their children's well-being and safety.
• Full Disclosure on Weaknesses by Nationality - au pair agencies like to pretend that all au pairs are the same! They don't like to admit most Asian au pairs struggle with both English and driving. They point at the exceptions and say "See, Asian au pairs can drive! It is a myth that Asians cannot drive or speak English!" Well, the truth is MOST Asian au pairs struggle with both driving and English and it is due to their cultural experiences at home. Most of these au pairs, who have infant experience, are matched with new host parents, who don't know about these weaknesses. It is not fair, nor ethical, to hide an au pair's weaknesses when working with a new, inexperienced host family (who also has an infant) and expect that family to make due with a Thai or South Korean au pair who cannot communicate with them nor drive the family car.
• Special Needs Au Pairs - the au pair industry had 25 years to figure out how to recruit and train au pairs to care for America's special needs families. This is a lost opportunity for both the au pair business and sadly, for American parents who struggle to find safe, reliable and affordable childcare for their special needs children. I look forward to new au pair agencies who will develop a special needs program for one of most important and cricial issues facing our country today.

That is my short list! Anyone else want to add to this list?

What would be on your Wish List for au pair agencies?

Chinese Au Pairs

Overview of Chinese Culture and Chinese Au Pairs

The Chinese government opened its doors to foreign business in the 1970s and has not looked back since. Business is booming and statistics show that by 2025, China will be the world's largest economy! China has low unemployment due to their strong economy and au pairs do not have difficulty paying fees to sign up with au pair agencies. China is known as a state of etiquette and ceremonies. Courtesy to others, especially one's elder, is still very important in Chinese culture. The "one child only policy" still exists in China, so remember most, if not all, au pairs are an "only child" and are not used to large families with sisters or brothers (but that is slowly changing).

China's economic miracle impresses all those who travel there. As you stroll through major cities, you will see signs of progress everywhere: tall new office buildings, posh five-star hotels, gleaming, new and high-speed trains and modern and sleek airports, fancy residential towers and beautiful shopping malls that offer all the newest designer "goodies."

However, despite the new, rich and modern China, there is significant poverty for most of the population. Because of a vast disparity of income levels and a developing "class" system, some au pairs will have difficulty finding the money to pay for program fees.

So, we should expect that most of the Chinese au pairs arriving in the U.S.A are from the new and prosperous families who have the financial resources to foot the bill to send their daughter to America.

What are Chinese au pairs' main motivations to become au pairs and spend a year abroad in America? What are their Potential Strengths, their Potential Weaknesses?

Can Chinese au pairs drive well enough for busy American families? What about their English skills - do they pass with flying colors or is this a skill that needs more work?

Matching with a Chinese au pair is a bold move and a leap of faith - there are many cultural differences between Americans and the Chinese beyond the driving and communication. The positive side includes their patience with children and their hard work, the negatives are few, but can raise key questions before a family decides to host an au pair from China.

One of the most critical motivations American parents have in hiring a Chinese au pair is exposing their children to Mandarin - predicted to become the next language spoken in business worldwide, replacing English.

Read more about Chinese au pairs in our comprehensive review of China, Chinese au pairs and why they may be a good fit for your family's childcare needs! We review the strengths and weaknesses around hosting an au pair from China.

Read the entire article on Chinese Au Pairs

For more information about Chinese Au Pairs, read our exclusive interview with Tanna Wilson, an expert in hosting Chinese au pairs. Tanna Wilson is the Managing Director of goAUPAIR, one of several leading agencies recruiting Chinese au pairs for American families.