Should this exchange student continue her nightmare, or abandon her dream and go home?

Story below is by Danielle Grijalva (left), director of CFES (Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students), an organization that works to protect exchange students who are at risk far away from home.

I was recently contacted by a mother from China.  Her 16-year-old daughter is on a cultural exchange and experiencing great difficulties as a foreign exchange student.

At this time, the mother would like for her daughter to simply be placed with a suitable host family.  Thus far, the first two families haven't worked out.

The first host family wasn't prepared to host.The exchange student wasn't allowed a key to the home.  The house rule was that she was not allowed to be in the home alone.  Recently, the exchange student waited six hours outside for one of her host parents to arrive.  As per the email from the natural mother to CSFES:  

"The families did not give her key. She had to be on the streets up to 6 hours, because she was not allowed to stay in the house if no one of the family was at home. 

There was also an incident with her second host family wherein the exchange student hurt her arm while at school.  As per the email sent by the natural mother to CSFES, "She had an accident in the school, fell on her arm, and according to the school manager, she needed immediate care and go to the hospital. The accident occurred at one o´clock. She was in hospital at 7.30, because the responsible person from the English organisation did not care. I cant tell you the name right now, because we are scared, that they assault my daughter even more. This is a known problem, that these organizations are only after profit."

There was great reluctance on behalf of the second host family to take her to be seen by a medical professional.  Frankly, they couldn't be bothered.

The second host family is very distant according to the exchange student's mother.  Repeatedly she as expressed her concerns to the sending agency in China, but they do little to help despite the many emails sent to the agency.  

The exchange student is trying hard to remain strong.  She wants to complete her program year which is scheduled to end in May.  However, the student's placement agency has threatened to send her home early if she continues to complain.  The agency has already stated that they will not try to find another host family to host this exchange student.

An area representative has been assigned to the foreign exchange student, but she, too, is equally distant.  She does not want to be bothered with trying to secure another host family.  The student has been threatened to be sent home early if she continues to complain.

Grijalva added, "We always ask the student placement agencies who is the impartial student advocate assigned to the student in situations such as these?  It is important youth serving organizations do not allow for the same individuals to continue making the same mistakes that impact the well-being and safety of teens."  But Grijalva went on to explain that this is a very unregulated, unmonitored industry that operates without oversight.  

It may be a long four months for this student to endure should she decide to stay until in May.  She is worn.  Her second host family lives quite a distance from the nearest high school which requires a 90 minute commute each way to school.  She deserves to complete her cultural exchange, which has been her dream.  Her parents spent the equivalent of $14,000 for their daughter to study abroad as a foreign exchange student.  

"The natural parents feel helpless" according to Danielle Grijalva, Director of CSFES.  "CSFES has made several recommendations to help resolve the situation, but ultimately I reminded the mother that she will need to determine when her daughter has had enough; it may be time to send for her daughter."  

In an email to the mother from Grijalva, "I am unsure whether your daughter plans to stay until May.  Whatever the case may be, please, from my heart, be reminded that you are the parent.  If there are too many struggles that your daughter has to endure, then, in my opinion, it may be time for her to return home.  I have seen too many cases where exchange students return after months of mental abuse, and for some, they are never the same.  I am not a doctor, of course, and not providing medical advice, but I have been contacted by natural parents across the globe over the past 13 years who have shared the depression their son or daughter has fallen into. Therefore, if you decide that your daughter should return home early, I am hopeful that your daughter will understand it is in her best interest.  Believe me, in the end having to endure months of mental abuse... well, it honestly isn't worth it."

Grijalva says that she wishes more parents would ask pertinent questions prior to sending their son or daughter thousands of miles from home to live with complete strangers.  She recommends natural parents be allowed to correspond with the host family their child will be living with.  Grijalva said, "Sadly, many of these student placement agencies accept more students than there are host families available.  These kids end up anywhere with anyone."  A full, fingerprint, criminal background check is still not required of host families.  Therefore, it is not uncommon for an exchange student to be hosted by a family member with a criminal background."

Grijalva explains, "It is all too common for parents to rely on the glossy brochures showing pictures of smiling teens that are presented to them at time of signing up their son or daughter to study abroad on a cultural exchange."  She suggests that natural parents take their time in selecting a student placement agency that will be responsible for the well-being of their child while studying abroad.  

Visit the website of the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Student and refer to Tips for Parents that appears on the website.  www.csfes.org

Problems in STS foreign student exchange program

 Danielle Grijalva continues to advocate for young people suffering in unhealthy or dangerous homes who get no help from the agencies who who took their money. Here's her latest story:

 16-year old Salla Rautiola from Finland

 16-year old Salla Rautiola after exposure to allergens



2011/2012 STS EXPERIENCE (CANADA)
Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students (CFES)
Dec. 28, 2015

16-year old Salla Rautiola signed a contract in January 2011 with STS Kielimatkat for an exchange student year in the French-speaking part of Canada.

STS promises a carefully screened host-family, school placement and local representative and support persons in the exchange-country. They also promise to take into account the health information given in the application form when choosing the host family. Salla had reported that she is allergic to dogs, cats and pollen.

STS provided the host family information in July 2011, one month before the departure date, but withheld the information they had received the day before from STS CANADA that STS could not fulfill the French-speaking program. Instead, Salla would have to be placed with an English-speaking family.

