Mormon Nanny from "Your Child's Nanny" Placment Agency?

[Anonymous]

20.59/00.32 again. Mormon isn’t the issue. I’m not Mormon, and as long as I was willing to follow the general precepts if hired by a Mormon family (no smoking, drinking, drugs including caffeine, etc), they were willing Ron place me.

The issue is with the agency. They place only live-in nannies, and because they have lower fees and lower salaries, many families check them out. But the “nannies” have very little experience and there’s isn’t even an LCC to be support like there is with an AP. They knowingly handle and pass on pictures of children without having parental consent. Absolute no go for me!

[Anonymous]

I hesitate to post this review after seeing the vicious attacks and backlash the owner of the agency lobbies on those who post negative reviews, but I cannot let other moms go to this agency with a snip of our story. Our first nanny through this agency was apparently a fluke. When it was time to hire again, I noticed the staff had changed out and the owner made a snide comment that certain staff members were no longer with the agency. In all honesty, the individual who helped me the first round is why I trusted the agency at all. During the hiring process for nanny number two, I picked up on negativity from the owner about certain families. She took pride in "firing families" she could "no longer work with." Again, having had a great experience the first round, I didn't let that cause too much concern. We were also placed with a non-LDS nanny the first round, and then had LDS nannies provided as the only available nannies the second. We hired one who didn't have any of the skills we were promised. She was overwhelmed by kids, she wasn't able to figure out simple household things, like how to use a garbage disposal, and she put our kids in danger because she was just so clueless. We knew after having a nanny for so long prior that we needed to "give it time," but it became clear this wasn't a good fit. When it was time to replace her, the agency again insisted we work with an LDS nanny who came with undisclosed mental and physical health issues, for which we didn't get info until after we paid all the fees and brought her into our home. She had no ability to work with our kids or our family and only wanted to push her agenda and yell at our kids. She quickly departed our home citing disagreement with how we were raising our children in an non-LDS home. After contacting the agency once again, the owner informed me we were evil and she would not be working with our family again. There were so many red flags, and I explained them away. This is only a snip of the mistreatment this agency lobbied on our family. I am sick knowing I put my kids in this situation. PLEASE DO NOT HIRE THIS AGENCY.

[Anonymous]

Hired a nanny who lasted 2 days. Came to me crying that she could not be away from her family and had to drop out of college because she had emotional issues / anorexia when away at school. Agency offered to replace her but would not refund $4,000 fee and so I was out of pocket this + flights for $1,500. We interviewed replacement nannies none of which ever replied back. I think they are young and very non-committal. I found a middle aged lady through another agency in New Jersey with 20+ years experience and she was with us for 4 years. We are still in touch. Do not waste your time with Your Child's Nanny....awful experience.

[Anonymous]

OH geez, it's funny that this agency just popped up in my head today as I remember being scammed by them in 2015. They sent a 18 year old child who was less experienced then my now 12 year old at watching kids. My children still talk about the experience they had with her. There are so many awful stories about how she placed them in danger. Anyway, when we went to replace her as we were promised we could replace her with no issues, they sent profiles of people they knew would not be a match and I could tell they even prompted the girls we interviewed to ask certain questions of me. It was a complete farce. Once they got their money on the first girl they were not going to provide a second girl. So, we paid for one year of service to get a horrible nanny for 6 weeks. TOTAL SCAM! I think it is so sad when I see companies who prey are people looking for a wholesome experience and yet what they are doing is pure deception.

[Anonymous]

Mormon nanny here:

First, know that when you are getting an LDS nanny through a specific agency Often it is more like an au pair than a nanny. Utah, Arizona, and Idaho are not particularly prosperous states and girls from “Mormon” families who have a lot of kids and maybe can’t pay much money for out of state college think that it would be a great adventure to go live in a big city at the other end of the country and earn some money. These young women are coming from low cost of living states as a live-in so are often willing to accept much lower wages than a nanny local to a major metropolitan area. Just like with the au pair program, parents often look at the price tag without thinking about the responsibilities and the culture shock they will have to deal with.

