Host Families’ Frequently Asked Questions
Travel
May our student’s family / friends / boyfriend / girlfriend come
visit them in the U.S.? Perhaps. Students are not permitted to have visitors
– or travel to meet up with family or family friends - for the first 6 months of
their program. Students are never permitted to have visitors under 25, or stay overnight
when someone 25 or over is not present. To find whether your student can have a
visitor after he/she has been here 6 months, contact your EPC. Single-semester students
may not have visitors, and must wait until after the program to travel with family
or family friends.
Can we take our student on a vacation? Yes! Please look
over the Student Travel Guidelines (at top) and ensure that the EPC knows how to
reach you, in case of emergency.
What should we do if we have a weekend trip planned that does not
include our student? Contact your EPC to let him/her know. There will
need to be someone 25 or older, who has undergone a background check, staying with
your student overnight.
May our student stay through the summer months so that we can go
on vacation together? Perhaps. A specific itinerary with dates and places
must be submitted to your Exchange Program Coordinator well in advance of the end
of school. Your coordinator will then submit the itinerary to the SHARE! National
Office for consideration. (Note: proposals for vacations that begin more than 10
days after the end of school will likely be rejected.)
What is required for a student to travel to another country, such
as Canada, Mexico or their home country, then return to the U.S.? For
travel outside of the US, including cruises and travel to Canada and Mexico, the
student must send his or her DS-2019 form (which is inserted into the student’s
passport) into the ERDT National Office for a signature, well in advance of the
trip. This is the only way the student will be allowed back into the USA, as his
or her visa is for a single entry into the US. Contact your Exchange Program Coordinator
for detailed instructions. Students should contact the consulate of the country
they are visiting (contact information can be found online) to determine visa and
entry requirements for citizens of the student’s home country. If students travel
overseas after the program, they must take all belongings with them and return directly
to their home country (SHARE! will not sign DS-2019 forms for students to re-enter
the U.S. after their departure from the host family’s home).
Health, Safety and Cultural Adjustment
How does our student use his/her insurance? SHARE! and
its overseas partners use different insurance plans, so see your insurance paperwork
or contact your EPC for exact instructions. Your student should carry their insurance
information at all times, in case of an emergency. Generally, students must pay
bills and submit a claim for reimbursement. If the student goes to the doctor, hospital
or emergency room, it is best to call the insurance company first, to make sure
procedures will be covered. (In a life-threatening emergency, of course, do not
delay getting the student to the hospital). SHARE! recommends that you list our
address – 2601 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite 322, Santa Monica, CA 90405 - on the insurance
form so that your family is not held responsible for any unpaid bills.
Culture shock... what should we expect? How should we deal with it?
Remember – culture shock is the normal reaction to the stress & confusion of trying
to adapt to living in a foreign culture. SHARE! provides host families with a guide
that explains some of the stages of cultural adjustment and helps host families
to recognize and react to these stages. Download “’Cross-Culture’ Experiences: The
Nine Stages of Host Family / Student Relationships”. If you are noticing more serious
changes in your student, such as depression or other apparent psychological problems,
contact your EPC immediately.
Our student’s cultural “norms,” (for example, hygiene, dress, behavior,
or communication style) make us uncomfortable. Since the student is really
doing nothing wrong, how do we deal with this? The purpose of the SHARE! program
is to teach students how people in the U.S. live, and how they can adapt to that
way of living. Approach the issue with honesty and explain that if the student were
to work on changing this aspect of themselves, they could get a better feeling for
U.S. culture. And remember, humor can help smooth over what could be a difficult
conversation! Certainly contact your EPC if you need assistance or if the student
does not change this behavior.
What do we do if we receive a report that the student is a victim
or perpetrator of abuse? Contact the Exchange Program Coordinator immediately.
He/she has received the Stewards of Children training, which teaches adults to prevent,
recognize and react responsibly to the reality of child abuse. Alternately, you
may contact the SHARE! National Office.
How can we keep our student safe online? Online student
safety is more important than online student privacy. Students are not allowed to
use computers in their bedrooms. Make sure that your student is always using the
computer where you can see it. If the student sets up an online blog or profile
(MySpace, Facebook, Twitter) they must let you know where it is and how you can
view it. You may install programs that limit or track where the student goes online.
Students may not post their or their host family’s personal information (addresses,
last names, ages, passwords, phone numbers, email addresses) online.
Role of the EPC
Who can I contact if my local coordinator is not available?
At your orientation, your EPC should have provided you with the name of his/her
Team Leader (who may be an Area Coordinator, Regional Director, or National Office
staff member). If you have an emergency that needs immediate attention, contact
that Team Leader. If you cannot reach him or her, contact us.
Are the orientations mandatory? Yes, with no exceptions.
All host families – even those who have hosted for years - are required to have
a pre-arrival, post-arrival and pre-departure orientation. It is a mandate of the
U.S. State Department that the pre-arrival orientation must be conducted separately
from the home visit. If a host family is unable to attend a group orientation, the
EPC must arrange to meet with the host family separately before their exchange student
arrives.
How much contact is our EPC required to have with us / our student?
The EPC is required to contact each host family and student monthly. Based on this,
they submit Monthly Contact Forms to the SHARE! National Office, which are passed
to the overseas agents and to the student’s biological parents. Beyond this, EPCs
are required to be in touch regarding any issues that come up for the host family
and/or student, providing support and relaying information to the SHARE! National
Office. Some EPCs choose to plan activities or trips for the students; however,
this is not a requirement of their job. If your student would like to go on a trip
with other exchange students, visit www.explore-america.com.
