Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attorney here. The only group to benefit from a class action are the attorneys.

I am confident that there is a greedy law firm involved to shake down agencies.

I can't imagine you will get class action status.

If OP was the victim of fraud, then sue the agency.

And if you were stupid enough not to call the former family of a rematch or avoid her if you were told you couldn't talk to the family, that is your problem.

That's like saying that if you want daycare centers to be regulated then you're anti daycare. The regulations only require initial screening of the au pair. It doesn't require them to be honest with you about whether the au Pair has been with 4 other families before (which is why they only refer to the immediate past family). Doesn't require them to tell you that in 2 of their past 4 families they totaled the car. Or that they kept the host child tied up to their bed posts using leggings. (All actual examples.) I'm in favor of this program but I'm NOT in favor of families being lied to with no oversight. Since this stuff isn't covered by the CFR the only recourse families have is to 1) involve the police or 2) sue. Agencies aren't even mandatory reporters of abuse. The regulations and the agencies only protect the au pair. This is wrong. (Not the OP and not involved in the lawsuit).

My point is that you should just sue them. I know first hand that class actions are a money making scheme for the attorneys and plaintiffs.

No one is denying that the examples above are horrible. You have a good case against the agency. You do not have grounds for a class action.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attorney here. The only group to benefit from a class action are the attorneys.

I am confident that there is a greedy law firm involved to shake down agencies.

I can't imagine you will get class action status.

If OP was the victim of fraud, then sue the agency.

And if you were stupid enough not to call the former family of a rematch or avoid her if you were told you couldn't talk to the family, that is your problem.

That's like saying that if you want daycare centers to be regulated then you're anti daycare. The regulations only require initial screening of the au pair. It doesn't require them to be honest with you about whether the au Pair has been with 4 other families before (which is why they only refer to the immediate past family). Doesn't require them to tell you that in 2 of their past 4 families they totaled the car. Or that they kept the host child tied up to their bed posts using leggings. (All actual examples.) I'm in favor of this program but I'm NOT in favor of families being lied to with no oversight. Since this stuff isn't covered by the CFR the only recourse families have is to 1) involve the police or 2) sue. Agencies aren't even mandatory reporters of abuse. The regulations and the agencies only protect the au pair. This is wrong. (Not the OP and not involved in the lawsuit).

Finally getting somewhere. Now I wonder if one of the APs was the Italian girl who went through like 6 families last year. When we were in rematch our lcc warned us about some crazies and would remove them from favorites in our account all the time. She did not need to say anything, we got why she was doing it.

Anonymous wrote:Attorney here. The only group to benefit from a class action are the attorneys.

I am confident that there is a greedy law firm involved to shake down agencies.

I can't imagine you will get class action status.

If OP was the victim of fraud, then sue the agency.

And if you were stupid enough not to call the former family of a rematch or avoid her if you were told you couldn't talk to the family, that is your problem.

That's like saying that if you want daycare centers to be regulated then you're anti daycare. The regulations only require initial screening of the au pair. It doesn't require them to be honest with you about whether the au Pair has been with 4 other families before (which is why they only refer to the immediate past family). Doesn't require them to tell you that in 2 of their past 4 families they totaled the car. Or that they kept the host child tied up to their bed posts using leggings. (All actual examples.) I'm in favor of this program but I'm NOT in favor of families being lied to with no oversight. Since this stuff isn't covered by the CFR the only recourse families have is to 1) involve the police or 2) sue. Agencies aren't even mandatory reporters of abuse. The regulations and the agencies only protect the au pair. This is wrong. (Not the OP and not involved in the lawsuit).

Attorney here. The only group to benefit from a class action are the attorneys.

I am confident that there is a greedy law firm involved to shake down agencies.

I can't imagine you will get class action status.

If OP was the victim of fraud, then sue the agency. Stop bothering us.

And if you were stupid enough not to call the former family of a rematch or avoid her if you were told you couldn't talk to the family, that is your problem.

