Business & Tech

Au Pair in America Brings Live-In Child Care to Farmington Area

Learn more about this Farmington Hills-based business in this week's Small Business Spotlight.

Carol Benton, Community Counselor at Au Pair in America, said the business started in 1986.

Benton recently submitted information about the business to Patch. If you have a business and want to participate in Patch's Small Business Shout Out you can fill out the form here.

How did your business come to be?: Au Pair in America is the first organization to be designated by the U.S. government to offer a legal au pair program. Since that time, Au Pair in America has placed over 90,000 au pairs with American host families in 40 states. 1000's have been placed in Farmington Hills and the surrounding areas.

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What's a fact about your business that most customers probably don't know?: Au pairs come here on a J-1 visa approved by the US government for one year. They are allowed to extend one additional year. Au pairs provide up to 45 hours a week of live-in child care. Au pairs can provide wonderful help not only for families with babies and pre-schoolers but also for families with school age children. For families with older children, au pairs often take full charge of the children in the morning to get them off to school and help after school with homework and school projects. They drive the children to after school activities so many of our children enjoy (and often stay to cheer them on) For babies or preschoolers, au pairs may be in full charge during the day if both parents work (no day care necessary) or if mom is home part time or full time, they will lend a second set of helping hands -- especially if there are young babies and other toddlers. Having an au pair is ideal for a family who has twins or triplets.

What services does your business provide?: Au Pairs are extraordinary young ladies who come to the US to acquire a better understanding and appreciation of American life while living with an American family and caring for their children. Recruited from six continents, they represent diverse social, economic , educational and cultural backgrounds. They become full-fledged family members, sharing a cultural exchange experience that often leads to a life-long relationship with the family.

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What do you want your business to be best known for?: Excellent customer service! I have worked for over 19 years for Au Pair in America and am hands-on helping my host families and au pairs when they need assistance. The help starts the moment they call me when I take my time to explain the program. I help at each stage along the way: the match process, orientation for the family in their home (the au pair has a thorough 3 day orientation when she arrives in New York), answering questions after the au pair arrives and providing regular monthly meetings for the au pairs so they easily make friends and connect. In addition, I plan many fun activities for the year so the au pair and host family can have the most rewarding experience.

What's your most popular product or service?: Au Pair in America has a choice of three comprehensive programs. We have our traditional Au Pair program for families who require up to 45 hours of child care a week; we have our Educare program which is perfectly suited for families with one or more children who attend school full time and require up to 30 hours of child care (primarily early morning and after school with some evening and weekend hours.) Lastly, we have our Extraordinaire program suited for families who might need some specialized qualifications.

When was the business founded?: Au Pair in America was founded in 1986. I have been the Farmington Hills local counselor since January 15,1994.

Why did you choose to locate to Farmington Hills?:I reside in Farmington Hills and my office is home based. Our organization prefers their local counselors live close to their host families/au pairs. In my group, many of the host families (with their au pairs) live in Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield, Novi, Northville and a few other nearby suburbs. Farmington Hills and the surrounding areas are great locations for au pairs to be placed! Oakland Community College is very closeby (au pairs are required to complete 6 credits during their year). The city offers many family events throughout the year--both indoors and outdoors. The au pairs in my group have recently been volunteering for various Farmington Hills annual events such as the Spring Egg Hunt, Princesses and Super Heroes, Daddy Daughter Dance, Pizza Palooza, Splash Bash and Marshmallow Fly and Fry One of my au pairs was part of the Farmington Chorus during her year and enjoyed this experience immensely and has since returned to visit.

Fore more information call 248-489-1407 or email cbaupair@aol.com. I also have a blog: http://blogs.aupairinamerica.com/dtb. Our Au Pair in America website is www.aupairinamerica.com


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