Rules
Can our student get a cell phone? Yes. He/she may get
a cell phone, but may not enter into a contract. He/she may get a prepaid phone.
You may let the student borrow a phone if they wish, but ensure that the student
understands they are responsible for any extra costs that are incurred (text messages,
overages, data plans, roaming or international charges). If your household does
not have a landline, you must provide the student with a cell phone at your expense,
to be used for emergencies (however, this may be a cheap prepaid phone).
Can our student get a job? Perhaps. According to U.S.
government rules, J1 students may not get part-time or full-time jobs while on the
program. However, they may do occasional odd jobs, such as babysitting or yard work,
to earn pocket money.
What should we consider when deciding what rules to give our exchange
student? Being teens, and non-native English speakers, it is important
for exchange students to be given clear rules (however, this does not mean you can’t
add or change rules later). Consider curfew, keeping your room clean, chores (trash,
kitchen, mealtime help, house cleaning help), morning schedules (bathroom limits),
meal times and rules, calendar (letting the host family know if you have plans),
computer use, riding in cars with other teens, parties, lunch at school, family
activities, quiet time, sleeping in, telephone, specialty groceries, transportation
to school, taking phone messages, pets, groceries, laundry.
May our student drive or get a driver’s license? What if he/she is
over 18? What if we purchase additional insurance? What if he/she could save thousands
of dollars by getting a license here? No. SHARE! students are strictly
prohibited from operating any motorized vehicle (including your car, Driver’s Education
Vehicles and recreational vehicles) at any time. Students who ignore this rule and
get into an accident – whether at fault or not - will be immediately repatriated.
Money
Can we lend money to our student, or borrow money from our student?
SHARE! discourages host families from lending money to their student. If the student
is not receiving enough money from home, notify your EPC. Remember that, when they
signed up for the program, the parents agreed to provide an adequate amount of spending
money to their child. If this is not the case, disciplinary measures may be taken.
SHARE! strictly prohibits host families from borrowing money from their student.
What food are we, the host family, expected to pay for?
The host family is responsible for all meals eaten at home, all meals eaten out
as a family, and sack lunches. Students must use their own pocket money to pay for
extra snacks, school lunches and meals out with friends.
Our student is eating a lot of expensive food (meat, milk, etc.).
How can we keep him/her from destroying our food budget? Contact your
EPC for a Problem Resolution. The EPC will meet with your family and the student,
and all parties can come up with a solution. Perhaps you could decide on a weekly
limit of this expensive food that each family member is allowed.
May I claim our exchange student as a dependent on my tax forms?
No; however, you may claim a $50/month tax deduction per student per month for the
time that you host.
School
What do we do if the school tells us there is a problem with our
student – academic, behavior, language, or otherwise? Contact your EPC
immediately. SHARE! personnel have lots of experience helping students and host
families deal with issues at school. Ensure that the school understands that while
you are hosting the student, it is SHARE!, as the visa sponsor, that is responsible
for the student’s actions and safety.
What are the academic standards that SHARE! students are held to?
Students must maintain a “C” (2.0) average, with no failing grades (F’s). Students
who do not follow this rule will be put on academic probation until their grades
improve. If their grades do not improve, the student may be repatriated.
Does our school need to allow the student to graduate / get a diploma
/ play sports? No. Students are told that they must accept the school’s
decision with regards to diplomas, graduation, and playing sports. If your student
is lobbying the school to change this decision, contact your Exchange Program Coordinator,
who will take disciplinary action.
The school contacted us because the student’s application is missing
some academic transcript paperwork or medical paperwork. In some instances,
paperwork may have not been uploaded to the student's online application. Contact
your EPC to get copies of this paperwork. If you cannot reach the EPC and need the
paperwork urgently, you may contact the SHARE! National Office.
Do exchange students need to be enrolled in a specific grade level?
Italian, Serbian and Montenegrin students must be enrolled as seniors. All other
students may be enrolled in any grade level. Some schools enroll students in the
same grade level as their U.S. classmates of the same age; other schools enroll
all exchange students as seniors, for example, so that they may experience senior-year
festivities. Aside from Italian, Serbian and Montenegrin students, SHARE! students
are expected to accept their assigned grade level without complaint.
Are there any class requirements for exchange students?
SHARE! prefers that students take American History and/or English, and that at least
2/3 of their classes be academic in nature. Many students have specific classes
that they must take to meet academic requirements in their home country. It is the
student's responsibility to enroll in these classes while in the U.S.; however,
if your school does not offer the required classes, the student must choose other
classes.
Misc.
Can we send our own child to another country on an exchange program?
Due to low interest, SHARE! does not have an outbound high school program. We do
have an excellent volunteer program, called Volunteer Ventures, that provides people
18 and over with volunteer opportunities abroad. Contact us for more information
about this program.
We’re hosting currently and would like to pick out another student
to host for next year / semester. How do we view new students on ZAPP?
Your ZAPP account needs to be reset to view new students. It’s a simple process
– just contact your EPC and he / she will ensure that it is done. (And by the way,
you won’t even need to fill out a new host family application, just update your
online application from last year!)
Do we get a chance to evaluate the SHARE! program? We
send out two sets of evaluations during the year - one shortly after the student
arrives and another just before the student departs. The evaluations go to the students,
host families and high schools. The evaluations are used to gather suggestions,
improve future programs and to determine if changes should be made.
Is there a question you think we missed? Let us know at info@erdtshare.org,
and thanks!