The culture shock isn’t just about being “Mormon.” Utah and Idaho (I haven’t spent as much time in Arizona so I can’t confirm this is true there as well) both have very lax restrictions on parents. People there feel strongly that every parent should be allowed to decide for themselves how to raise their kids, and there is a culture of trusting others and not worrying too much about things. When I was last visiting a friend with kids in Utah, she had her 5yo walk her 2yo down the street to the neighborhood playground to play. Unsupervised. Literally no one thought that was odd but me. When I was a nanny in that part of the country the mom asked me to run to the grocery store before picking up her daughter from school and if the baby fell asleep in the car she told me to just leave him in the car with the engine on while I ran in for milk and diapers. It is a VERY different parenting culture than what we have in most major cities on the coasts.

Additionally, people who are LDS and grew up on the East Coast make fun of “Utah mormons” with good reason. It is so homogeneous that they often just have no social skills around the idea of interacting with cultural, ethnic or religious diversity, which is a huge factor in navigating a place like DC or NYC. They may have trouble with the idea that normal, good people do things like drink alcohol regularly, or wear revealing clothing or swear.

In conclusion, if you like the idea of an LDS nanny because she doesn’t drink or smoke and has solid values and is responsible and family-oriented, that may all be true, but getting a sheltered 19yo is going to come with major downsides. If you are hiring via agency, only accept candidates who have lived away from home for at least a year. Ask a LOT of questions about the level of supervision she feels kids need. Ask about her life experiences and look for someone who has had some outside of the UT/ID/AZ bubble.

If you would rather hire an East Coaster, hire someone who already lives in your city. To do this you probably need to know someone who is LDS and ask if there is a “YSA” listserve in your area and if they would be willing to post a job listing for you.

—Born and raised on the East Coast, raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, nanny for over a decade, have nannied for Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and atheist families and have worked for a gay couple for the last 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mormon nanny here:

First, know that when you are getting an LDS nanny through a specific agency Often it is more like an au pair than a nanny. Utah, Arizona, and Idaho are not particularly prosperous states and girls from “Mormon” families who have a lot of kids and maybe can’t pay much money for out of state college think that it would be a great adventure to go live in a big city at the other end of the country and earn some money. These young women are coming from low cost of living states as a live-in so are often willing to accept much lower wages than a nanny local to a major metropolitan area. Just like with the au pair program, parents often look at the price tag without thinking about the responsibilities and the culture shock they will have to deal with.

The culture shock isn’t just about being “Mormon.” Utah and Idaho (I haven’t spent as much time in Arizona so I can’t confirm this is true there as well) both have very lax restrictions on parents. People there feel strongly that every parent should be allowed to decide for themselves how to raise their kids, and there is a culture of trusting others and not worrying too much about things. When I was last visiting a friend with kids in Utah, she had her 5yo walk her 2yo down the street to the neighborhood playground to play. Unsupervised. Literally no one thought that was odd but me. When I was a nanny in that part of the country the mom asked me to run to the grocery store before picking up her daughter from school and if the baby fell asleep in the car she told me to just leave him in the car with the engine on while I ran in for milk and diapers. It is a VERY different parenting culture than what we have in most major cities on the coasts.

Additionally, people who are LDS and grew up on the East Coast make fun of “Utah mormons” with good reason. It is so homogeneous that they often just have no social skills around the idea of interacting with cultural, ethnic or religious diversity, which is a huge factor in navigating a place like DC or NYC. They may have trouble with the idea that normal, good people do things like drink alcohol regularly, or wear revealing clothing or swear.

In conclusion, if you like the idea of an LDS nanny because she doesn’t drink or smoke and has solid values and is responsible and family-oriented, that may all be true, but getting a sheltered 19yo is going to come with major downsides. If you are hiring via agency, only accept candidates who have lived away from home for at least a year. Ask a LOT of questions about the level of supervision she feels kids need. Ask about her life experiences and look for someone who has had some outside of the UT/ID/AZ bubble.