IN CANADA:

As a host family, STS had chosen a 62-year old single Jamaican immigrant who for the most part socialized with her own relatives and culture and who spoke only Jamaican creole. The Canadian life-style or traditions were not present in any way in her filthy and moldy house. In the Helsinki District Court, as STS witness, a former male exchange student, who had lived in the same house a couple of years earlier, told the court that the host mother never cleaned. He witnessed that it was his and another exchange student’s responsibility to clean the house. At that time there was still a vacuum cleaner in the house. During Sallas stay there was no vacuum cleaner in a house with wall-to-wall carpet. This witness also told the court how the basement was used as a living room where they watched TV and used the computer.

STS Finland country manager, Mira Silvonen, continued insisting that the condition of the home was suitable for an allergic person and gave up to seven different explanations (move, cellar, store etc.) for the pictures Salla had taken of the house.

The shocked child protection officials in Finland stated that they would not even temporarily place a minor in conditions like that. Responsible for this host family’s approval as a host family for an allergic minor for ten months was area representative Sandra Hanniman/STS Foundation Canada.

Within two months, Salla started to get allergic reactions from all the dust and mold (picture). She could not go to school, but the host mother did not let the school know about Salla’s absence as required, something STS later blamed Salla for and issued her a warning about. Because of her strong allergic symptoms, Salla asked both the host mother and the area representative, Sandra Hanniman, to take her to see a doctor, but the host mother stated that: «The doctors don’t know anything» and the area representative said: «Let’s see».

 As parents we had to get the medicine here in Finland and mail them as express to Canada.

Instead of helping Salla get to the doctor, STS Canada area director Kim Berry decided to issue a warning to Salla regarding her host mother not informing Salla’s school about her absence. Salla was invited to STS Canada office 14. Nov. 2011. Salla had written a four page complaint about all the problems and failures on STS’ part so far:

• There was no school placement arranged by STS when Salla arrived. Salla was turned away from Gisele la Londe-school, because they had no knowledge of the exchange student. It took almost a week to arrange a school placement.
• The host mother left for five days leaving Salla alone with the allergic symptoms. The host mother did not leave any contact information to Salla and strongly forbad Salla to inform STS about her absence.
• The host mother did not check her mailbox despite Sallas request. Salla had no key to the mail box. The expensive medication we had sent from Finland lay in the mail box nine days before Salla finally got them.
• The host mothers fierce mood swings raised questions. She could be laughing and dancing by herself, but in an instant lose her temper and throw dishes to the floor. Once Salla saw a ziplock-bag on the kitchen table and the host mother told her not to touch it and that it was marijuana. As parents we became worried about that and asked STS to investigate. Despite the pictures taken of the supposed marijuana bag, STS only threatened to issue another warning to Salla for spreading unfounded rumours. The local representative, also the host mothers best friend, stated that she did not believe it was marijuana. That was all STS did. Case closed.

The Canadian area director, Kim Berry, did not even bother to view the complaint Salla had left in the STS office 14. Nov. 2011. Nor did STS Finland manager, Mira Silvonen, reply in any way. Whereas STS Canada country manager, Yannick Becu, sent his greetings to me: Strict demand to not interfere in matters.



Aware of Sallas cat and dog allergy, the area representative Sandra Hanniman tried to temporarily house her in her own home where there were several cats and dogs. Salla started getting an allergic reaction during the first evening and had to organize a place for herself with her friends for almost for a week because STS was not capable of doing so.

After having moved to the second host family, we found out that the host mother was a chain smoker with two dogs. The host mother also told how the area representative had convinced her to take an exchange student just for a while to » try it on».  She had agreed to keep the exchange student at most for two months, i.e. to the end of January 2012. At Sandra’s request, this was kept secret from Salla and us.

STS asserts that the host families live up to certain standards, that they are carefully screened and backgrounds checked, homes are inspected and photographed etc. With both of Sallas host families, these promises turned out to be just lies. When showing the pictures taken from Sallas first host family to STS Finland manager Mira Silvonen, she disputed the pictures were not from the host family’s house. STS did not have pictures from the house at all, neither did they show any interest in inspecting the conditions even though STS Canada has an office in Ottawa. When Salla moved in with the second family, STS’ office had no information about the family. We had to ask for address and other information several times. More specific information, for example the age or profession of the host mother, was never given to us.

In the second host family, the host mother’s nephew was a frequent visitor. This army man harassed Salla and without Salla knowing it, loaded porn on her computer. Salla experienced the situation extremely awkward, but was too scared to inform STS about it, because she had already learned that there would not be any kind of support from STS. She also knew that STS could use that porn on her computer as an excuse to dismiss her. A third party got involved and the army man confessed.

DISMISSAL FROM THE EXCHANGE STUDENT PROGRAM:

STS was aware of the latter host family only hosting temporarily to the end of January 2012. Without even trying to find a new host family for the rest of Sallas exchange time, Mira Silvonen deliberately began fabricating grounds for dismissal demanding supplementary reports about Salla’s health. Mira Silvonen did not think that Salla could have been taken to a health inspection in Canada. Instead she invited us as Salla’s parents to STS office in Helsinki to «discuss Salla’s allergies». On Friday 20. jan. at four pm Mira Silvonen, arrogantly announced that she had dismissed Salla from the program and that Salla would leave on Sunday.

