Quality Assurance and Compliance Update December 2011
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Criminal Background Checks for Family Members Turning 18 Years Old While Hosting
Compliance Staff has been working on gathering new Criminal Background Checks (CBCs) for host family members living in the home who turn 18 years-old between the time that the host family application is completed and while hosting an exchange student. This new practice is required by the Department of State for J-1 Visa exchange programs, such as AFS. Families receive an automated e-mail with the information for each individual member to complete his/her own background check after their 18th birthday. If you receive any questions from host families about this new process please refer them to Joseph Friedman 800-876-2376 ext. 1175 or cbc@afs.org.
In-Person Contacts for Host Families
We remind you to please make sure that all host families are seen in person by December 31 to fulfill the Department of State requirement that families are seen in person once in the fall and once in the spring. Families will need to be seen again after January 1. Compliance staff recently sent an e-mail to all liaisons linked to families who hadn’t been seen yet, as well as an e-mail to Chairs, Liaison Coordinators, and Support Coordinators informing them of this action.
Fall 2011 Student Satisfaction Survey
In our fall student satisfaction survey sent on November 1, 93% of respondents (898 total respondents) expressed that the relationship with their host families is "Excellent" or "Good". This measurement represents the wonderful care and support that volunteers provide our students in the first couple of months to ensure that they are adapting well to their host families. Risk Management, Compliance, and Quality Assurance (RMCQA) staff has analyzed other survey results and will be following up with the Participant Support Department on any issues that may have arisen in the responses.
A summary will be posted soon.
Site Visits
Quality Assurance and Compliance Coordinators continue their site visits throughout the country. A site visit is comprised of visiting with a sample of students and host families in their homes to gain additional perspective on how our program is operating. The coordinators meet with volunteers as well to collaborate on how to strengthen the Team’s compliance performance and to listen to feedback on how to improve AFS operations. The following Teams have been visited already: Carolinas, Greater Cleveland, Greater Puget Sound, Northeast Ohio
Potential spring visits include the following teams: Alaska, Dirigo Maine, Heartland, Greater Los Angeles, Northern Illinois, Northwest California, One World, World Class Click on the following link to view additional information about Site Visits:
Communication about AFS Site Visits
Manual Checklist Beginning for SH 12 Students
Risk Management, Compliance, and Quality Assurance (RMCQA) staff will begin the manual checklist for SH 12 host families this month. Staff will be reviewing all host family applications for completeness and accurate information, as well as tracking any discrepancies and following up with other departments or families directly.
