Helen Cook

CULTURAL CARE “PHILADELPHIA” AU PAIR AMAZING RACE

The Au Pair Amazing Race Philadelphia 2010 will be held:

     Saturday, May 22, 2010

     1:00 P.M. to 4:00 p.m.

Au pairs will gather with their teams to begin the race at the foot of the famous steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

For Lehigh Valley Au Pairs — you will need to take public transportation to the Philadelphia area or carpool (only if your family allows that you drive into downtown Philadelphia).   The two most likely ways for you to get to the Starting Point of the Race is:

     1) Take the Bieber Bus from our area to the 30th Street Train Station and find your way either by cab or walking to the front steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum or

     2) Travel to Lansdale or Colmar Train Stations (both about 50 minutes to 1 hour south of our area) and take the train to 30th Street Station, etc.

Please note that this is NOT a mandatory meeting — but this is being announced to Lehigh Valley Au Pairs should the Au Pair wish to participate in the Amazing Race.   IF YOU DO CHOOSE TO PARTICIPATE — PLEASE TELL ME IMMEDIATELY so — if we do have a good group attending — we can make more formal arrangements.   It is very possible that I — as your LCC — will not be at the Amazing Race — so you will need to tell me so I can be sure that all the details are completed.

Please note that this is not the “official” Monthly Au Pair Meeting of the Lehigh Valley Au Pairs — but — if you choose to attend The Philadelphia Amazing Race — your attendance at the event will “count” as your meeting attendance for May!  As of now — we will still have an “official” May Au Pair Meeting.

The event will be held “rain or shine”.

Au pairs will need to pre-register and there will be a $5 registration fee, a portion of which will go to Kids First.    Registration Forms, etc. have not been released as of now — but you will be informed when they are.   Again - if you are considering attending this event — please tell me as soon as possible so I can be sure to have you have the link once released.

You must register individually and will be asked on the day of event to gather in teams of 6.

 WONDERING WHAT OUR HOST FAMILIES (CUSTOMERS) SAY ABOUT USING “CULTURAL CARE AU PAIR” ?    A new Host Mom shares her story! 

Here is a reccent post on Big Tent from one of New Host Moms in California. She just welcomed her first au pair, a young woman from Norway, to care for 11.5 month old twins.

Kristen commented:

My au pair just arrived from Norway on Friday night. We have some friends who are very clued in to the au pair scene since they’ve been through several in the last 4 or 5 years. At her suggestion, she directed me to www.greataupair.com. She said I can find an au pair through this website, sort of like the craigslisting of au pairs.

However, after trying without any luck of searching for a suitable match, and then once finding someone who might actually work, my concerns about experience, safety, psychological and criminal backgrounds started haunting me at night. I really feel that, for our first experience of bringing an au pair into our home, going through the agency really helped me figure out numerous things about our needs that I didn’t realize before. In fact, it helped me decipher what my parenting style is, the skill set our future au pair should bring with her, which cultures and personalities would work well with our family, and much much more. Although the fee is quite steep, bringing an au pair into your home is a MAJOR commitment. (The first night she was here, I couldn’t sleep knowing she was sleeping closer to my babies than I was! What if she is a bad seed after all?? What if she harms them?) Fortunately, the agency does actually earn their fee; among other things, they interview the au pair candidate as well as the host family in person, get criminal and medical background, facilitate the visas, and handle the travel from her home country to your airport. Are you prepared to get a criminal history from a foreign country where you are unfamiliar with language and local laws? We weren’t. Our time is more valuable that the hours of frustration that would cause us, and then who even knows if it would be truthful.

We too wanted to reduce our fees, but after some deep thought about the process, we felt that for the first year at least it is worthwhile to go through an agency. Perhaps you can find a 2nd year au pair yourself and then have the agency finalize her for you. Honestly, I must have read 200 or more applications for girls that met my general requirements. Once we went with the agency, I asked them to send me 3 or 4 applications from potential candidates to help me determine what we did want and what we didn’t in our au pair. We were surprised by our list of wants and needs when it came right down to it; much more precise than we originally thought we’d need. The agency then matched us with someone they thought would work, and we disagreed. They then sent us the application of the girl who spent the afternoon caring for my 11.5 month old twins, and we couldn’t be happier. She met our requirements perfectly and we are thrilled! In fact, she just told me how thrilled she is to be with us.

I do not have any association with any of the agencies other than being a recently satisifed customer. We went through Cultural Care.

I completely understand the need to be frugal, but I don’t think child care and adding a member to your household is one of those areas where cutting back gets you ahead of the game. Quality care and bringing a positive influence into your home is worth every penny. Perhaps you can cut coupons instead, make purchases off the classifieds, and cut back in other ways. But good luck!!