As grounds for dismissal, Silvonen submitted breach of contract. According to Silvonen, we had not given essential information about Salla’s health. We should have mentioned that tobacco smoke can cause symptoms to an allergic person. Silvonen as a layman, had also decided that Salla had asthma that we also had not informed STS of. Mira Silvonen later in Court described how she was shocked to hear that a person allergic to pollen could get a reaction from apples during pollen season. It was the same with an allergic person suddenly getting a reaction from combination of for example spices, perfumes etc. All this should have been mentioned in the application form according to Silvonen.

STS advertises, that they comply with the recommendations of the Finnish national board of education regarding international student exchange. According to these recommendations, as well as STS’s own special terms of conditions, the exchange student and her parents should be informed about dismissal as soon as possible. The organization is also responsible for giving appropriate help and support before dismissal.

Mira Silvonen acted totally against the agreement. She bought flight tickets one month earlier and kept the dismissal secret from Salla and us until two days before departure. Silvonen says that she takes responsibility for the dismissal. She has never communicated, explained or apologized to Salla. She e-mailed the flight tickets without a comment about her decision.

It was left to us parents to inform Salla about this totally unexpected dismissal. In Canada the regional director Kim Berry had told Salla that the reason for her dismissal was «not sufficient interest towards the school» and therefore Salla did not appreciate the opportunity to study abroad. Apparently, Kim Berry was not aware of the fact that Salla was quite successful and was going to be moved to higher class after Christmas.

The Helsinki District Court sentenced STS Kielimatkat to refund €6.505 (US$7105) to Finnish Salla Rautiola due to unfair dismissal and numerous other breaches of contract in their exchange student program.

San Diego student exchange sponsor PIE suspended; our own Danielle Grijalva is an international advocate for students

Danielle Grijalva, San Diego advocate for exchange students, helped expose problems.
See all Danielle Grijalva posts.

Student exchange sponsor suspended
By HOLBROOK MOHR
Associated Press
July 19, 2012

Hundreds of high school exchange students could be affected by a State Department decision to suspend the sponsor-company that was to bring them to the United States.

A department official told The Associated Press on Thursday that Pacific Intercultural Exchange, or PIE, of San Diego was suspended from the popular exchange program on Tuesday.

The official said the agency is working with at least four foreign students now in the U.S. Other sponsoring organizations are trying to find host families for 455 students from 18 countries who had been recruited by the company, but they may have to put off their exchanges until later.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, said PIE was suspended for "violating exchange program regulations," but wouldn't elaborate.

The State Department put the company on probation last year, reduced the number of students it could sponsor by 15 percent and ordered it to improve program administration.

A message seeking comment from PIE wasn't immediately returned Thursday. The company's website says it is a nonprofit organization that has facilitated exchanges for more than 25,000 high school students from all over the world since 1975.

The Exchange Visitor Program brings close to 30,000 high school students to the United States each year. Foreign students live with a host family and attend U.S. schools.

...Advocacy groups often blame the sponsoring organizations, designated by the State Department, for problems that have led to neglect and abuse of the participants, like not properly vetting host families.

Danielle Grijalva, director of the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students, said it's rare for the State Department to suspend an organization from sponsoring students.

"I believe this action by the State Department exceeds sending a simple `wake-up' call to its sponsors," Grijalva said. "We have nearly 30,000 high school students from across the globe anxious to come to the United States to learn more about American culture and spend thousands of dollars to do so. These students must leave our country at the end of their program with nothing less than a positive impression of the United States."

A lawsuit filed last year in Portland, Ore., alleges that a German student was molested after PIE placed the student in a home with a host father who had a criminal record for fraud.

The complaint, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, said the host father pleaded guilty in December 2010 to four acts of sexual abuse against the student. The lawsuit alleges that PIE did not do an adequate background check.

Earlier this year, AP obtained internal State Department documents that said a review by the agency last year found that 15 of its 39 "largest fee-charging" sponsors were in "regulatory noncompliance," though it didn't say what rules were violated. The memos said the State Department took steps to sever its relationship with one sponsor after the company placed a student "with a host family whose criminal background check revealed a murder conviction."

The State Department told AP in March that it had received 43 allegations of sexual abuse since the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year, but it's not clear if any of those were students sponsored by PIE.

The State Department has adopted several rules designed to safeguard students in the high school program, including requiring all sponsors to photograph the exterior of the house, the kitchen and student's bedroom. Host families also must provide outside character references. Previously, family members and sponsors could be such references.

But the State Department documents also showed that the agency considered but dropped a plan to require FBI background checks similar to what are used by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts because it wasn't "feasible."




Important information for students going to USA under exchange programme
News Central Asia
23 July 2012

Ashgabat (nCa) — For the young students traveling alone for the first time, it is a big leap into the unknown when they leave home for a year of study in the United States, and stay with a family they never met before.

All kinds of things can happen out there when the students are disconnected from their familiar support system of family, friends and the society – and, unpleasant things do happen from time to time.

