Hello,
Just wanted to pass along notes on a horrendous au pair agency experience I had earlier this year, and also what I learned from it.
I used Heavenly Aupairs earlier this year (paying £500) and had an absolutely catastrophic placement. The young woman was not mentally healthy enough to have this job - she tore my daughter's homework in frustration several times when my daughter did not sit down to dinner immediately, was constantly telling me how horrible my child was, did not awaken until 2 or 3 in the afternoon and asked us to be quiet before then so she could sleep and, ultimately, slapped my child. Other mothers in the class and their children mentioned to me how unpleasant she was. I asked Heavenly for help, initially, and they offered up some ridiculous platitudes about 'adjusting'. I also asked how this person passed through their screening. They explained that if they were going to thoroughly screen the candidates, it would have to cost £5000. I think they screen to ensure the person actually exists and perhaps doesn't have a criminal record in their home nation, but who knows, really?
In the end, they offered me another placement for £150 but said that it wasn't the 'au pair season' so that there wouldn't be anyone available. Utter rubbish. I had 35 applicants on AuPairWorld within 24 hours, and a new au pair, complete with checkable, English-speaking references, within five days' time.
Heavenly are an awful agency, to be sure, but after investigating further I cannot see the point of any of them, really. They do not screen candidates in any way that will actually be helpful and useful to a family. You can easily do much better yourself.
Am now working with my MP's advisers to put together some policy guidelines so these agencies will need to fully explain their screening and candidate acquisition processes BEFORE taking money from families.