Cousin from overseas wants to be an Au Pair in the US -- Is there a way I can help her with this?

I have a cousin who wants to come to the US as an Au Pair. She's a college graduate, has been wonderful with my kids when she's visited, and speaks English very well.

Any suggestions?

I wouldn't be seeking to have her as our Au Pair, but it would be nice to have her placed nearby in NJ or NYC.

She needs to go through official channels, but I'd help her vet the family. I was an au pair and had a rotten family. make sure they don't work her to death. Try to get family with older children who go to school.

Any official channels that are recommended?

Sprout, to the best of my knowledge, all the programs are very similar. They follow the same rules and guidelines for au pairs. It's actually a federal program. The different agencies recruit by country. Depending on where your cousin lives, she may have a few options on which company to join up with.

As far as placement, the selection methods (between girls and families) vary a bit by company. She may be able to have a preference on her location. Her childcare experience will dictate what age children she is qualified to care for. It's actually quite involved how they rate girls on anything from language skills, to driving, etc.

We have been in the program forever and seriously love it. If you need further details, please feel free to reach out privately. By the way, we use Cultural Care Au pair, headquartered out of Boston.

https://culturalcareaupair.com/

What country is she in? She needs to connect with a local agency that does placements for Cultural Care to be sure she gets into a pool that serves the Northeast. There will be an application process and some training. It would be a huge help to her if she lists you as one of her references. Then you can easily help with evaluation of families that are considering her. Plus you speak English which is a big help for families screening au pairs.

She is in the Czech Republic. I will let her know that she can list me as a reference -- Thanks!

sprout, Are you Czech?

I know you are looking at child care, but have you considered the possibilities of elder care?

sprout said:
She is in the Czech Republic. I will let her know that she can list me as a reference -- Thanks!

Cultural Care has a good presence in the CR.

Just a note...there is one pool of girls for the entire country. They may ask you for your preference of where you'd like to land, but it's not guaranteed.

krugle1 said:
sprout, Are you Czech?

Only ~1/8. My Czech Catholic great-grandmother married a Jewish man, and their children (including my grandfather) had to escape Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust when they were teenagers. So, we don't have much family remaining there.

mrmaplewood said:
I know you are looking at child care, but have you considered the possibilities of elder care?

I think she's mostly interested in doing childcare, but I will ask her if elder care is an option.