Except for those funded by the Department of State, most of the exchange programmes are fee-based. Spending several thousand dollars for a year of schooling and stay in the United States means big investment for an average family in Central Asia.

What if the dream turns into a nightmare? What if your daughter gets placed in a family headed by a sex offender? What if someone confiscates here passport and money under some dubious pretext? What if she has a problem but doesn’t know who to talk to you? —- She is thousands of kilometers away from you and she needs immediate assistance or advice: Who should she turn to?

There are several volunteer organizations in the US that offer assistance to the exchange students. The best among them, as far as we know, is the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students (CSFES).

Found by Ms. Danielle Grijalva some seven years ago, CSFES has evolved into a dedicated powerhouse for well-rounded and effective support for the exchange students.

In the United States... Ms. Grijalva has turned the tide nearly single-handedly in favour of exchange students. The tremendous courage to lock horns with the mightiest machinery of the bureaucracy, the moral timbre that never errs, the tireless pursuit to right the wrong, the boundless love that is not limited to just her own children, and the ability to keep a growing team of volunteers fully focused on the challenge are some of the essential traits that define Danielle Grijalva.

We would recommend strongly that any foreign exchange students in the United States (and also their parents), when faced by a problem should immediately contact CFES.

There are several ways to get in touch with them. The easiest is to go to visit the contact page on their website and send them a message.

It is also possible to phone them at 760-583-9593.

Their postal address is: Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students, P.O. Box 6496, Oceanside, CA 92056, U.S.A.

Before you leave for the United States, it would be advisable to go the website of CSFES and read carefully the guidelines and tips provided by them. There is a wealth of information, gathered and created by them over the years.

Tips for Parents – When searching for an organization
(from CSFES website)

CETUSA Banned in Effort to Protect Foreign Students From Exploitation

I've been getting questions about whether CETUSA is banned from bringing in foreign students this summer under the State Department's work program. THE ANSWER IS YES. CETUSA IS BANNED FOR TWO YEARS. NO STUDENTS WILL BE BROUGHT IN BY CETUSA UNDER THE SUMMER WORK PROGRAM. See updates below.

However, I do not know if CETUSA has other programs that are still operating.


UPDATES:

State Dept. Slaps Nonprofit for J-1 Violations
Nonprofit Quarterly
2/14/12
By Louis Altman

The U.S. State Department has clamped down on the nonprofit CETUSA, citing years of widespread abuse in its loosely-regulated cultural exchange visa programs. The recruiting agency has been banned from a popular J-1 visa program for two years.

Last year, CETUSA supplied 400 foreign “Summer Work Travel” (SWT) students to a Hershey Co. candy packaging plant (out of a total of 5,000 to 6,000 that CETUSA supplies via the SWT program—which is just one of the J-1 visa programs it engages in—annually). The students are officially supposed to have the opportunity to learn English and mingle with everyday Americans while working in safe, social jobs.


NYT Editorial: Closing the Student Sweatshop
New York Times editorial
February 2, 2012

The State Department took a modest step on Wednesday to cleaning up a major embarrassment. Its Summer Work Travel program for foreign university students was created decades ago to promote goodwill, education and cultural exchange but has since turned into a huge, poorly regulated and abuse-prone foreign guest-worker scheme. The department said it was barring one of the program’s largest sponsors, the Council for Educational Travel, USA, known as Cetusa, from bringing in any more workers, after it sent hundreds of young people to work in a Pennsylvania factory packing Hershey’s chocolates.

The students walked off the job in August to protest dangerous working conditions and low pay at a job they described as an elaborate bait and switch.

Each had paid $3,000 to $6,000 for the privilege of joining the J-1 visa program, which recruiters had billed as a rewarding summer: a taste of Willy Wonka plus the chance to see America. What the students got was endless hours packing and toting heavy boxes, risking injury for rock-bottom wages. There was no “cultural exchange,” unless you count immersion in the culture of an exploited, disposable work force. Once fees and jacked-up rents were deducted from their paychecks, the students netted between $1 and $3.50 an hour, far less than their American counterparts.

Which, as Professor Jennifer Gordon, a labor expert at Fordham Law School, recently noted in The Times, is the point. The summer program is the country’s largest guest-worker program because it is essentially unregulated and its workers are supercheap and lacking basic labor rights. Oversight is lax because the government relies on sponsors — which profit from the program — to do it.

The State Department is making an example of Cetusa, promising to tighten standards to keep sponsors in line and students out of dangerous industries like construction and roofing. The reforms need to go much further by explicitly protecting workers’ rights, including the right to organize, and giving oversight to the Labor Department.




ORIGINAL POST

Yet another misbehaving non-profit organization!

Company Banned in Effort to Protect Foreign Students From Exploitation
By JULIA PRESTON
New York Times
February 1, 2012

Signaling a sharp change of course in the country’s largest international cultural exchange program, the State Department has banned a leading sponsor company from bringing foreign students to the United States for summer jobs and will add new restrictions to protect students from labor abuse, officials said Wednesday.

The removal of the sponsor, the Council for Educational Travel, USA, was intended to send a powerful message to dozens of private companies participating in the State Department’s summer work program that they will have to monitor foreign students far more closely and ensure that participants are not exploited as cheap workers by employers.