Anonymous wrote:And I will add. This same agency who thinks it is okay to lie to host families also thinks it is okay to monitor host family on social media and send them emails asking, "why did you post that?" Things as simple as host families posting that they are looking for an au pair- this agency wrote and said, why are you doing this on social media instead of on our website? This agency's unscrupulous practices truly knows no bounds and I hope OP gets them.

Wait - what??? They saw you posted and contacted you??!!

Wonder if they contact all the APs who post on Fb looking for rematch before they are actually in rematch?

And I will add. This same agency who thinks it is okay to lie to host families also thinks it is okay to monitor host family on social media and send them emails asking, "why did you post that?" Things as simple as host families posting that they are looking for an au pair- this agency wrote and said, why are you doing this on social media instead of on our website? This agency's unscrupulous practices truly knows no bounds and I hope OP gets them.

NP here. OP, I'm fairly certain you're referring to a Facebook group that I used to belong to because I watched as several families figured out they had been lied to about the driving record of the same au pair that they had all had. In fact, they had been lied to about the fact that the AP had so many rematches. And then we watched as the same agency rematched an AP who was caught on video physically abusing a host child.

Look, I'm in favor of this program. But not at any and all costs, certainly not the cost of the safety of the host kids. Keep doing what you're doing OP and ignore these people who, thank god, have not yet dealt with the more disturbing aspects of this program.

They won't be told in a public forum but you are working with a news crew to sensationalize a slam piece on the program?
Got it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the 11:44 poster and not a troll or roaster. I am someone who benefits greatly from the AP program as a HM and who treats my APs with respect and kindness. What I want is to have the program continue, not be killed. I don't want yet another negative news story about the program in light of the threats made by the President to eliminate it.

I'm 12:28 above and also a HM who has had the most amazing 5 APs, and who loves the program and is concerned about it's future.

Are there bad apples here and there in the AP program who make bad decisions (whether HFs, APs, LCCs and so on)? Yep, I'm sure there are. Just like in any other program or company or life situation. Bring an individual lawsuit if someone was truly hurt of it you really feel you need to (though keep in mind, there are typically 2 sides to every story, plus the truth, which is usually somewhere in the middle and lawsuits are long and expensive and difficult). Or, maybe just take your child care business elsewhere if you feel you were wronged. I should not say this b/c I am a lawyer but not every wrong is "class action" worthy; or front page news; or "call your Congressman, rally the troops" kind of stuff.

And just b/c I feel this way does not mean that I am all for throwing my kids to the wolves and I don't care about safe child care. To suggest otherwise is extreme and fear mongering and baseless. It's not a choice between "continuation of the AP program" and "safe child care." It's just not.

I also agree that this place is usually pretty negative and it bums me out. But I don't see a problem with calling out the OP here, who refuses to identify him/herself yet wants people here to send their personal information out into cyberland with no assurance of who is on the other end, all while making mysterious and unbelievable claims about Congressional action and front page news. That's suspicious and should be called out as such.

I am a HP of 7 AP's and one of the families involved with the OP. None of the families involved are anti AP. None of the families involved are anti AP program. All of the families involved were victims of fraud (IMHO). We are all for a great program, great ap's, great childcare, and exchanging our culture while sharing our great country. I personally have visited our former ap's in their home country and had our previous ap's come back to visit us. We have talked about the program, shared the program, and promoted the program to friends. That does not equal what was done to us by way of the agencies. Plenty of people slamming the OP have no idea what has happened to that person or family. The OP tried to explain some items that are in the works and how we have worked extremely hard to make the program better. An agency putting unfit and dangerous ap's in your home without telling you what happened in a previous home is not acceptable. Anyone slamming this group hasn't had this happen to them but if over 50 families can be found through a social network in a matter of 3 weeks, imagine how many families might have gone through this over the past several years. Unless you have walked in our shoes and experienced what happened to our children all the while telling the agency and then being kicked out for making waves then maybe you should do more listening and less judging. Just my $.02 but I think I have enough experience with the program to try and right a wrong.

