What Support Does AuPairCare Provide to Host Families and Au Pairs?

AuPairCare provides support on both sides of the match: local, in-community support for host families, background checks and screening for both families and au pairs, training and a New York City orientation experience for au pairs, and oversight as a Department of State-regulated BridgeUSA program. The sections below break down what each of those means in practice, so you can judge whether the level of support fits your situation.

Local Support in Your Community

AuPairCare states that it offers "Local, Dedicated Support in Your Community" and lists both "Locations" and "Local Support" as navigational sections on its site. For a host family, this is the practical layer of support: a local contact who knows your area rather than a single national call center.

The site also lists a direct contact channel — 800.428.7247 and [email protected] — alongside a login area for existing users. If you want to know how far a local coordinator actually is from your home, that is a question to raise with the agency directly, since the site does not publish a coverage map in the material available here.

Screening and Background Checks for Both Sides

AuPairCare lists "Background Checks & Screening for Host Families and Au Pairs" as a program feature. The important detail is that screening runs in both directions:

• Au pairs are screened before matching with a U.S. family.
• Host families are also screened, which matters to au pairs deciding whether a placement is safe and legitimate.

This two-way screening is a structural difference from hiring a nanny privately, where the family typically bears the entire vetting burden and the candidate has little independent verification of the household.

Training and the AuPairCare Connect NYC Experience

Au pairs receive "Extensive Au Pair Training," and the program includes "AuPairCare Connect - NYC." The site describes AuPairCare Connect as the starting point of the au pair's U.S. experience, and notes that au pairs can "Earn a higher stipend with AuPairCare."

For a host family, this means your au pair arrives having gone through agency training and a structured entry experience rather than landing directly in your home. For an au pair, it means the first stage of the year is organized by the agency, including the New York component, before the placement itself begins.

Experience, Scale, and Regulatory Oversight

Several concrete figures appear on the site:

The regulatory point is the one with real consequences. Because the au pair program is Department of State-regulated under BridgeUSA, the agency operates within a defined program structure rather than as an unregulated matching service. The 37-year history and 100,000+ placements are scale signals — they suggest the agency has handled a wide range of matches, though they do not by themselves tell you how a specific placement will go.

What This Support Does Not Cover

The material available here does not include pricing, payment terms, or the specific terms of the local support commitment (for example, how often a local coordinator checks in). Those are the details to confirm before applying, since they determine the day-to-day reality of the support described above.

If your main concern is having a local person available when something goes wrong, ask the agency how local support is staffed in your specific area. If your main concern is the au pair's preparation, the training and NYC orientation are the relevant pieces. If your concern is legitimacy and safety, the two-way screening and Department of State regulation are the anchors.