The council, which is known as Cetusa, has been one of the biggest sponsors in the summer program and was responsible for placing about 400 foreign students last summer in a Pennsylvania plant packing Hershey’s chocolates. In August, hundreds of those program participants staged a boisterous walkout from the plant to protest low pay and dangerous job conditions.

The students’ demonstrations set off an investigation of Cetusa by the State Department and accelerated a review of the entire summer program, ordered by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2010. Critics on many sides said the program had become a vast source of temporary foreign workers at a time of high joblessness for Americans and had lost some of its purpose as a source of positive cultural exposure to the United States for foreign university students.

Rick Ruth, acting deputy assistant secretary of state, said the department would issue new regulations in coming months to expand the list of occupations prohibited for foreign summer workers. The list will include most jobs in construction and roofing, he said, and others shown statistically to be the most hazardous.

“We want to make sure that sponsors are not putting the labor aspect in the primary position, when it should be the cultural aspect,” Mr. Ruth said in an interview Wednesday.

The department will tighten rules requiring sponsors to protect the health and safety of students and to prevent too many of them from working in the same place — a situation that could rob them of opportunities to interact with Americans. State Department officials said they were also considering a ban on most factory and industrial jobs for the students.

Over the past decade, about one million foreign university students came to the United States through the popular Summer Work Travel program.

Mr. Ruth said the department had decided to ban Cetusa, a measure that took effect on Monday, after the five-month investigation revealed a “scope and severity and pattern of noncompliance.” The lapses he cited echoed the complaints of the foreign students at the plant in Palmyra, Pa., who found themselves forced to work grueling night shifts lifting heavy boxes of Hershey’s candies for take-home pay so low they sometimes went hungry.

State Department officials found “an almost complete lack of cultural activities” for the students sent by Cetusa to the plant, and a “laxness” about their health and safety. The strains of the packing jobs and injuries that resulted were overlooked by the company, officials said.

Students’ complaints were routinely ignored and in some cases were met with “unacceptable threats and intimidation” that their visas could be canceled, officials said. The investigation also raised questions about whether the students had been overcharged by Cetusa for housing, the officials said.

Rick Anaya, the president of Cetusa, which is based in California, did not respond to requests for comment by telephone and e-mail.

Although a nonprofit, Cetusa, which sponsored more than 5,000 students last year, stands to lose at least $5 million in annual fees for the summer program. The company also created businesses providing health insurance to the students. State Department officials are reviewing Cetusa’s participation in three other academic exchanges. Under formal rules, the company could reapply after two years, but a return in that time appeared unlikely.

Several foreign students who worked at the packing plant, now back in their home countries, said they were excited to learn of the impact of their outcry...

Local Student Exchange Programs Under Fire

Local Student Exchange Programs Under Fire
Homestay Services International, Pacific Intercultural Exchange Under Fire
10News.com
December 6, 2011

Last week, allegations against a San Marcos man came to light. A Japanese exchange student said her host father, Fernando Paucar, molested her. Paucar denies the allegations.

Administrators at Palomar College – where the Japanese student is studying – have asked to meet with the owner of the agency who sponsored her, Homestay Services International.

According to an Oregon newspaper article, another San Diego-based exchange program, Pacific Intercultural Exchange, is facing a $2 million lawsuit after a boy said his host father molested him.

But American students studying abroad are also vulnerable. Danielle Grijalva of Oceanside founded the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students after hearing one horror story after another. She showed 10News reporter Itica Milanes a horrific picture of an emaciated American teen after he went to Egypt to study and explore the culture.

"When I see the photo, I have to rule out the word 'allegedly,'" said Grijalva...

Danielle Grijalva case settled

See all Danielle Grijalva posts.

Danielle Grijalva writes:

Below is an email dated December 10, 2010, from Jeff Laband, Executive Director of NorthWest Student Exchange.

...Paragraph four of Mr. Laband's email translated ... reads,

"Last but not least I would like to know why you sent a letter to Danielle Grijalva? Yesterday I received a message, that there had been a law suit about a calumny against an exchange agency. She was found guilty last month and had to pay a penalty of a 6-digits sum."

Mr. Laband's statement is false. To confirm; contact my attorney, Mr. Aaron C. Hanes of Winet, Patrick & Weaver at 760-758-4261.

[Maura Larkins comment: Danielle Grijalva's home insurance company settled the case without Grijalva's approval. The insurance company felt it would be cheaper to settle rather than to pay the enormous cost of a trial. The civil trial that was scheduled was canceled, so Grijalva's statements were not found to be false, and she did not retract them.]

Continued attempts to harm my reputation and thwart the efforts of the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students will not be tolerated.

Respectfully,
Danielle Grijalva, Director
Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: direct placement Sebastian Grossmann. Baltmore Politechnic Institute
From: "Jeff Laband"
Date: Fri, December 10, 2010

Sehr geehrter Herr Grossmann,

...Letztlich moechte ich gern wissen, warum Sie Ihr Schreiben an Danielle Grijalva schicken. Ich bekam gestern die Nachricht, dass sie vor einer Weile wegen Verleumdung gegen eine Austauschorganisation verklagt und letzten Monat als schuldig verurteilt wurde. Sie musste eine 6-zahlige Busgelt bezahlen...

