Category Archives: Q and A

Holiday & Vacation Reminders

“Rest and be thankful.” – William Wordsworth

Holidays and vacations are a great opportunity to rest, recharge and explore the U.S.

Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start of summer travel season. Here are some reminders about program rules regarding holidays and vacations.

Holidays

  • Host families are not required to give au pairs any specific holidays.
  • Each host family will make different arrangements on holidays, some au pairs will be off and others will be required to work.
  • Au pairs should not make plans for holidays without checking with your host family first.

Vacations

  • Au pairs earns 2 weeks of paid vacation during the course of her year.
  • Vacation time should be mutually agreed upon.
  • All vacation should be preplanned (at least 4 weeks in advance.)
  • All au pair’s friends and/or family visits/vacations should be pre-approved prior to purchasing tickets.
  • If an au pair travels with her host family, it should be discussed in advance whether this is the au pair’s vacation or if she is working.
  • If an au pair travels with the host family to work, the host family is required to pay for her transportation, lodging and meals.

Important: If an au pair is traveling outside of the U.S., she must have her DS2019 signed (travel validation) PRIOR to her departure from the US. More information about this may be found here on the Au Pair in America website.

Photo: torbakhopper (Flickr)

Handling Expenses

Host parents often ask for suggestions on how best to handle common expenses that occur as au pairs are caring for the children.

Miscellaneous Expenses

There are different ways to handle the little day to day expenses that come up.  Things like when an au pair takes the kids out for ice cream or picks up a gallon of milk.  Some families keep a cookie jar fund, a little cash that they set aside weekly or monthly for these types of expenses. Others give their au pair a prepaid debit card for this purpose. Below are some suggestions for avoiding problems with expenses.

Host Families

  • It’s important to be clear about how long this money should last and what types of expenses are approved.
  • Let the au pair know whether or not you expect receipts.

Au Pairs

  • Only spend the money on approved expenses.
  • If it is something you are not sure about, ask first.
  • Put your receipts in the cookie jar in place of the money to avoid any confusion.

Gas and Fare Cards 

Host families are responsible for the au pair’s transportation costs: to and from classes, cluster meetings and when driving the kids.

It is a good idea to figure out how much gas an au pair will use for these trips and either put gas in the car or give a gas allowance.   If your au pair is riding to classes or cluster meetings with another au pair, you should offer to share the cost of gas.

Au pairs are responsible for their own transportation at all other times.  You should replace the amount of gas used for personal use.

Photo: Andrea Travillian

APIA ongoing au pair training

Au Pair in America is committed to providing the best possible childcare to your family. Au pairs get ongoing training in childcare and related topics throughout their year, both at their monthly cluster meetings and in online webinars.

Webinars are scheduled roughly every week throughout the year. Recent topics have included things like:

  • Toilet Training 101
  • Activities to develop speech and language in young children
  • Managing play with more than one child

Recent cluster meeting child care focuses have included:

  • Severe weather safety
  • Swimming safety
  • Getting ready for back to school

Au Pair in America has a scholarship for any au pair who wishes to get certified in Infant and Child First Aid and CPR. This is in addition to a thorough training in first aid and CPR at our Orientation program, which is the gold standard in the industry.

 

Au pair extension program

Au pairs come on a 12 month, J-1 visa. If they complete the requirements for their first year, they can extend with the program for up to a second year. This can be great for families who want to have the continuity of two full years with the same person. No learning curve!

Au pairs can choose to change families for their second year, instead of staying with their first family. This is generally because they would like to experience another part of the US. Their host family writes a recommendation for them and their profiles become available to families seeking a new au pair.

Second year au pairs can work out very well for families. The au pair has already gotten through the worst of any homesickness, and she understands exactly what the job of an au pair in the US is. They have probably been driving in US traffic, and their English has improved. Some families really enjoy these benefits. The only drawback is that the au pair can’t extend again, so it’s not for families who are looking for two years with the same caregiver.

You can see mini-profiles of many of the au pairs interested in extending by going to http://www.aupairinamerica.com/aupairs/available_year2.asp

Why should I get an au pair?

Well, not everyone should, to be honest. Families that need someone to care for their kids while they are out of town on business, for example, may not find an au pair the best solution. Families that live in smaller homes that don’t have an extra bedroom would not be suitable. But for many families, the flexibility and cultural exchange of an au pair can be ideal.

Having an au pair means expanding your family’s boundaries. You develop a close relationship with someone from Thailand, or Brazil, or South Africa. You also are exposing your children to cultural ideas in a way that no other experience does – by having someone from another part of the world in their home, caring for them, making cookies from her home country. It’s invaluable in today’s world for children to grow up comfortable with people who might look a little different, might dress a little different, or might have an accent.

