U.S. requiring checks on host families to stop sex abuse, other crimes

12:11 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 13, 2006

By LAURA SCHREIER / The Dallas Morning News

The man on the phone wanted to host a foreign exchange student – specifically, a Russian female age 17 or 18.

Olga Aceska, on the other end of the line, decided not to call him back.

"I didn't even bother proceeding because of that conversation," she said. "It was just weird."

Olga Aceska

Ms. Aceska, president of the Oklahoma City-based Educational and Cultural Interactions, said such personal judgments have long been a big part of screening for host families.

Now, she applauds new, tougher State Department rules requiring criminal background checks on families before they can host foreign students. Enacted this spring, the mandate is a response to growing concerns about sex abuse and other crimes against exchange students.

Danielle Grijalva, a Californian who founded a safety organization for exchange students, said reaction has been mostly positive, though she heard some complaints from applicants who called the checks a "slap in the face" after agreeing to open up their homes.

"I have no sympathy," she said. "You are taking these students into your home for up to 10 months. What are you hiding?"

About 30,000 foreign students come to the U.S. each year directly through school exchange programs or nonprofit organizations that place them in schools.

No single agency has tracked the number of crimes against exchange students. Under the new rules, exchange programs must tell students how to identify and report sexual abuse, and they must notify the State Department and local law officers of any reports.

Stanley Colvin, director of the State Department's Office of Exchange Coordination and Designation, said his office has received 20 abuse reports since August – before reporting was required.

Ms. Grijalva started her volunteer group after working in an exchange program in which she helped relocate two boys from France and Germany. They told her their host father had repeatedly shown them pornography, offered them alcohol and taken pictures of them as they slept.

Her Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students monitors reports of abuse or extortion, and its Web site, www.csfes.org, links to news reports about criminal cases involving exchange students. Among them:

• A man in Sutherland Springs, Texas, faces trial in August on charges that he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old German exchange student living with him, his wife and their toddler, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

• A Kentucky man pleaded guilty in April to sodomizing a 15-year-old Taiwanese girl who lived in his home, The Associated Press reported.

• A Maryland teacher was convicted last year of sexual assault involving a 17-year-old German girl who lived in his home.

• A Michigan man who hid cameras in the bedroom used by an exchange student in his home pleaded guilty to "possession of child sexually abusive material," according to The Washington Post.

Not all foreign youths studying in the U.S. will benefit from the new rules.

While Mr. Colvin's office has oversight of programs that use cultural exchange visas, 15,000 students study in the U.S. each year on F-1 visas obtained through the Department of Homeland Security. Some of those students live with relatives or independently, but others find unregulated programs to place them in homes.

"The F-1 visa does not have the same safeguard provisions for the kid," said John Hishmeh, executive director of the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel, an industry accreditation group.

The rules also don't apply to other countries, meaning U.S. students must rely on program coordinators to place them in safe homes. And organizers say students rarely question the screening process.

Michelle Aldana, a senior at Lakewood Presbyterian School in Dallas, just hoped she'd get a welcoming family for her upcoming year in France. "I'm praying that they won't be snobby," she said.

JIM MAHONEY / DMN

Michelle Aldana trusts the program placing her with a family in France but is glad her hosts will have a criminal review.

The idea that her host family might be a source of danger hadn't occurred to her. She said she trusts her program – South Central Rotary Youth Exchange – and will have an emergency contact number. But she said she'd take comfort in knowing the host family has had some kind of criminal review.

"People aren't always what they seem," she said.

Rodolfo Hernandez, director of the Office of International Education at the University of Texas at Dallas, said his office administers a small program – sending 12 to 15 students a year to Guanajuato, Mexico – so his coordinators know the host families personally.

But students can study abroad through a variety of other programs, and Mr. Hernandez said students rarely ask many questions about their host families, so UTD advisers walk them through the matching process.

"For many of them, this is the first time they are going abroad, so they have no clue about this," he said.

Ms. Aceska of the Oklahoma group said her organization had no problems adding background checks to the screening process. "It's more paperwork, but it's nothing we complain about."

Mr. Hishmeh of the industry's accreditation organization said programs check criminal backgrounds using private companies – which differ on the quality and quantity of records they hold. "It's not as coordinated as you'd think, in this day and age, as it should be."

Study-abroad organizations pick their own companies. For example, Peace4Kids in El Paso uses the online program Net Detective for a $29 membership fee and $35 per search, said Lisa Petty, vice president of the exchange program.

The District 5840 South Central Rotary Youth Exchange uses the Volunteer Center of North Texas at $7.30 a search, said Kathy Meurin of New Braunfels, the youth exchange co-chairwoman.

Ms. Meurin said she hasn't had any complaints, largely because criminal background checks have become routine for many volunteer programs: churches, youth groups, even junior livestock exhibition organizers.

"We always tell families, 'Wouldn't you want that for your own child?' "

E-mail lschreier@dallasnews.com

• See whether an exchange program is accredited by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel by going to www.csiet.org and clicking on the list of programs that meet the criteria. If a program is not accredited, ask why not, and make sure you're satisfied with the answer.

• Ask for a copy of the child protection policy of the group responsible for placing students.

• Ask for a guarantee in writing that the host family's home has been inspected and that the student's privacy in the bathroom and the bedroom is ensured.

• Check how well the organization responds to emergencies by finding out which emergency telephone numbers they recommend to students.

• Ask for references. Even though organizations are likely to give names of people with positive experiences, they can provide a detailed look at that organization's strengths and weaknesses. If references are refused, find a different program.

• Ensure that students are aware of what constitutes sexual harassment, given that many rapes are preceded by things like "accidentally" touching breasts or thighs or commenting on the student's sexual attractiveness.

• Ask for telephone numbers to call if abusive behavior occurs.

• Make sure the student knows how to call home from overseas and knows how to contact the U.S. consulate in case he or she encounters problems that the exchange program ignores.

• Make sure the student can access his or her passport and return ticket if he or she encounters an unacceptable situation.

SOURCES: Council on Standards for International Educational Travel; the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students; Dallas Morning News research