Jeff Laband
Executive Director
NorthWest Student Exchange
Seattle, WA 98105, USA
NWSE promotes affordable international exchange programs to great students and host families, is designated by the US Department of State and has full listing with CSIET.

[Maura Larkins comment: In reference to the statement underneath Mr. Laband's signature, the truth is that "designation as a Sponsor does not imply approval, sponsorship or promotion of an organization by the U.S. Government and should not be so implied in advertisements, business cards, websites, etc."]

Court Date Scheduled for Local Child Protection Advocate

COMMITTEE FOR SAFETY OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Danielle Grijalva, Director
P.O. Box 6496 / Oceanside, CA 92052
www.csfes.org
Phone: 760-583-9593
Email: Besafe@csfes.orgAttempt to 'Sue' Child Advocate's Mouth Shut

Court Date Scheduled for Local Child Protection Advocate

Oceanside resident, Danielle Grijalva, will be taken to court by a student exchange placement agency for her efforts to protect foreign exchange students in Minnesota.

Grijalva formed the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students, a California-based 501 (c)(3) child protection organization five years ago. She has since been nominated twice for the City of Oceanside Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Award; received a Certificate of Recognition in 2008 by San Diego County Board of Supervisors for being selected to receive the Channel 10 News Leadership Award for her hard work and service to the San Diego region and is currently Ambassador of Child-Safe, Ltd., of the United Kingdom.

In June, 2009, a lawsuit was filed in San Diego County Superior Court, Council for Educational Travel USA v. Danielle Grijalva; Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students; Complaint for Damages; Slander Per Se; Libel; Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary and Permanent; Injunction; Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage.

In 2009, a Norwegian foreign exchange student's complaints over living conditions he endured with a host family in Minnesota prompted a state investigation by Minnesota Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann. Gelbmann called upon lawmakers to expand the state's authority to oversee foreign exchange programs.

Star Tribune's Aimee Blanchette's story, "When a foreign exchange year goes bad" dated May 17, 2009, which explained, "Another Norwood parent began making inquiries about Espen's predicament, and that's when the secretary of state's office got involved. When Gelbmann began contacting some of the 37 other Minnesota schools where CETUSA has placed students, he found more reports of problems encountered by students."

On July 16, 2009 during WCCO News Radio 830 interview by Don Shelby with Minnesota Deputy Secretary Jim Gelbman discussed the importance protecting these visiting teens.

Part of the interview:

GELBMANN: ... "Sure, Don. Probably the most common problem that happens with the CETUSA organization in multiple high schools throughout the state is that they would bring more students over to Minnesota than they had families to place them in. And, again, that is against the federal regulations, as well. Federal law requires the organization to have as signed contract with a host family one month before the student arrives in the States. And what would regularly happen is CETUSA would have three or four host families signed up for a specific school and five or six students would be brought over, and then CETUSA would frantically search for host families for the students. In one case that was documented actually WCCO TV a number of years ago, I think back in 2006 um, one CETUSA organization, uh, uh, coordinator had six students living in her basement, had six foreign exchange students living in her basement because she couldn't find host families for them --

SHELBY: And that is violation of law --

GELBMANN: And that is a violation of law right then and there."

To read entire interview:
WCCO INTERVIEW BETWEEN WCCO'S DON SHELBY AND ASSISTANT DEPUTY ...

CETUSA is allegedly blaming Danielle Grijalva, Director of the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students (CSFES) for the attention given to the vital importance keeping foreign exchange students protected and safe. "Foreign exchange students deserve a positive impression of our country." she said.

Director Grijalva, remains firm, "Abuse by those in positions of trust will not be tolerated."

"Do I believe this is an intimidation tactic? Absolutely." said Danielle Grijalva. She continued, "Let me emphasize that children's safety must be first and foremost in foreign exchanges and every other aspect of education. We want to ensure that visitors to our country enjoy a safe and enriching academic and cultural experience that builds bridges for future collaboration, be it social, educational or economic."

Court date scheduled Friday, October 22, 2010 at 1:30 pm, San Diego Superior Court, North County Division, Dept. N27, 325 S. Melrose Drive in Vista, CA.

Trial date scheduled December 10, 2010 at 8:30 am, San Diego Superior Court, North County Division, Dept. N27, 325 S. Melrose Drive in Vista, CA.

Kevin Ricks' career as teacher, tutor shows pattern of abuse that goes back decades

Kevin Ricks' career as teacher, tutor shows pattern of abuse that goes back decades
Josh White, Blaine Harden and Jennifer Buske
July 25, 2010
washingtonpost.com

A four-month Washington Post investigation of former Manassas teacher Kevin Ricks' career as a teacher, tutor, foreign exchange host and camp counselor has revealed a pattern of abuse that goes back to at least 1978 and has left a trail of victims that spans the globe.

Kevin Ricks was a gregarious, well-traveled English teacher at Osbourn High School, a Walt Whitman devotee who was so popular that a photo of him in class was chosen to fill the opening page of the yearbook. A writer and photographer himself, Ricks would walk the halls of the Manassas school with a leather-bound journal of his musings tucked in his bag, next to his laptop computer.

What teachers, parents, students and even his wife didn't know was that his journals contained decades of dark secrets, a running handwritten commentary of Ricks's world of obsession, infatuation, pursuit, sexual abuse and international child exploitation...

