Dear Senator Feinstein,
Please meet Jeremias, our au pair from Austria. The au pair program has changed our lives and we would appreciate your vote in keeping it alive. Here's why:
- As two busy Silicon Valley working professionals, we have struggled to find childcare for Spencer (6) and Finley (3). There is a documented shortage of early childcare facilities in Redwood City (and throughout California) that is only expected to grow. There simply aren't spaces at day cares.
- We have tried and failed with five different employment situations, ranging from nannies, to drivers, to mothers' helpers to try to figure out how to get Spencer and Finely transported to different places, at different times, and to manage changing travel schedules on our part, and school breaks, and other situations. The flexibility of an au pair is unmatched by any other child care option.
- Contrary to some opinions, hosting an au pair is not a "cheap" source of labor. It costs us more than a nanny at $20-25/hr due to the fact that car insurance is expensive, extra rooms and plane tickets, ski tickets, etc. must be purchased, and room and lodging costs add up quickly.
- We include our au pair in everything—he is a family member, and we know that most other host families take the same approach. We have always followed the rules and limits on working hours, and know that most families are very respectful of these limits. Our agency, Cultural Care, has followed up with us and verified our adherence to the program rules every month.
- Although we're not a military family, we understand that au pairs have been a valuable source of help for families where one spouse or the other is deployed. Again, there is no other childcare option that replicates the ability to have another "family member" in your home.
- The cultural exchange aspect goes without mentioning—we have shared the best of America with Jeremias, and he has a lifelong appreciation and love for the country. Since he's Austrian, he was practically born on skis, and we skied all over Tahoe together this winter. He came to Apple Hill for apple picking, Half Moon Bay for surfing, San Diego, and everywhere we went. He handled all the ups and downs of our family life with patience, maturity, and optimism that we never found in any "hired help" and loved our boys as his little brothers.
- The diplomacy and connections that are made through the au pair program are huge benefits to the US. The program truly does accomplish the cultural exchange components that it purports to culminate. Indeed, we have a year's worth of pictures in sharing family memories that supports this notion. :-)
- These au pairs are simply phenomenal young men and women who share and bring so much optimism to the lives of their host families. Jeremias, in fact, was nominated as one of the au pairs of the year—take a look at the love and memories documented by him and other au pairs here: https://culturalcare.com/blog/our-ten-finalists-for-the-2017-au-pair-of-the-year-award/
Thanks for lending an ear. Put simply, many of your California constituents would be absolutely devastated (logistically and emotionally) if their au pair family members were taken away, us included. While there will always be exceptions, a deep dig into the program will demonstrate that in 99% of the cases, the au pair program results in a lifelong cultural exchange that also fulfills childcare needs that cannot be met in any other fashion.
Please support the program.
Best,
The Shroff Family
Submitted by Bodie Bristol, host mom in California