The Hosting Application Distribution Process is intended to have a fair and consistent process that helps to ensure that all teams have the opportunity to place easier-to-place students and that our weakest teams aren't left to place our hardest-to-place students.
If you have questions or suggestions for future changes, please contact your Hosting Programs Specialist (HPS). Thank you!
Overview of Placement Process
Unless otherwise noted, all placement process guidelines and dates apply equally to Sponsored Programs (CBYX, FLEX, and YES) as they do to Core Program participants.
Once Hosting Operations Staff have reviewed and accepted applications, the applications will be made Regionally or Nationally Available in Global Link and visible on MyAFS. Click here for more information on finding students.
Placing a Student on Area Team Hold (AT Hold)
Hosting Volunteers and Hosting Programs Specialists (HPS) may request an Area Team Hold for a student that is Regionally or Nationally Available to give volunteers time to reach families and to give families time to decide about hosting that specific student.
Only two students may be on Hold at one time for any given family. Thus, the family name must be included in the Hold request. One AT Hold request may be submitted per student per Area Team per day, even if multiple families are interested in the same student.
Holds will automatically be released at 11:45pm Eastern on the 2nd day after the Hold request is accepted. (For example, if a AT Hold request is accepted on Monday, the hold will last until 11:45pm E on Wednesday.) The requester receives an email alerting them when their Hold period begins and when it will end.
While a student is on Hold for a Team, that Team only has the right to PWP the student. If a queue of Holds or other requests forms for the same student, each subsequent request will be processed in the order in which it was entered. For example, School Placed requests are accepted in the order they are received. Thus, if you are having a school consider a student, it is best to enter a School Placed request and not a AT Hold request. Your request will remain pending until you release it or a PAF is received from the school.
Volunteers and staff are expected to release Holds as soon as it is apparent that the intended family will not be hosting the student. To release a hold, submit a “Release AT Hold” placement request in Global Link.
To help ensure that hold queues move as quickly as possible, requesters will receive auto emails 10 days after entering a request if the request is still in queue to confirm if they still want the request or if the family or school for whom the request was made is no longer interested and the request can be released.
Placing a Student with a Family (Placed without Papers, PWP)
When a family commits to hosting a particular student, a PWP request should be entered. If additional approval is needed before accepting the PWP request, such as school or nontraditional family approval, a detailed note should be added to the “Comments” box here:
If a Team wants to place a student who is on Hold for another Team, they may enter a PWP request, but it will not be honored until their place in the queue arrives.
Once a family is fully screened, Hosting Operations staff will assign the student a Family Placement Confirm (FPC) status, and the host family application will be transferred to the partner country to share with the student.
Placing a Student Directly in a School (School Placed)
The School Placed status will be used when a school guarantees acceptance of a particular student with a signed Placement Acceptance Form uploaded into Global Link on the student’s Placement Detail page.
School Placement requests for Sponsored Programs students will be reviewed and accepted on a case by case basis. Contact your Sponsored Programs Hosting Specialist if you wish to School Place a YES, FLEX, or CBYX student.
Of Note
Staff will help ensure that each Team has taken the proper number of Sponsored Programs, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, and Thai students.