Your input needed regarding proposed new Department of State regulations
From AFSWiki
On September 2, the US Department of State issued an “Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” (ANPRM) in the Federal Register. An ANPRM is a request from the State Department for input on potential changes to regulations. Individuals and organizations in this case are being asked for input as to whether and, if so, how the Department should modify the “Host Family Selection” portion of the regulations governing the secondary school exchange programs. As a Department of State designated sponsor, AFS will be responding to this notice by October 2 as requested. In order to provide the Department with an accurate picture of the realities of our volunteers, especially those with experience recruiting and screening potential host families, we are asking you to complete a survey by clicking the link at the bottom of this page.
The questions on this survey have been taken in most cases directly from the ANPRM document. Please answer as many questions as you can, however, if you do not have an answer or comment for a particular question, you can leave it blank. The following are some excerpts from the State Department Notice. Please click on this link if you want to read the full text of the ANPRM [1].
The Department seeks information on alternative and more specific means of screening potential families to host exchange visitors participating in the Secondary School Student category of the Exchange Visitor Program. Current regulations allow sponsors the flexibility to exercise their independent judgment when evaluating the financial resources, moral character, and composition of potential host families, as well as the suitability of potential home environments. The Department believes, however, that the lack of specificity or industry standards may have contributed to the recent degradation of the appropriateness of selected families, thereby putting at risk the health, safety, and welfare of this most vulnerable group of exchange visitors.
Although complaints about the inappropriate placement or actual mistreatment of these young participants represent the exception rather than the rule, there have been a sufficient number of incidents of such severity that the Department has determined that more specific guidance for host family selection may be appropriate. Current regulations set forth the minimum steps that sponsors must take to screen potential host families. Among other things, sponsors must utilize a standard application form to collect broad categories of information (22 CFR 62.25(j)(2)), conduct an in-person interview of all family members residing in the home (22 CFR 62.25(j)(3)), and obtain two personal character references from the ``school or community for each host family. (22 CFR 62.25(j)(5)) They must also ascertain whether potential host families have adequate financial resources to undertake the hosting obligation (22 CFR 62.25(j)(6)), and they must verify that each member of the household 18 years or older has undergone criminal background checks. (22 CFR 62.25(j)(7)) Information gathered from commenting parties should allow the Department to determine whether it should clarify or strengthen these screening requirements.
We would like to thank you in advance for taking the time to complete this survey and we apologize that it is lengthy and complex, however, these are very serious issues being raised and we want to ensure our volunteers fully understand the proposed changes and have an opportunity to give us input for our response. The survey will close on September 18, 2009.
