Please be sure to read Handling Student Moves to learn about when and why students may need to move and the steps to be taken when determining if a move is truly necessary. Once it has been determined that a host family change is necessary, it is important for students to stay within the same school and team whenever possible to help promote continuity in their program.
The following actions can help identify a new family for a student currently on program:
- If the student is involved in clubs or activities at school or in the community, the corresponding coaches/group leaders and families of other participating students should be contacted and leads pursued.
- The student’s friends and teachers should be contacted and leads pursued.
- All active host family leads in Global Link should be reviewed in order to determine viability.
- All internal audiences within the Team should be contacted including all registered volunteers, current and recent host families, natural families, etc.
- Every person in Global Link in the student’s current school district should be reviewed/contacted for viability.
- Other area schools within the Team should be contacted for possible leads.
- Other local organizations, groups, and places of worship should be contacted for possible leads.
Remember, phone calls are the best way to reach individual leads! For my tips on contacting potential host families, read Encouraging Families to Host. And once a replacement family is identified, be sure to follow the Hosted Student Move Checklist. Thank you!