Amy Jarjusey

Host Families Can Say “Welcome to the USA!”

I am very excited to announce the launch of two new services for host families: Welcome Baskets and Specialty Preparation Classes!

Welcome Baskets
Host families can now purchase a customized Cultural Care Welcome Basket for their au pair to be delivered to the Training School in New York. All of our welcome packages include a New York City tour, a Cultural Care Training School Photo CD, snacks, Cultural Care gear and other popular au pair items. Families can add a personal greeting to their au pair and the basket will be waiting at the school for the au pair upon arrival. Au pairs are going to love all the fun, exciting and useful gifts in the Welcome Baskets and families have an easy, practical way to say “welcome” to their au pair!

Specialty Preparation Classes
Host families can now choose to enroll their au pair in Specialty Preparation Classes offered before the standard course at the Training School begins. Au pairs will arrive to the Cultural Care Training School a day early and have a full day of classes focused on a topic of the host family’s choice:

- Rules of the Road and Driving Practices
- Sharing Your Native Language with Children
- Caring for the School-Aged Child
- A Practical Introduction to the American Home

All classes include lectures and discussion, hands-on activities, in-class assignments and take-home manuals. This additional training in a specific area will help to help get their year together off to a great start!

Ordering and Deadlines
Ordering a Welcome Basket or enrolling an au pair in a Specialty Preparation Class is easy. Host families simply visit the new on-line store at http://store.family.culturalcare.com and select which basket or class they prefer. Welcome baskets must be ordered by the Thursday before their au pair’s arrival to the Cultural Care Au Pair Training School. The deadline to enroll their au pair in a Specialty Preparation Class is 12:00 noon EST on the day after the finaling deadline.

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Federal Minimum Wage Increase

As you know, the au pair weekly stipend amount is determined by a calculation based on the federal minimum wage. This amount is subject to change based on any changes to the federal rate. In recent news media coverage, you may have heard about proposed legislation to increase this amount over a two-year time period. While this has been a topic of discussion for several months, yesterday, Congress approved the first increase in the federal minimum wage in nearly a decade. President Bush had signed this bill and this will have a direct impact on the au pair weekly stipend 60 calendar days after this presidential approval.

The federal minimum wage will increase by $2.10 over the next two years. The increase would take effect incrementally at 60 days, 12 months, and 24 months.

The calculation used to determine the au pair stipend amount is a combination of the federal minimum wage as well as a room and board allowance.

The exact calculation used to determine the weekly stipend is as follows:

Minimum wage x 45 hours 40% (room and board allowance) = stipend amount

As the changes to the minimum wage will change the au pair stipend in three increments, the following schedule will apply:

• 60 Days = Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 → from $139.05 to $157.95/week
• 12 Months = Sunday, May 25th, 2008 → from $157.95 to $176.85/week
• 24 months = Monday, May 25, 2009 → from $176.85 to $195.75/week

In order to remain compliant with program regulations, all program participants must pay their au pair based on the new stipend rate effective the week of Tuesday, July 24th (subject to change based on date of presidential signature).

All Cultural Care Au Pair literature, including the host family agreement, stipulates that host families will comply with all regulations, therefore, refusal to comply with these changes will result in a host familys termination from the program.

Thank You!

If you should have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at 847.271.0965 or a_jarjusey@yahoo.com

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Hear what others have to offer…

If a future au pair knew what I know now…

Would you have traveled more or less during your free time? And why?

I probably would have. There is so much to see in America, and America is big!!! My advice is to start planning it early. Make as many trips as you can.

Would you have extended your time longer or shorter? (Please explain your answer)…

I wish I could have extended another 3 months, coz that would have been perfect for me. I guess I can’t really know until I get back and start ‘normal’ life.

Is there something you would have done differently with your host families if you had the second chance? What is it?

My third match was a perfect match! = )
My other two families were just not right, I don’t think I could have done anything different about with them.

Is there a restaurant(s) or club(s) that au pairs tend to love most? Which one(s)? Where are they located?

Our favorite except for Starbucks, is Chipotle! There is one in Evanston, Skokie and by Target in Glenview. It’s a mexican restaurant. All clubs I’ve been to downtown are great. The bars in Evanston are great too.

Is there a place that you loved to get your haircut? How expensive was it? And where is it located?

I usually get a haircut at Pivot Point in Evanston. It’s an academy, so it’s students that cut your hair. It costs about $11.

What other useful information would you pass along to a new au pair living in Wilmette or Evanston?

HAVE FUN!!!! Do the most of your year, see as much of America as you can! Meet new people! This might be a once in a lifetime thing - so live live to the fullest!

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Get anywhere you need to go with the public transit system in and around Chicago!

Metra Rail:

http://metrarail.com/System_map/index.html

CTA (train and bus maps/schedules):

http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/systemmaps.html

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Visit as many places as you can!

Chicago is an amazing city full of sites to see. Make sure you get it all done in the time that you are here!!!

