Table of Contents
Consequences of Non-Compliance
Team organization matters, especially on larger teams (i.e., 20+ students)
- If Your Team Covers a Large Geographic Area
- If Your Team Relies on Only a Few Key Volunteers
- If You’d Like More Organizing Tips for Your Team
Liaisons benefit from clear expectations & positive reinforcement
- Set Expectations Early and Often
- Set Liaisons up for Success When Linking Them to a Host Family
- Communicate With Liaisons and Provide Back-Up
- Avoid Conflict Between Host Family Interview and 30/60 Day Visit
- Give Liaisons Lots of Positive Reinforcement
- Redirect a Liaison to Another Role if Compliance is Difficult for Them
Host Families Play a Part in Compliance
Schools Are Compliance Partners, Too
Boost Team Spirit and Get Everyone Involved in Compliance
Why Compliance?
Student safety is the number one priority at AFS-USA. Meeting compliance standards for contact with students and host families helps ensure that AFS, through the eyes of the liaison, is keeping watch over every student. Through this one-on-one contact, liaisons facilitate the adjustment of both the student and the family to the AFS experience and enable them to learn from each other. Liaisons, Area Team leadership, and staff all play a critical role in making sure AFS-USA complies with regulations as well as exchange industry standards.
Demonstrating our compliance is critical to maintaining funding from the US Department of State for Sponsored Program (YES, FLEX, Congress-Bundestag) students. In addition, all students traveling to the US on an exchange program are required to have a J-1 visa. Those visas are only issued to students coming on program through exchange organizations, like AFS-USA, with a strong history of compliance with Department of State regulations. Such organizations are identified by the Department of State as a “designated sponsor.”
The Stakeholders
AFS-USA must be compliant with the standards and regulations of all the stakeholders in the exchange world.
- As a partner country in the AFS International network, AFS-USA must follow the quality standards that AFS International sets for all partner countries.
- AFS-USA also complies with standards for long-term programs outlined by the Council on Standards in International Educational Travel (CSIET). CSIET is a nonprofit, standards-based organization that advises on policies and recommendations for international secondary school exchange programs.
- The US Department of State sets the regulations that every organization bringing exchange students to the US must follow. As a result of our compliance with these regulations, as a designated sponsor, AFS-USA has the ability to issue the documents required for a student to apply for a J-1 visa, which is mandatory for entry to the US. Volunteers can read the State Department’s regulations here.
The Importance of Volunteers
AFS-USA depends on every volunteer to do the job they have said they will do. For example, monthly contacts are required by the Department of State, so if a volunteer misses a required contact, AFS-USA can suffer a consequence. These contact and visit reports are reviewed by the Department of State during audits and when incidents or complaints are reported to the Department of State, to verify AFS-USA is upholding standards for student exchange. If a serious event occurs, the Department of State will review a current student’s file, looking for documentation of everything leading up to the event. On-time reporting is also key to effectively managing support cases - whether it is a simple request from the home country regarding a student, or a more complicated support case.
AFS-USA is just one hosting organization among dozens in the US, but unlike most, it relies on a volunteer workforce to implement our programs. For NH21, there are approximately 3000 volunteers and 100 staff, serving roughly 1100 inbound students hosted in the US (and 100 outbound students). The disparity in numbers makes it essential that each and every volunteer understand that their job is fundamental to the hosting mission of AFS-USA.
The bottom line is that being a volunteer is much more than being “just a volunteer” in AFS. Volunteers are the workforce, the vital lifeline, in fulfilling the AFS Mission.
Consequences of Non-Compliance
At AFS-USA, we pride ourselves on being a leading provider of student exchange programs. Compliance is the foundation of that success!
AFS-USA, along with all J-1 visa secondary school sponsors, undergoes a Department of State Management Review (audit) every other cycle. This audit covers all areas pertaining to host family/volunteer screening and on-program support of our students. Consequences of failing the Management Review (audit) could include being required to develop a corrective action plan, sanctions, a reduction in the number of students we are allowed to host, or revoking AFS-USA’s status as a J-1 visa sponsor altogether. Therefore, compliance with all regulations is absolutely critical to AFS-USA’s ability to continue operating our programs. So, your role as a volunteer plays a major part in achieving that compliance!