But despite the abuse, Ricks moved from one teaching job to the next over nearly 30 years, navigating the nation's public and private school systems undetected, evading traps designed to catch him...

His case underscores the difficulties that educators and parents face when they only suspect abuse but can't prove it, and how reluctant even the most suspicious and well-meaning people can be in coming forward with allegations. It shows how someone can for decades wear a mask of trusted role model while using that powerful position to lure unsuspecting boys...

For Norwegian exhange student, America seems to value mean girls' culture above due process

Thanks to Google's translation capabilities, I am able to present the story of a Norwegian girl who was apparently the target of "mean girls" culture in the U.S., where she was an exchange student. Note the "evidence" in the photo: an open beer container (that does not appear to be hers) on a counter.

Link to Norwegian TV website: Louise thrown out of the U.S. - alleged that she had been drinking beer

18 year old Louise Berge enjoyed the U.S. until she suddenly was thrown out...When her daughter came home bursting into tears earlier this year, the couple began to look for the reason. I thought that Louise probably had committed some youthful sins. They find none.

They have four prohibitions with the letter D, "says Louise, "no drinking, no driving, no dating, no dope." I broke none of the restrictions.

But on a blog there was a picture of Louise standing next to an opened beer bottle...

Anyone who knows anything about high school understands that there are many rumors going, says Louise. Perhaps the rumor spreading is the cause here? We exchange students were taken aside by the principal and told that we should adjust our behavior. There was a rumor in the small town in Vermont that we fixed game, which was not true!

Louise had a few days notice, then was taken away from her family, almost "detained" in a foreign place as parents perceive it, and sent home with an explanation that the family do not agree with...



Danielle Grijalva writes:

...Another story about the treatment of a Norwegian exchange student has reached TV2 Norway. The international reputation of the United States is being harmed.

Danielle Grijalva, Director
Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students
P.O. Box 6496 / Oceanside, CA 92052
www.csfes.org

U.S. Department of State is proposing to amend regulations for hosting exchange students

Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students

PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Danielle Grijalva, Director
P.O. Box 6496 / Oceanside, CA 92052
http://www.csfes.org/
Phone: 760-583-9593
Email: DGrijalva@csfes.org

Nationwide Campaign to Stop Fingerprint, Criminal Background Checks

14 May 2010 -- The U.S. Department of State is proposing to amend the existing regulations to impose new program administration requirements within the secondary school student exchange program.

Link to proposed existing regulations

Director, Danielle Grijalva of the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students (CSFES) said, "The State Department is to be commended for strengthening the federal regulations which were written to protect this vulnerable group, yet many among the exchange industry are vigorously opposing the very measures to protect these children and the reputation of our country."

In an email dated May 20, 2010, President of Youth For Understanding USA, Mike Finnell, announced, "YFU NEEDS YOUR VOICE IN WASHINGTON". Mr. Finnell's email began, "Earlier this week, the US Department of State (DOS) published proposed changes to the J-1 exchange visitor regulations which would greatly affect our international students, host families (like you), and volunteers (like you). While YFU remains vigilant as always to protect and ensure student safety and well-being, we view many of the proposed regulations as excessive, invasive and likely to be prohibitive for those wishing to become involved in YFU and other international exchange organizations."

On May 4, 2010, Judge Michael J. Barrasse of Pennsylvania sentenced ASPECT Foundation area representative, Edna Burgette, to three months in Lackawanna County Prison. According to the May 5, 2010, The Times Tribune, story by Joe McDonald, Burgette was sent to prison, "...for recklessly endangering foreign-exchange students she placed in squalid living conditions while collecting fees for setting up host families."

In July of last year, CNN Special Investigations Unit Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston, exposed in its investigation, "Exchange students live American nightmare," where U.S. Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr., said, "It's inexcusable that our government didn't do a better job of oversight. And it's inexcusable that this foundation hasn't done the job to provide basic protection for children."

CNN's Reporter Drew Griffin said, "CNN has learned ASPECT knew about the problems in Scranton way back in October; when a student sent photos and an email pleading for help. And the State Department, which spends $34 million a year on exchange programs, well, it knew too."

CNN's Drew Griffin said, "Senator Casey says emails show the State Department knew about the problems here since last October and did nothing for months. And then the State Department allowed Aspect, the agency that placed the students in these homes, to investigate itself."

CNN's Drew Griffin said, "P.J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs says that was a mistake." Assistant Secretary Crowley said, "I think in large respect because we, we put too much emphasis on the program agents to police themselves; we recognize that that has not worked properly."

Students who have participated in foreign exchange student programs have become victims of crimes including abuse and sexual exploitation during their stays in the United States. Grijalva of CSFES stated, "Student placement agencies not interested in the complete health, safety and welfare of its students should not be allowed to place exchange students."

Public comment period is open until June 2, 2010.

Foreign exchange student programs are trying to shut Danielle Grijalva up

See all Danielle Grijalva posts.

Calif. mom exposes abuses of exchange students
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM (AP)
July 31, 2009

In a few weeks, thousands of foreign exchange students will arrive in the United States for what they hope will be a rewarding time of study and cultural enrichment. Shortly after that, Danielle Grijalva's phone will start ringing, and her e-mail inbox will begin filling up. It happens every year.