      The 2010 US Census Is Here!

As you are filling out your forms for the 2010 Census, some Host Families are wondering:  ”Should they count their Au Pair on the census?”.   Here is the recommendation:

In the first section — where it asks about household members, there is a separate box for live-in babysitters and others who may live in the home but may not be members of the family and that is where an Au Pair can be counted.

If you have any further questions, you can go to the 2010 Census website at:

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/

“Mannies” or “Male Au Pairs”  …  Yes, Male Au Pairs make wonderful “mannies” or childcare providers for your children.   At Cultural Care Au Pair, approximately 5% of our Au Pairs are Male Au Pairs and here in the Lehigh Valley, we have five Male Au Pairs in our Au Pair Group.   Cultural Care Au Pair is one of only a few Au Pair Agencies that provide Male Au Pairs — a growing trend of childcare in the United States.    See what Susan Robinson - a Host Mom and Vice President of Cultural Care Au Pair — says about Male Au Pairs …

We love our “Mannies”!

Parents who host Male Au Pairs are quick share that their Au Pairs offer their family everything that Female Au Pairs do and more.  We are very proud of our male candidates! 

We are extremely proud to say that a Cultural Care Male Au Pair was named “2009 Au Pair of the Year” by the International Au Pair Association.  The winner is Francisco Ricardo Silva de Araújo Brazil.

 Lehigh Valley Au Pairs — Bring out your artistic talents at our March “Spring Egg Decorating” Au Pair Meeting!

Here are the Details:

     Date:       Sunday, March 21, 2010

     Time:      4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

     Where:    “Fellowship Hall” (Basement) of Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church, 535 West Emaus Avenue, Allentown, PA  18103 

We will be “decorating Eggs for the Springtime”.         Each Au Pair will have six eggs to decorate or color, etc. and we will have a contest and vote on the best or most popular decorated eggs.   Three prizes will be awarded!   We will have snacks and beverages.  You will take your decorated eggs home to share with your family!  You need not bring anything except a good attitude and fun!  Think Creatively!

  As a participant in the Au Pair program, Cultural Care strongly recommends that you consult with your tax advisor, accountant, insurance advisor and/or an attorney regarding any state or federal rules or regulations that you may be required to comply with when you host an Au Pair.  Unfortunately, Cultural Care is not in a position to provide such advice to our host families due to the variations in the law from state to state and to the individual circumstances of each host family.

If your employer requires taxpayer identification numbers, you should use the following:

• Your Au Pair’s social security number or ITIN, in reference to payments made directly to your Au Pair
• Cultural Care Au Pair’s Federal Tax ID number in reference to program fees paid to Cultural Care Au Pair.  Cultural Care Au Pair’s Federal Tax ID number is 20-2020345

As a general guideline, the following information might be helpful to your professional advisor or might be issues that need to be explored:

• Au Pairs are here on a J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa.  According to the IRS website, Au Pairs are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes as well as Federal Unemployment Tax.
• Au Pairs are required to pay income tax with the exception of Social Security. However, depending on the time of year that the Au Pair arrives or departs, they may not make the minimum level of income required for taxation in that calendar year.
• The weekly stipend and the fees paid to Cultural Care may qualify as a tax deductible childcare expense.
• The IRS does not require host families to file Schedule H (Form 1040).
• Host families and Au Pairs may want to inquire about obtaining a social security number for the Au Pair.  In order to qualify for a social security number, the Au Pair must provide proof of her participation in the Au Pair program with a letter from Cultural Care.  In addition, they will need their passport, I-94 card and DS-2019 form.  Please contact me if you need assistance with this.
• We strongly recommend that you inquire with your professional advisor about specific state laws and requirements which may include, but not be limited to workers’ compensation insurance and state unemployment taxes.

Account statement
A statement/receipt of payments made to Cultural Care Au Pair is available in your online account’s Payment Center. Please contact your Program Director if you have any questions about payments made or credits owed.

Flexible Spending Accounts
Many employers offer their employees the benefit of a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), such as a Dependent Care Spending Account. You should determine if the program fees and/or au pair stipend qualify for your employer’s program.

Please note that this is intended to be a guide only and is in no way an exhaustive list of the issues you should explore nor is it intended to be legal or tax advice.

As part of Cultural Care Au Pair’s mission to break down barriers of culture and language through educational exchange, a group of local childcare coordinators and staff recently visited South Africa to see firsthand the difference the donations from the Cultural Care community have made through our charitable organization Kids First.

