You are a YEO or Counselor. Now what?

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Complete the vetting background process on all volunteers that work with the Youth Program.  This includes counselors,  host family members and general club members that want to be involved with the student program in more than a casual way. This process is explained in detail in the YEAH HUB and Portal Basic Instructions file under the YEAH heading on this website.

It is recommended that you develop a Youth Exchange Committee; your team can assist you in all matters Youth Exchange. Your team should consist of yourself, your club’s student counselor and at least one other vetted Rotarian. You can ask your Youth Protection officer to join your team or any other interested Rotarian that has the same passion for the program as you do. It is most advisable that you have at a minimum 3 vetted Rotarians in your club.

In early September you will need to make arrangements with the school to talk to students about the program. This can take place in several ways; a school assembly; a class of 9th or 10th  graders with a sympathetic teacher that will allow you to take up time in their classroom, flyers; Interact or Key Club; and many other possibilities. You will need to introduce the program to these students. We recommend 9th or 10th graders because although a student can choose to go out in their 12th grade year, it is ideal for them to go in their grade 10 or 11. There are many reasons for this, but a very important reason is they will be there to help you talk to the students about the program after their return. In fact, using the current inbound and the most recent rebound to talk about the program is the best sales tool we have. You should be there only to advise, let the students do the talking.

Follow this up with an information night where you invite interested students and parents to hear more about the program, you will have an interview night scheduled and you will need to assemble an interview panel (this should not be more than 4 people and if the rebound student is available – use them as one of your panel). Interviews should be set no later than October 15th . Once a student is selected to go forward to the district interviews, send them the Online Application link (located in the sidebar). You should help them to get their application completed by the end of October. The application is very lengthy and requires a letter written by both the student and parents, as well as medical and dental exams, school transcripts and references. Don’t be shy about asking the student to rewrite the letter if it is not in good format. This is the first impression their future host will have of them and it needs to be their best. Pay attention to sentence structure and grammar. Did they answer all the questions?

 Time and time again we hear that this is the hardest part of the job. It is your responsibility, along with your entire club, to find appropriate host families for your inbound student. To get a view on best practices and how to vet your families review the process under “Host Families”. Ideally you should have three qualified families, but two will suffice. All families do not need to be selected prior to the student’s arrival, however a first family must be previously vetted in the spring prior to the student’s arrival in August in order to fulfill Guarantee Form requirements. 

You should be checking in with the school on a regular basis to see how your student is doing. Do they require some additional tutoring to help them in the beginning? Would a change in classes be beneficial? Be sure to work closely with your club’s student counselor to insure timely school checks. 

 Checking in with the student and family often (at a minimum once every 30 days) to see how things are going. A monthly Counselor's Report needs to be submitted to the YEAH database. See the YEAH instructions on how to do this. 

 Try to keep in touch with the outbound student, this can be easier said than done because they are so busy in their new life, but many clubs require their students to send home monthly reports. 

 This position is considered the most fun position on the committee. Your main job is to be connected to the student to make sure everything is going well. It is advisable to meet with the student at lease once a month for a “chat”. This can be over coffee or a phone call. Obviously personal contact is the best to develop the kind of relationship you should have with your student. You may even consider having them stay with you for a couple days early in the year to get better acquainted. A student is more likely to “open up” to you if they feel they know you. You are required to have contact with the student at a minimum of once every 30 days. This contact can be from a personal visit, a phone call, an e-mail or a text, but there are a few mandatory in-person meetings that are required. You or the YEO will report these contacts through the YEAH Portal 

 Our district requires a second home inspection/visit be conducted by a different “certified Rotarian” than performed the initial home inspection/visit. This most likely will fall to you as most clubs only have two or three certified Rotarians in their club. There is a form that requires submitting onto the YEAH database. Your YEO can assist you with this.