Hosting Application Distribution Process

While the details outlined here are also available in other articles, this is a comprehensive guide to the NH17 Hosting Application Distribution Process.  While the system isn't perfect (yet!), it is intended to help 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 TDS.  Thank you!

NH 17 Hosting Application Management in Global Link

Core Hosted Student Applications will be released into Regionally Available on a rolling basis. This document outlines how Teams can Hold, Place, or Community Place students in an effort be fair and to encourage early placements. The distribution process for Sponsored Programs Student Applications (CB & YES) is at the bottom of the page.

Important Dates

Placing a Student on Hold - Area Team Hold Status (ATH)

• Hosting Volunteers and Team Development Specialists (TDS) may request an Area Team Hold for a student that is in Regionally Available to give volunteers time to reach families and to give families time to make their decision.
• 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.
• Holds will automatically be released at 11:45 pm Eastern on the third day.
• If a queue of Holds forms for the same student, each Hold request will be processed in the order in which it was entered.
• If there is no one in the queue for a particular student, a Team may renew the Hold. If there is a queue and there are extenuating circumstances delaying a final decision on a student (for example, a family member is out of town) and a longer hold is needed, TDS staff will be able to extend the Hold and add a comment which will be visible in the student’s Placement screen in Global Link. Any hold queue order will be maintained.
• If a team with an active hold would like to CP that student, they may do so as long as there are no pending requests in the queue. If there are pending requests, those take precedence over CP requests from the Team with the active Hold.
• Volunteers and staff are expected to release the Hold as soon as it is apparent that the intended placement will not occur by informing the TDS or by submitting a "Regionally Available" request in Global Link.

Placing a Student with a Family – Placed Without Papers Status (PWP)

• When a family commits to hosting a particular student and verbal or formal school approval has been given, students may be assigned PWP status. The family name and school name must be entered with the request. PWP requests should be processed within 7 days of the request being entered. If additional time is required TDD (Team Development Director) approval should be sought and a comment should be entered in the request screen.
• If a volunteer wants to place a student who is on Hold for another Team, the PWP request will not be honored until the PWPing volunteer has received approval from the volunteer who has the student on Hold, or until the current Hold expires. If there are additional "New" (unaccepted) AT Hold and/or CP requests in the queue prior to the PWP request, the person with the PWP request should contact each volunteer with a Hold/CP request in queue to ask them to allow the PWP request. If unwilling to allow the PWP, each Hold/CP requester will have 48 hours to finalize a placement. This is the Area Team Hold/CP Request Release Rule.
• 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 Students Directly in Schools – School Placed Status (SP)

• The School Placed status must be assigned by TDS staff. This status will be used when a school guarantees acceptance of a particular student with a signed Placement Acceptance Form uploaded into Global Link.
• School Placed Students count as part of a Team’s Community Placed pool even though they are designated for specific schools.
• If the school fails to find a family for the student by June 14th, the Team must decide either to Community Place the student or return the student to Regionally Available.

Selecting Students for your Team – Community Placed Status (CP)

• Beginning on March 1st, Teams are welcome to start CPing students. Teams may CP up to 25% of their goal. (ex. If the Team goal is 40, the Team may have no more than 10 students CP’d or School Placed to them at any given time prior to April 5th.)
• Beginning on April 5th, Teams may CP up to 50% of their goal. (ex. If the Team goal is 40, the Team may have no more than 20 students CP’d or School Placed to them at any given time prior to June 21st.)
• If a Team requests to CP a student for whom there are Hold requests pending, all outstanding holds on the student will be honored before the student is CP’d to the requesting team.
• Only on June 14th can previously CP’d students be returned to Regionally Available.
• On June 14th a moratorium for AT Hold requests will be put in place and all holds will expire on June 16th at 11:45pm EST. Any other Holds in queue or entered later will be rejected.
• By June 21st every Team must CP up to 100% of their goal. TDS staff will ensure that each Team has taken the proper number of Chinese, German, Italian, Thai, Japanese and Norwegian students with an appropriate mix of males and females and students with allergies or special placement needs.

Interested in Placing a Student CP’d to Another Team?

• Hosting Coordinators start by contacting the Hosting Coordinator of the Team with the student of interest asking for for permission to show the student. In cases where the TDS is the one contacting the other team, the TDS should contact the other team’s TDS directly. If the team does not have a lead for the student, they may be willing to release the student or trade with you for one of your Team’s students.
• If after June 21st the Team is not willing to trade for the student your Team would like to place and school permission can be obtained, the Community Placed Release Rule may be invoked. In these cases, the Team where the student is CP’d has 48-hours in which to place the student with a family and school or the student must be released to the new team for placement.
• The Team who has relinquished the student will be encouraged—but not required—to select a replacement student from the team that made the placement. If the Team who has relinquished the student chooses not to select a student from the other Team’s CP pool, the Team with the placement will be making the placement over their original goal.
• The Community Placed Release Rule applies to welcome, semester and permanent family placements.

Sponsored Programs Students

CBYX student applications will be released into Regionally Available on a rolling basis. YES students will be made Nationally Available initially. CBYX student applications will be managed in the same way that Core applications are, except that they will be a part of the Sponsored Programs Community Placement draft process.

Important Dates:

Community Placing YES Students

• Beginning on April 5, teams hosting YES students may choose to Community Place one YES student. Teams will not be allowed to Community Place more than one YES student even if they have more than one cluster. If that YES student is placed, the team will be able to Community Place another.
• If a Team requests to Community Place a student for whom there are Hold requests pending, all outstanding holds on the student will be honored before the student is Community Placed to the requesting team.
• This rule will be in effect until the Hold Request moratorium before the mandatory 100% Community Placement draft in May.

School Placing Sponsored Programs Students

• School Placement requests for Sponsored Programs students will be reviewed and accepted on a case by case basis.
• Contact your Sponsored Programs Hosting Coordinator for questions relating to School Placing Sponsored Programs students.

Sponsored Programs 100% Community Placement Draft

• YES student applications will be released into Nationally Available status as soon as they have been received and processed by AFS-USA.
• YES students will be kept in Nationally Available status until they are assigned to Gateway Regions on May 26. CBYX students may not be Community Placed until the draft.
• On May 26 all YES students will be assigned to a gateway and there will be a moratorium on hold requests, School Placements, and Community Placements.
• On May 31 there will be a mandatory Sponsored Programs draft for each region. The draft will include all unplaced CBYX and YES students. Teams will be required to Community Place 100% of their Sponsored Programs goal.

Interested in Placing a Sponsored Programs student Community Placed to Another Team?

• The Community Placed Release Rule described above applies to Sponsored Programs students. Teams should communicate through their TDSs & SPHCs to first see if a mutual agreement can be reached before having to use the Community Placed Release Rule.