Since its inception in 2004, Kids First has supported many worldwide organizations that work with at-risk youth. From the daycare center in Brazil to the school library in New Orleans to an orphanage in Russia, Kids First has supported a wide range of global organizations. Our most recent work at an orphanage and daycare center in a poverty-stricken township outside Capetown, South Africa is another great example of the work we are doing worldwide.

Cultural Care staff and LCCs had an opportunity to visit several projects funded through CHOSA, an organization that Kids First supports. CHOSA provides support to programs that work with at-risk children and their families to provide nutrition, medication, clothing, food, shelter and an education.

During the service visit, those who participated had a chance to visit the Ubuhle Babantwana Care Center, which helps 150 children, some of whom are HIV positive. Donations received from au pairs, host families and Cultural Care LCCs and staff have provided funds for the building of a new structure for the infants and toddlers in the center. The group from Cultural Care Au Pair had an opportunity to see the new structure, meet the inspirational director and dedicated teachers and had some time to play with the children.

In addition, the group visited the Ilitha-Labantwana Place of Safety, the Philani Child Health and Nutrition Project, the Emasithandane Children’s Project and the Baphumulele Children’s Home. The Cultural Care team is now bringing their experience back to the U.S. to raise awareness, and additional funds for even more projects that Kids First supports.

“Our Kids First trip to Cape Town was truly amazing and inspiring,” says Local Childcare Coordinator Trudy Mar. “The work, effort, love and sacrifice the women heading up these projects give to all of the kids goes well beyond what most of us could imagine. If one little body sleeps better, eats better and smiles more, we’ve helped to change their future and make the world a better place. Every dollar we raise for Kids First definitely does make a difference.”

For information about how you can make a contribution to Kids First, or raise awareness for the programs it supports, visit http://www.culturalcare.com/aboutus/kidsfirst/ or Helen Cook, Local Coordinator.   Our Lehigh Valley Au Pair Group will be sponsoring a Kids First event and/or meeting shortly to raise funds for this very valuable cause.

  Spring is almost here and now is a great time to secure your childcare by hosting a Cultural Care Au Pair.   Flexible and affordable childcare for busy families!   Childcare and Light Housekeeping — all for a  weekly cost of approximately $330 per week (or $7.30/hr.) (per family, not per child).

SAVINGS OFFERED MARCH 1 thru MARCH 31, 2010 IS $350 OFF OUR PROGRAM FEE .. for families that host an Au Pair by October 22, 2010.

Cultural Care Au Pair, America’s leading au pair agency, has hundreds of qualified candidates ready for immediate placement, so you can start matching today!

In addition to the largest pool of qualified au pairs, we offer:

• Three ways to match with potential candidates
• A “Peace of Mind Guarantee” - your family’s financial safeguard
• A Placement Manager to help you find just the right au pair for your family
• A Local Childcare Coordinator in your area to provide year-long support

In order to qualify for the discount, please call me at 610-797-5887 or via email (helen.cook@lcc.culturalcare.com) to discuss your specific needs and obtain your promotion code.   I am able to assist host families from the Lehigh Valley and all parts of the United States.

I have over 13 years experience helping busy families find the flexible and affordable childcare they need and it would be my honor to assist you thru the process.  I look forward to answering your questions!

Helen Cook

610-797-5887

helen.cook@lcc.culturalcare.com

     Lehigh Valley Au Pairs from Cultural Care Au Pair converged on Camelback Ski Mountain on Sunday — Over 100 Au Pairs from the Lehigh Valley and the Philadelphia area spent a wonderful day skiing or snowboarding!   The weather was great and even the beginners never wanted to leave the slopes!  For more photos of the Ski/Snowboard Day - see Photos Page above.

  The Annual Cultural Care Au Pair Ski/Snowboard Trip to Camelback Area Ski Mountain will be held this Sunday, February 21, 2010.

The Lehigh Valley Au Pair Group of Cultural Care Au Pair will meet at 8:00 a.m. at The SunBowl Lodge (not the Main Lodge) and Cultural Care Au Pairs from the Philadelphia will arrive by bus at about 9:00 a.m.

This is the 10th consecutive year for Cultural Care Au Pairs to enjoy the Ski / Snowboard Day and approximately 100 Au Pairs participate in this great event — from Au Pairs that have never skiied or snowboarded to the most experienced skiiers or snowboarders who have grown up on skis/snowboards!  

Au Pairs from approximately 17 countries will participate in this event — and for many Au Pairs — this will be the first time that they have “really played in the Snow”!   

Be Safe Au Pairs and Have Fun !!!