It’s also wonderful from a childcare perspective. Au pairs are carefully screened and experienced childcare providers. They can enrich your children’s education by introducing them to a new language and by planning activities based on each child’s interests and abilities.

Finally, within the federal guidelines there is a lot of flexibility. Au pairs can work up to 45 hours a week, up to 10 hours a day, up to 5 1/2 days a week. If your child gets sick, the au pair is there and you don’t need to miss a day of work. If your schedule is subject to changes, au pairs can be flexible too.

As I said in the beginning, live-in childcare is not for every family. But for many families, having an au pair is an experience that can’t be beat!

For more information and for current discounts, go to our website www.aupairinamerica.com.

Au Pairs – Myth versus Reality!

There are a bunch of misconceptions about au pairs, so I thought I would try to put together one document that clears up the ones I personally hear most often.

First, having an au pair is affordable. An au pair costs about $370 per family per week (plus room and board.) The average cost of care for an infant at a center in the Twin Cities metro area, according to mnchildcare.org, is $321, and $179 at an in-home daycare. This is per CHILD, not per family. So for one child, ihaving an au pair is slightly more expensive but significantly more flexible. For more than one child, it’s actually less expensive!

Second, au pairs do not come here to get married. They come to do child care, to improve their English, to share their culture and learn about ours, to take classes – many reasons. While some of them do end up falling in love and marrying, the vast majority stay for the duration of their visa and then go back home. The State Department is constantly reviewing all au pair programs to ensure this is the case.

Third, au pairs are experienced, caring child care providers who love children. We exhaustively check childcare and personal references and provide transcripts to prospective host families. We give them personality tests and physical exams, and we are careful to select only candidates we feel will be successful with our host families.

Fourth, au pairs are good drivers. They all come with either an International Drivers License, or their home country’s license if they aren’t able to get an IDL where they live. So they all have passed at least one driving test. It is true that some of them have difficulty transitioning to our roads. We offer a course at our orientation that helps with that transition.

If you have questions about au pairs, please let me know! I’m happy to answer anything!

Why get an au pair?

Why do families choose to use the services of an au pair? There are lots of reasons.

First of all, au pairs provide experienced, loving, live-in childcare. Every au pair has hours and hours of experience caring for children. Families can look at their applications and see exactly what ages and what kind of care and match that experience with their needs.

Second, au pairs bring cultural awareness and diversity to American families. Many families enjoy learning about different cultures and traditions. It is also common for people to want their children to be comfortable with people of different backgrounds, particularly in today’s international business world.

Third, au pairs can be much more economical than traditional childcare, particularly for families with multiple children. Au pairs currently cost about $350 per week, plus room and board. This includes the au pair’s stipend and educational allowance, her flight to and from the US, and the agency fees for things like insurance. This is per family, NOT per child.

Au pairs coming through Au Pair in America are carefully vetted, go through a state-of-the-art orientation upon their arrival in the US, and have ongoing, local support in the person of a local Community Counselor. The CC also provides ongoing support to the host families from their initial contact with the agency, through the selection process, and during the year. Our counselors have an average of about 12 years experience and are very familiar with the visa requirements, the educational opportunities in the area, and how to deal with possible issues, such as homesickness. The agency provides health insurance and liability insurance, and 24 hour emergency support.

Having live-in childcare is definitely not the right option for every family, but if your family is considering it, look into having an au pair. It could be the answer you’re looking for!

Au Pair in America – Twin Cities

I am excited to start writing the blog for the Minneapolis and St. Paul cluster of Au Pair in America! Au pairs are young women who come to the US for a year to learn about our culture by living with a family and caring for their children. They also take college classes to get to know young Americans. They come from all over the world, more than 60 countries. They arrive with a J-1 visa.

Au pair programs are standardized by the federal government. The rules are:

– au pairs can work up to 45 hours per week, up to 10 hours per day, and up to 5 1/2 days per week. They get one weekend off every month and 2 weeks of paid vacation.

– au pairs take the equivalent of 6 semester credits at an accredited institution of higher learning

– au pairs cannot have any other employment besides caring for their host family’s children

It’s a great option for many families who like the idea of cultural exchange being part of their children’s upbringing.

I have been a Community Counselor since 2004. I have lived in the area almost my whole life, except for when I was in college in Wisconsin. I live with my husband and our three daughters in South Minneapolis.

Hopefully this blog will be a useful way to spread information about our cluster and about Au Pair in America!