YEP Accreditation Procedures

RI has laid down a number of procedures to be followed for clubs and districts to be accredited to participate in the YEP. These primarily affect counsellors and host parents at club level. Most of the procedures involved are already common practice within clubs in Australia and the RI requirements formalise and document those procedures.

 

It must be remembered that the guidelines have been put in place to help ensure that all those participating in the program (students, host parents, counsellors and all Rotarians) are able to participate in as safe and harassment free environment as is possible.

 

In many ways, Accreditation makes it easier to participate in the program:

 

*The procedures, responsibilities and obligations to host or sponsor an exchange student are now clearly laid down eliminating the need for prior knowledge or guesswork to correctly do the job.

 

*There are checklists to see nothing important has been overlooked.

 

*The selection process for a counsellor and host families is made straight forward with a declaration for these volunteers to sign and a list of important questions to be covered when interviewing candidates for the positions. 'Yes/No' summary assessment forms are also provided.

 

*Host families from outside the club can now be sought and involved with a very high degree of confidence due to the procedures. This will assist with the identification and involvement of non-Rotary families for clubs with minimal internal options as hosts.

 

*Clubs overseas will now both select a student to come to your club and look after the student your club sends overseas with the same care your club is employing. This will give Australian clubs more confidence that exchanges will go smoothly and so encourage more to be involved in this rewarding program.

 

The steps involved are as follows:

 

*Firstly and most importantly continue to offer all students the care, guidance, understanding and family support we are sure your club would wish to do or has done if you have been involved in Youth Exchange in the past.

 

*Carefully read the club policy document (CL 1) which sets out the criteria for hosting and or sponsoring exchange students. Click here to download Form CL1: Club Policy and Criteria

 

*Appoint a Club Protection Officer (CPO) who should be a responsible person within the club who is not directly connected with the running of the YEP. The CPO's duty is to monitor that the main duties required of a club certified to host or sponsor an exchange student have been carried out. This is done by completing an annual check list (CL 7). Click here to download Form CL7: Protection Officer Checklist

 

*Ensure that the people directly involved in looking after your student on their own have Department of Justice Working With Children Checks. These checks are available from post offices at no cost. Details specific to Rotary D9810 are shown on the WWC Page 13 Extract. Click here to download this extract: WWC Page 13 Extract RI classifies these people as 'Volunteers'. All volunteers will need to complete an Information and Declaration Form (CL 4). Click here to download Form CL4: Volunteer Declaration

 

*All people who have been checked in the point above to also have a phone reference check. This is a new and very sensible check introduced by RI to help ensure people are suitable for their tasks. Guides for assessing potential host families and potential counsellor(s) or volunteers are laid done in Forms CL 2 and CL 3 respectively. Click on the following links to download these two forms: Form CL2 Host Family Screening Report and Form CL3 Counsellor Screening Report

 

*All other people who look after an exchange student for a short period of time will be assessed in the same way a responsible parent would assess a person or family their own son or daughter at the age of the exchange student was to stay with. These people are classified as 'Responsible Adults'.

 

*Ensure the club counsellor for the hosted student attends a training session to assist them to understand and fulfil their role.

 

*Nominate counsellors as the same gender as the student or alternatively gain agreement that the counsellor's partner or another club member who is of the same gender as the student will actively assist the counsellor in his or her role. This is particularly relevant for the Inbound Hosted Student

 

*Arrange for all host parents to be interviewed at their home to assess both their suitability and the suitability of their homes to host a student. The guidelines for these interviews are based on zero or very limited knowledge of the individuals being interviewed and common sense applies in their application.

 

*Disseminate to all people that a student may come to if harassed or abused, the requirements for handling that student's allegations (DI 3), eg club counsellors, all host parents, and the club president. Click on the following link to download these guidelines: Reporting Guidelines

 

Once the actions laid down in the various procedures have been completed and/or are under way, the person responsible for running YEP in your club and the Club President need to complete and sign CL 5 (Hosting Inbound Students) and CL 6 (Sponsoring Outbound Students) forms as appropriate and return them to the District Committee.. These forms are due to be submitted as per their instructions by 31 March and 30 April respectively. Click on the following links to download Forms CL5 and CL6: Club Checklist Hosting and Club Checklist Sponsoring

 

The CPO also needs to complete and submit a CPO Checklist and Declaration (CL 7) no later than 30 April annually. The District YEP Chair will then be able to certify the club to continue to participate in the program.

 

Please direct any queries on the procedures required to any member of the District YEP committee or direct to Chairman Roger Paul or Secretary Stuart McDonald by clicking on the following email links:

 

Roger Paul

Stuart McDonald