The Shedd Aquarium

http://www.sheddaquarium.org

Field Museum

http://www.fieldmuseum.org 

The Planetarium

http://www.adlerplanetarium.org

The Museum of Science and Industry

http://www.msichicago.org 

The Art Institute

http://www.artic.edu/aic/index.php

                                                                       

Millennium Park

http://www.millenniumpark.org

The Taste of Chicago

http://features.cityguide.aol.com/chicago/entertainment/taste-of-chicago/e-1463566

Free Trolley Tours

(get you around Chicago for free and see the city as well!)

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/portalContentItemAction.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@1127317235.1175205228@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceaddkiedifkgcefecelldffhdfhg.0&contentOID=536948214&contenTypeName=COC_EDITORIAL&topChannelName=Dept&blockName=Transportation%2FChicago%27s+Free+Trolleys%2FI+Want+To&context=dept&channelId=0&programId=0&entityName=Transportation&deptMainCategoryOID=-536896085

                                                                       

Navy Pier

http://www.navypier.com/home.html

The John Hancock

(free to get up there and see the view of Chicago, but they’d like you to buy a drink while you’re there!)

http://www.aviewoncities.com/chicago/johnhancockcenter.htm

The Sears Tower

http://www.theskydeck.com

Architectural Boat Tours

http://www.gochicagocard.com/attractions/Architectural-River-Cruise.html

Skyline Boat Tours!

http://www.gochicagocard.com/attractions/Skyline-Boat-Tour.html

Lincoln Park Zoo

(free!)

http://www.gochicagocard.com/attractions/Lincoln-Park-Zoo-Carousel-Childrens-Train.html

Brookfield Zoo

http://www.brookfieldzoo.org

Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Tour

http://www.gochicagocard.com/attractions/Frank-Lloyd-Wright-Tour.html

The Notebaert Nature Museum

http://www.gochicagocard.com/attractions/Peggy-Notebaert-Nature-Museum.html

Museum of Contemporary Art

http://www.gochicagocard.com/attractions/Museum-of-Contemporary-Art.html

Swedish American Museum

http://www.gochicagocard.com/attractions/Swedish-American-Museum.html

AND to find more…

http://www.gochicagocard.com/?GCID=S18000×015&KEYWORD=chicago%20tour&MATCHTYPE=content

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Not only for you, but a great place to take your host children!

The local libraries are obviously a great source for your studies, leisure, checking email, surfing the internet, but also a GREAT place to take your host kids (especially when the weather’s not so great)!

Wilmette:http://www.wilmette.lib.il.us/

Evanston:http://www.evanston.lib.il.us/

and
Skokie:http://skokielibrary.info/

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Fun information for a new Evanston resident…

This website has great information about being new in the area. Information like getting a local library card, recycling locations, parking guidelines and rules, and even maps!

http://www.cityofevanston.org/resident/new.shtml

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Fun Saturday Morning event…

Evanston’s Farmer’s Market runs from about middle of May (this year is the 19th) through the middle of November, on Saturdays from about 7:30am - 1:00pm. It is a wonderful place where more than 30 vendors come to sell fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers, meat, cheeses and bread. It is located at the corner of University Place and Oak Avenue in Evanston (just behind the Hilton on Maple Avenue).

http://www.cityofevanston.org/enjoy/market.shtml

Likewise, Wilmette has a Saturday morning farmer’s market that runs from June through October from 8:00am - 1:00 pm. It is located at Central Avenue and Green Bay Roads.

http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/M2079

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Does your au pair need a little help?

Sometimes a new au pair may be a little nervous behind the wheel for the first time in America. If you have driven with her, and feel she might benefit, you might want to contact Adam’s Driving School at:  http://www.adamsdrivingschool.com/ OR 847-965-6565. Adam’s will schedule a one hour, or hour and a half incriment, and come out to your home to drive with your au pair. If you request, they can give you full evaluation of his/her skills and let you know how many lessons he/she may need (if any at all) to pass the local driving exam.

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Educational Options…

As mentioned in previous posts, all 6 education credits must be obtained from an “accredited insitution”. Below you will find a list of schools in Illinois that au pairs find affordable for their education stipend and able to obtain all 6 credits for their education requirements.

If there is another program that you are interested in taking and would like to know if it would count towards your credits, please use this website: http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp OR http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.asp to verify that this program is accredited and will Indeed contribute towards your education requirements for CCAP.

If you have any questions, it is best to ask your LCC before you register and pay for a class.

Closest options for Evanston and Wilmette:

Oakton Community College
Des Plaines and Skokie, IL
847-635-1600
www.oakton.edu

City Colleges of Chicago - Harry S. Truman College
Chicago, IL
773-907-4700
www.trumancollege.cc/

Other College options in Illinois:

ASPECT at Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL
805-564-8330
www.aspectworld.com

Lake Forest College
Lake Forest, IL
847-234-3100
www.lfc.edu

Harper College
Palatine, IL
847-925-6000
www.harpercollege.edu

College of Lake County
Grayslake, IL
847-543-2000
www.clcillinois.edu

College of DuPage
Glen Ellyn, IL
630-942-2800
www.cod.edu

Elgin Community CollegeElgin, IL
847-697-1000
www.elgin.edu

Moraine Valley Community College
Palos Hills, IL
708-974-4300
www.marianevalley.edu

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