Please remember to follow all Guidelines for Promoting AFS students which limits what information can be shared with host families.
What Student Information to Share
A family is considered "fully screened" when all parts of the host family application are complete including background checks, reference checks, and the host family interview. The Hosting Checklist can confirm if everything is complete or not.
For Host Families who are not fully screened, the following information can be shared:
a. The “Get to Know” or “Bio” generated in Global Link
b. The information about our students available on the Meet the Students page of our website, at http://www.afsusa.org/host-family/our-students/
c. The student’s Letter to Host Family/Personal Statement
Fully Screened Host Families can see all of the above plus the following parts of the student’s application available in Global Link under the printable version of the student’s application:
a. The Your Photos/Photo section from the student’s application
b. The Parent’s Statement from the student’s application
c. The Academic Record and Transcript/Academic section from the student’s application
d. The English Language Recommendation Form/ELRF from the student’s application
Sharing Medical Information with a potential host family:
- It is important for a host family to have medical information when deciding whether or not they will be able to provide the proper support for a particular student.
- A volunteer or Regional Field Specialist (RFS) can share health information with a fully screened potential host family (missing only the PAF and Form E) at their discretion if a student has some sort of condition that could impact the placement.
- A family can be given as much information as needed in order to ensure they feel confident that they can adequately support that student. Whether the information is shared verbally or by showing the health form itself is at the discretion of the volunteer and the RFS.
- After a family is fully-screened and their selected student is in Family Placement Confirm status, the family will be able to view the health record in its entirety.
It is important to note that we want to avoid having volunteers and staff sharing sensitive information about our students unless it is necessary to confirm whether a placement is viable.
How to Share Student Information
Global Link has two features to help share student information with potential host families: "Bios" and "Get to Knows." Both are visible on MyAFS in the Placements widget and in Global Link. The "Bio" contains a few sentences about a student's interests and includes the student's age and gender. These short snippets are a great way to help introduce a couple of students to a family as they consider hosting. Here is a sample Bio:
The "Get to Know" includes the bio information as well as more details about the student's religion, English language skills, allergies, and dietary restrictions. It also includes the student's letter to his/her host family (not shown below). The Get to Know is perfect to share when a family is zeroing in on a student or is deciding between two students. The Get to Know can be shared with anyone - whether screened or not. Here is a sample Get to Know:
All volunteers can download or email the Get to Know via the Placements widget on MyAFS. By clicking on a specific student's name, the Get to Know can be downloaded by clicking on the icon with an arrow. It can also be emailed directly to someone by clicking on the envelope icon.
You can also click here to learn How to Forward Student Bios or Get to Knows to Prospective Host Families from Global Link. Please contact your RFS or another member of the Field staff if you have any questions!