Interview with Mrs. Woehl, Vice President of AuPairCare
Edina, I really enjoyed the interview with Heidi Weohl, the vice president of Aupaircare! We are between agencies and used a babysitter this summer, but will definitely consider aupaircare.
It was interesting what she had to say about her staff which has been long time employees. I find that comforting since we experienced much turnover at our last agency and that is always troubling, because you think 'what is going on here at this company?' and also, there is that 'learning curve' where each new employee has to learn the ropes before they are truly experienced and can be of help to new families.
Thanks for a great interview - very interesting and insightful look at the inside workings of an au pair agency.
Host Dad, kanye
interview very interesting
Edina, I found the interview well done and very interesting. It is great to hear what a VP sounds like from an au pair agency. And I thought Ms. Woehl sounds very nice and very approachable and if I had a problem with an au pair, I feel confident that she would help our family. I like the fact her agency focuses on current family needs, such as their Infant Program.
Special Need Children: I think an agency like this could develop such a program for special needs children like they have for infant qualified au pairs. Will they do that sometime in the future?
Is there a need there for the agencies to get behind this and develop something? I think there is a great need, but will an agency come forward to address this need?
Ms. Woehl, does Au Pair Care have any plans to develop a program that would serve families with special needs children?
Response from Heidi Woehl
Dear Ana,
Here is Heidi Woehl's response to your comment!
Hi Ana,
AuPairCare does recruit and place au pairs with special needs experience. We have many families on our program who have special needs children. Because the term “special needs” is very broad, we work closely with both the au pair and host family to make sure that the au pair’s skills match the family’s requirements. We wish that we could serve more host families with special needs, but the pool of au pairs with special needs experience is limited. Even though an au pair may be willing to work with a special needs child, she must have prior experience in order to qualify for placement. This is a Department of State requirement.
There have been many wonderful special needs AuPairCare placements over the years. In fact, on our website there’s a video of a special needs family, the Norris family and their Polish au pair Marta. I love this video. You can view it here: http://www.aupaircare.com/host-families/testimonials/host-family-videos
Sincerely,
Heidi Woehl