References for a summer au pair?

[chicaguapa]

This will be our 2nd. Last year I double-checked all the references I got by looking up the telephone numbers on the White Pages (she was French) checking they matched the address on the reference and then calling each one in France to check they had written it.

This year I have found a 19 yo Italian girl on one of the au pair websites. I asked for a reference and I've had an email directly from the mother of a girl she looked after for 3 years in her home town and everything was fine with that. So I asked the mother for her address and telephone number so I can verify who she is and give her a call. But she's replied with a mobile number and says they don't have a landline at home. I wondered what to do really? It's the only reference I have but not sure how to double-check it.

Don't think you can check it really... you could call the mobile number and have a chat, but it may just be a friend of the au-pair.
Perhaps give it a call and go with your gut reaction - does it seem genuine, or not.

How can she have looked after a child for 3 years if she's only 19? Italians don't leave school at 16 like the English. At most it would have been part time or babysitting.

Also, what you should certainly insist on, is speaking to the au pair's mother. A 19 year old Italian girl should still be living at home and if she's not, there is probably something wrong. Also,if she is from a small town, you could ask for a reference and to speak to someone official in the town...teacher, doctor, pharmacist, policeman.

Thanks for replying!

She looked after the little girl 2 afternoons a week and some weekends. She's gone away to university now and not living at home. Is that good or not??

I have decided to email the AP and explain the situation. I have asked if the reference writer could email me some kind of identification that she is a genuine person (and not just the AP's best mate!). I've said that it's not personal but I have to make sure I do the necessary checks. If she gets humpy about it then she probably isn't the right kind of person to come anyway.

Off at uni is fine. However, I would still ask to speak with AP's parents. Italian moms (I know, I have one) are very protective and if the mom doesn't want to know where her daughter is going for the summer, I would be concerned.