If you would rather hire an East Coaster, hire someone who already lives in your city. To do this you probably need to know someone who is LDS and ask if there is a “YSA” listserve in your area and if they would be willing to post a job listing for you.

—Born and raised on the East Coast, raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, nanny for over a decade, have nannied for Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and atheist families and have worked for a gay couple for the last 5 years.

This, this, and more this!

You also should be aware that many (not all) of the girls have been raised to believe that a woman’s place is at home, and whether they believe it completely or not, it does come through in word and action. There is a good deal of gender stereotyping and strict gender roles (including telling little girls that they can’t do most jobs as adults and telling little boys that they shouldn’t want to cook). Some families can accept that, others can’t.

[Anonymous]

Be careful to hire anyone from this company - http://www.ycnanny.com/
The owner says that she guarantees her nannies if you are not 100% satisfied, but this isn't true. When you get your young and inexperienced nanny who claims in interviews that she knows how to take care of kids, but really doesn't - you will want a replacement. The owner will not send you a replacement. She will go through the motions as if she is meeting her end of the contract, but in the end you will not get a replacement nanny. What is worse is that you will not get your money back. Warning - you will not get your money back. In other words, you will pay one year up front for a few weeks of a horrible and frustrating babysitting experience.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps I'm a bit dull, I don't see any advantage to hiring a nanny from an agency that advertises a specific religion, cultural group, etc. unless I was part of that religion.

[Anonymous]

Well, as the owner of Your Child's Nanny I'm certainly sad to see some of these comments. First and foremost - I would like to be clear that we have been in business for 17 years and we are not a "Mormon" nanny agency nor do we push Mormon nannies on anyone. We have nannies of all faiths and many families like hiring Mormon nannies or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for a variety of reasons.

Each family chooses their nanny from a variety of candidates that are screened up front and families are provided screening and references. No fees are due until the family selects their nanny and no family is coerced into hiring any nanny. While I recognize that I am not perfect, I also recognize from the comments and timelines some of the families that have commented. Although there are only a few of the 1500 families we have worked with in 17 years, I will say that there are often issues with the family and that's unfortunate for the nannies as well. Although the families pay a fee, there are situations in which I have to at times protect young women from working for families who have provided poor working conditions or broken the contract on their end. This often leads to an angry response. It's very complicated to represent both sides but as a parent myself, putting young women in the homes of families who have mislead them or mistreated them is not something I will do.

Integrity is my top priority and if you feel I owe you a replacement nanny and have not done so I am absolutely open to you contacting me so we can figure out why your search is not currently active and how to provide you with the replacement that is available to you in the contract with me.

We offer no application fee and no up-front fees. Families only pay when they are satisfied with the service. We have far fewer problems with rematching, homesickness or nannies who feel overwhelmed by the job than au pair agencies, but if you choose to hire a nanny for $450/week who has never been a nanny before you do have a higher risk that she may get homesick or be overwhelmed as a first timer; this has happened twice this year (2020). We have nannies who are far more experienced with proven track records that families can choose to hire as well. This is why we offer a free replacement, unlike most agencies who charge for replacement fees.

I am happy to right any wrong you may feel has been done with you family and have a discussion about how it can be made right.

Kari Shafer
Your Child's Nanny
503-568-6876

[Anonymous]

My friend had a bad experience with them. She paid the placement fee and found a nanny. Right before the nanny was supposed to arrive, the nanny decided she would not take the job and wanted to get married to her boyfriend instead. The agency wanted to keep the placement fee and my friend had to argue and haggle to get it back (almost had to do a CC chargeback). The agency isn't well equipped to deal with issues like this, and I would not use them.

[Anonymous]

Do not believe the email from Kari Shafer above. I tried for several months to get my money back after only have a nanny for a few weeks and they did not send me a replacement nanny. I begged and begged for her to understand that paying a year in advance for a nanny we did not get was a hardship for our family. She did not care at all. And if she cares now, then why hasn't she contacted me to right this wrong? She knows all the clients she has done this to. Or is the list too long?