Non-compliance does not just jeopardize our standing as a leading J-1 visa sponsor. It can also have a very real effect on the quality of our programs and the day-to-day experience of our students. Conducting contacts and visits in a timely fashion ensures we are not missing any potential placement issues and that the student and host family feel confident in AFS-USA’s ability to support them. For many students, the liaison plays a significant role in their program, and they identify the liaison relationship as one of the best parts of their programs. Additionally, keeping in regular contact with host schools strengthens those relationships, a critical component of our ability to successfully place students.
Best Practices
In early 2021, the Compliance Advisory Group (CAG) spoke with 15 area teams about compliance. The teams were chosen for a variety of reasons--number of students hosted, geographic size, compliance history, rural vs urban, for instance. The following best practices came from those conversations. Area Teams should feel free to select from among these suggestions, trying practices that best fit their situation.
Team organization matters, especially on larger teams (i.e., 20+ students)
There are various ways you could restructure:
If Your Team Covers a Large Geographic Area
- Divide the team into chapters reflecting geographical areas. Assign a team leader (Support Coordinator, Compliance Coordinator or Liaison Assignment Coordinator, for example) to each chapter. They can manage liaison compliance and support cases in their area.
- Alternatively, divide the team into ‘pods’ of about five liaisons. In each pod, have a leader who monitors compliance, covers for other liaisons, and ensures that the liaisons have some fun together.
- Ensure liaisons know who to call for back-up if they are having a busy month and won’t be able to make or record the contact.
- Provide opportunities for liaisons to connect with each other and Team leadership.
- Publish a team directory with contact information for team leadership and all liaisons. Obtain permission from each individual listed before publishing and make the document private/only available to those who have been given access to it by the document owner.
- Create a Google map showing all Host Families and liaisons and make it available to all liaisons so they can help each other out. Again, obtain permission from Host Families and Liaisons prior to distributing the map and make sure that only vetted host families and volunteers on your team can access the map. Instructions can be found here.
- Consider geography as an important factor in matching a liaison with a host family and student: the closer the better.
- Check out these tips for finding a liaison when you don’t have one nearby.
If Your Team Relies on Only a Few Key Volunteers
- Some teams reported that concentrating responsibility on just a few volunteers contributed to volunteer burnout. Instead, reach out to the Volunteer Onboarding staff to discuss volunteer engagement or recruitment.
- Check out these tips for finding a liaison when you don’t have one nearby.
- Having a Compliance Coordinator and/or Support Coordinator to make sure liaisons are getting visits done and recorded often leads to improved compliance.
- Having a Support Coordinator with overall support and compliance responsibility and then several Associate Support Coordinators to manage smaller groups of liaisons is one model that seems to work.
- Ensure liaisons know who to call for back-up if they are having a busy month and won’t be able to make or record the contact.
- Provide opportunities for liaisons to connect with each other and Team leadership.
- Publish a team directory with contact information for team leadership and all liaisons. Obtain permission from each individual listed before publishing and make the document private/only available to those who have been given access to it by the document owner.
- Ask liaisons to pair up so they can cover for each other.
If You’d Like More Organizing Tips for Your Team
- Create a plan for improving compliance on your team this year. Meet with Team leadership to choose a few tools you’ll try, then set some goals for what you hope to achieve.
- Have Support Leadership (Support or Associate Support Coordinator or Liaison Assignment Coordinator) conduct all initial Host Family interviews to help make a good Liaison-Host Family match. Liaisons can then do the 30/60 in-home visit without initiating a conflict. Introducing the Support Team early on helps the host family know who to turn to should difficulties arise later if their liaison is not available.
- Assign the 30/60 in-home visit to a volunteer as soon as the placement is made. Changes will be made by the end of 2021 to allow the assignment of recording the 30/60 contact upon linking the liaison.
- Ask Support Coordinators and Assistant Support Coordinators to attend all student orientations and meet one-on-one with students during the orientation. Leadership not only gets to know the students, but they are also able to file a contact for that month.
- Build in redundancy on the team by asking any volunteer who is willing to take the liaison training so they can help file monthly contacts. Note that any volunteer helping at orientations is required to have the Department of State and Hosting and Support Affiliation trainings, which enable them to file monthly reports.
Liaisons benefit from clear expectations and positive reinforcement
Set Expectations Early and Often
- When doing the volunteer interview with the prospective liaison, be clear about the requirement to conduct and record contacts in a timely manner. Note that failing to meet compliance standards reflects poorly on the Area Team and has negative consequences for AFS-USA. Emphasize that good compliance means good support for families and students.