As far as sharing our info on this forum, many of us are still in the program. We have thousands invested with our current agency and don't want to be kicked out with the VERY one sided contracts. The OP was only trying to say hey, if you have had an issue like ours, please let us know so we can reach out to you in the future. If it is not something that has happened to you or your family so be it. No harm no foul. Bottom line, the stories would absolutely shock you and no they will not be told on a public forum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the 11:44 poster and not a troll or roaster. I am someone who benefits greatly from the AP program as a HM and who treats my APs with respect and kindness. What I want is to have the program continue, not be killed. I don't want yet another negative news story about the program in light of the threats made by the President to eliminate it.

If I have understood what some of those families are claiming..... You would rather have an affordable au pair program over safety of your children. Some of what is claimed from the people I PM'd had some terrible stories and the agencies clearly put profits above families and child safety. I will have to disagree with that type of reasoning.

If you care this much, then why is this such an anonymous, secretive thing where you wont provide any details? Anyway I hope this is the end of this thread. There is zero chance Congress decides to forgo all the other pressing issues on their plate to tackle the AP program.

Anonymous wrote:I'm the 11:44 poster and not a troll or roaster. I am someone who benefits greatly from the AP program as a HM and who treats my APs with respect and kindness. What I want is to have the program continue, not be killed. I don't want yet another negative news story about the program in light of the threats made by the President to eliminate it.

I'm 12:28 above and also a HM who has had the most amazing 5 APs, and who loves the program and is concerned about it's future.

Are there bad apples here and there in the AP program who make bad decisions (whether HFs, APs, LCCs and so on)? Yep, I'm sure there are. Just like in any other program or company or life situation. Bring an individual lawsuit if someone was truly hurt of it you really feel you need to (though keep in mind, there are typically 2 sides to every story, plus the truth, which is usually somewhere in the middle and lawsuits are long and expensive and difficult). Or, maybe just take your child care business elsewhere if you feel you were wronged. I should not say this b/c I am a lawyer but not every wrong is "class action" worthy; or front page news; or "call your Congressman, rally the troops" kind of stuff.

And just b/c I feel this way does not mean that I am all for throwing my kids to the wolves and I don't care about safe child care. To suggest otherwise is extreme and fear mongering and baseless. It's not a choice between "continuation of the AP program" and "safe child care." It's just not.

I also agree that this place is usually pretty negative and it bums me out. But I don't see a problem with calling out the OP here, who refuses to identify him/herself yet wants people here to send their personal information out into cyberland with no assurance of who is on the other end, all while making mysterious and unbelievable claims about Congressional action and front page news. That's suspicious and should be called out as such.

Please please stop trying to stir your pot here. Of course all of us care about the safety of our children. I won't check this thread again, too annoying.

Anonymous wrote:I'm the 11:44 poster and not a troll or roaster. I am someone who benefits greatly from the AP program as a HM and who treats my APs with respect and kindness. What I want is to have the program continue, not be killed. I don't want yet another negative news story about the program in light of the threats made by the President to eliminate it.

If I have understood what some of those families are claiming..... You would rather have an affordable au pair program over safety of your children. Some of what is claimed from the people I PM'd had some terrible stories and the agencies clearly put profits above families and child safety. I will have to disagree with that type of reasoning.

I'm the 11:44 poster and not a troll or roaster. I am someone who benefits greatly from the AP program as a HM and who treats my APs with respect and kindness. What I want is to have the program continue, not be killed. I don't want yet another negative news story about the program in light of the threats made by the President to eliminate it.

Anonymous wrote:This group is funny. So fast to roast someone anonymously. Maybe there are actually some people that care and want to do the right thing.

I agree, a bunch of hateful internet trolls (on this forum) always spreading their hate and discontent.