- Emphasize recording contacts - if a contact is not recorded, AFS and the State Department consider the contact not made, which puts AFS in a non-compliant status.
- Conduct local liaison training for every new liaison (and offer refreshers to those with experience) to be sure that liaisons understand how important visits are and to be sure they know how to file contacts. Help and Learning contains a series of microlearning videos that we encourage you to incorporate into your liaison training. Combine local liaison training with a host family orientation or student orientation (Arrival or Post Arrival) to provide an opportunity for liaisons to meet those they will be working with all year. One team does liaison training on the Sunday morning of the Post-Arrival Orientation and then invites liaisons and host families to stay for brunch so they can get to know each other.
- Ask liaisons to attend Host Family Orientation so they share a knowledge base with host families.
- Shift the paradigm about reporting due dates. For example, adopt a team expectation that all contacts will happen monthly by the 15th of the month. Students generally arrive in mid-August, so the first contact will happen about then. Subsequent contacts should happen within the next 30 days, or on the one-month anniversary of the student’s arrival. Let liaisons know that they are reporting on the prior 30 days, not on the calendar month. Filing early in the month will give the compliance team time to catch up on missing contacts and visits.
- Document, document, document! Emphasize to liaisons that documenting a possible problem immediately is better than taking a “wait and see” attitude, and it improves compliance. Support staff need documentation from the start and should not have to play catch-up.
- Some teams require that all liaison contacts be in person. They believe that doing so has improved compliance and fostered a sense of responsibility within the team.
Set Liaisons up for Success When Linking Them to a Host Family
- Some teams find that the life experience of a liaison has an effect on how well they perform. Those teams look for teachers, counselors, and others who are comfortable interacting with teens. Some teams find their liaisons among former successful host families.
- Provide opportunities for liaisons and host families to connect with each other so that they can help each other out.
- Publish a team directory with contact information for team leadership and all liaisons. Obtain permission from each individual before publishing and make the document private/only available to those who have been given access to it by the document owner.
- Consider creating a Google map showing all Host Families and liaisons and make it available to all liaisons so they can help each other out. Secure permission from each individual before publishing, making the document private/only available to those who have been given access to it by the document owner. Instructions can be found here.
- Consider geography as an important factor in matching each liaison with a host family and student: the closer the better.
Communicate With Liaisons and Provide Back-Up
- Send a periodic/monthly newsletter to liaisons. Include upcoming events, suggest opportunities for interacting with students, links to relevant information in Help & Learning for Host Families. Provide discussion topics from the Monthly Discussion Guides and tips for talking to students. The newsletter could come from the Support Coordinator, Liaison Assignment Coordinator, or Compliance Coordinator.
- Ensure liaisons know who to call for back-up if they are having a busy month and won’t be able to make or record the contact. Publish a team directory with contact information for team leadership and all liaisons. Obtain permission from each individual before publishing and make the document private/only available to those who have been given access to it by the document owner.
- If liaison is inexperienced, make sure they know who to contact if the slightest thing goes awry.
- Consider having a new liaison shadow an experienced one.
- Ask liaisons to pair up so they can cover for each other.
Avoid Conflict Between Host Family Interview and 30/60 Day Visit
- Have a plan for doing host family interviews so the same person doing the initial interview is not assigned to the 30/60 day visit. Some teams have the Support leadership or Liaison Assignment Coordinator do the host family initial interviews to help make a good liaison-host family match. This also introduces the Support team to the family should difficulties arise later. Some teams have the hosting team do the interviews, and some teams have any volunteer except the liaison do the interviews. Liaisons can then do the 30/60 in-home visit without initiating a conflict.
- Assign the 30/60 in-home visit to a volunteer as soon as the placement is made. Changes will be made by the end of 2021 to allow the assignment of recording the 30/60 contact upon linking the liaison.
Give Liaisons Lots of Positive Reinforcement
Try these feedback techniques:
- Tailor the positive reinforcement to the preferences of the individual liaisons, e.g., some people prefer public praise, others a private note.
- Use a monthly newsletter for feedback, e.g., provide team compliance statistics, heap praise on compliant liaisons.
- Some teams give incentives in the form of gift cards for liaisons who get their reports done by the middle of the month.
- Some teams have competitions within the team, e.g., the first three liaisons who get all their contacts done win; if the team has chapters, the chapters could compete with each other for best compliance.
- Have the Support Coordinator read all monthly reports and give feedback to liaisons. It helps to know someone is reading what you file.
- Give appreciation and recognition.
Redirect a Liaison to Another Role if Compliance is Difficult for Them
If a liaison is not getting the contacts done or filed in a timely manner, intervention is required. Have an honest conversation with the volunteer about why the contacts are not being made (or recorded). Most volunteers have a lot to offer, but they are not always in the right role.
- Ask liaisons to pair up to help cover for each other. If the liaison is having a temporary problem, ask another volunteer to fill in until the liaison can resume the role.
- If the liaison wants to continue student contact but doesn’t manage to get the paperwork done, another volunteer can be the official liaison while the original liaison can organize activities for students, help with orientations, etc.
- Sometimes a volunteer is best suited to helping in other ways than being a liaison, like organizing food for orientations, interviewing prospective students, or putting together outings for students. Suggest a different way for the liaison to be part of the team.
- For additional information, please see Managing Difficult Conversations with Liaisons.
Host Families Play a Part in Compliance
- Get Host Families on board with the necessity for monthly contacts by mentioning the requirement in Host Family interviews and at Host Family Orientations. Make sure host families have the link to Help & Learning for Host Families and specifically the article on Liaison Support and Monthly Contacts to learn more about the role of the liaison.
- Have Support leadership conduct initial host family interviews so families know who will be there to help and so leadership has a sense of which liaison will be the best match.
- Introduce Host Families to Support leadership on the team so they will know who is backing up the liaison.
- Explain to team leaders who have completed the Department of State and Hosting and Support Affiliation that they can file Host Family monthly contacts based on phone calls with the family.
- Conduct Liaison Training and Host Family Orientation at the same time so liaisons and families can meet and get to know each other.
- Ask liaisons and other Support volunteers to attend the Host Family Orientation so they share a knowledge base with the family.
- Provide opportunities for Liaisons and Host Families to connect.
- Create a Google map showing all Host Families and liaisons and make that available to all liaisons and Host Families so they can help each other out. Obtain permission from Host Families and Liaisons prior to distributing the map and make sure that only vetted host families and volunteers on your team can access the map. Instructions can be found here.
- Consider geography as an important factor in matching liaisons with Host Family and student: the closer the better!
Schools Are Compliance Partners, Too
- Ask the team leadership to write to each school and explain the necessity for periodic reporting on the student’s progress. In the letter, name the AFS point of contact for each student.
- If a school or school district has multiple students, ask one support volunteer to be the school’s contact. Have that person contact the guidance office three times a year to check on each student in the school and then file all the required reports.
- Have the Host Family add the Liaison and/or Support Coordinator to the emergency contact information in school records as a person privy to information about their student.
- School counselors are busy and sometimes respond to emails better than a phone call. Some teams put the contact questions in an email to the counselor for them to answer.
- Encourage your liaisons to stop by the school with some goodies for the teachers’ lounge and counselors' office to show appreciation.
- If the school still won’t talk to a volunteer, document the attempts to contact the school in the School Contact form.
Boost Team Spirit and Get Everyone Involved in Compliance
- As you get your team ready for August arrivals, prepare everyone for a good compliance year. Set a team goal for compliance.
- Foster liaison-student connection at the beginning of the year. For example, host an arrival activity for students, host families, and liaisons; ask liaisons to give their student a ride to the Post Arrival Orientation; or plan a Fall hike for students and liaisons.
- Plan monthly team activities for students and invite liaisons to these activities. Ensure that several volunteers are ready (and approved) to file reports on the students they interact with.
- Create a culture within the team that the team is depending on the liaisons and give them a strong role in making things work. Explain that the student’s and host family’s success depend on the liaison’s active involvement and that the team is committed to compliance. The team (and AFS-USA) is counting on the liaison to conduct and record contacts in a timely manner!
- Host regular team-wide liaison get-togethers to exchange ideas and have some fun
- Host small dinners or happy hours for all the liaisons in a pod or chapter
Has your Area Team found an innovative way to promote Compliance? We would love to hear your suggestions. Please write to askafs@afsusa.org and include Compliance Tools in the subject line.