While most of the 30,000 exchange students who come to the U.S. each year have positive experiences, some find themselves stuck in bad homes with little prospect of getting out — especially if the agency that placed them doesn't take their concerns seriously or even blames them for the problems.

...From her base in Oceanside, Calif., the 43-year-old stay-at-home mom has almost single-handedly taken on the foreign exchange industry, intervening in abuse cases, questioning placement agencies' marketing practices, and bashing the U.S. State Department for what she says is lax regulation.

The industry says she exaggerates problems and makes reckless allegations. Two defamation lawsuits have been filed against her.

But the watchdog's complaints about the dozens of programs that import foreigners were recently borne out in northeastern Pennsylvania, where a Scranton woman was charged last week with child endangerment for allegedly placing exchange students in filthy homes with ex-convicts and not enough food. Grijalva helped one of the teens file a complaint with the State Department and offered advice to local child welfare investigators on how to proceed.

Her involvement was to be expected. Since launching her tiny nonprofit five years ago — the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students — Grijalva (gree-HAHL'-vah) has answered thousands of e-mails and phone calls from aggrieved students and their worried parents back home.

"By the time they reach CFCES, they are so exhausted and so emotional, but so elated to find someone who will say, 'We will help you as much as we can,'" Grijalva said.

She has racked up some notable successes. Besides getting students out of bad situations, her organization successfully pushed for regulatory reform in 2006 and investigated an Allentown-based placement agency that Pennsylvania authorities shut down earlier this year.

She's also made enemies. On a recent Sunday morning, Grijalva was served with a state lawsuit that claims she defamed one of the largest exchange programs, California-based Council for Educational Travel, USA, by making "false statements" about it while intervening in the case of a Norwegian student in Minnesota.

A French agency, Programmes Internationaux d'Echanges, and two of its U.S. affiliates [AFS is one] sued her for defamation in North Carolina two years ago, and won a preliminary injunction against her while the case proceeds.

[Maura Larkins' comment: A North Carolina judge ordered a California woman to shut down her website? He's not the boss of her! How did AFS find that judge?]

Grijalva, who has countersued P.I.E., says the lawsuits are intended to shut her up.

But critics complain that she paints with an overly broad brush, resulting in a distorted picture of the U.S. exchange program. Since the majority of students go home happy, they say it's unfair and inaccurate to malign an entire industry based on scattered cases of abuse and neglect.

[Maura Larkins' comment: It's fair to talk about how the industry handles those scattered cases of abuse and neglect. Exchange programs seem to look away and ignore complaints far too frequently.]

..Danish student Emily Larsen says her host family in Denver belonged to a fundamentalist church that denounced Jews, Muslims, homosexuals and others. Larsen, who was raised secular, says she was made to go to the church 10 hours a week, and that it "brainwashed" her and pressured her to join. When her placement counselor ignored her pleas for help, she turned to CSFES.

"I felt like my whole life was totally falling apart," said Larsen, of Copenhagen, whose experience left her so traumatized that she has been seeing a psychologist. "In two days, Danielle got me out."

...Grijalva says exchange agencies often bring students to the U.S. without first securing host families for them, leading to hasty, ill-advised placements like the ones in northeastern Pennsylvania. And many agencies require students to first approach their local coordinators with problems, threatening them with repatriation if they seek outside help...

New defamation lawsuit: COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL, USA v. Danielle Grijalva

Oceanside student advocate Danielle Grijalva has been sued by an Orange County exchange-student organization that doesn't like Grijalva's website because it reveals mistreatment of foreign students. Here's a copy of an email Grijalva sent to Jim Gelbmann, who is also interested in student safety.

LETTER FROM DANIELLE GRIJALVA TO MINNESOTA SEC. OF STATE:

Jim Gelbmann
Minnesota Deputy Secretary of State

With great interest we listened to your interview yesterday with Mr. Don Shelby of WCCO Radio:

http://www.wccoradio.com/pages/1624066.php

Attached you will find a Summons served Sunday, July 12; COUNCIL FOR EDUCATIONAL TRAVEL, USA, a non-profit corporation v. Danielle Grijalva; Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students; and DOES 1-20, Inclusive.

The Complaint for Damages; Slander Per Se; Libel; Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary and Permanent; Injunction; Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage.

Respectfully,
Danielle Grijalva, Director
Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students
P.O. Box 6496 / Oceanside, CA 92052
www.csfes.org

See all posts re Danielle Grijalva.

US and Pennsylvania embarrassed by hosts who mistreated exchange students

Danielle Grijalva of the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students (CFES) sent me this story.

Exchange students live American nightmare
July 15, 2009
By Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston
CNN Special Investigations Unit

They came from around the world hoping to spend a high school year immersed in the culture and joys of America.

Instead, five young foreign exchange students found themselves caught in a nightmare of neglect, malnourishment and abandonment by those supposed to protect them.

Now those five -- natives of countries stretching from Norway to Tanzania to Colombia -- are back home telling friends of a different America than they expected. And their brief visit reverberates in America as a United States senator demands accountability and reform, a Pennsylvania district attorney seeks criminal charges and the U.S. State Department concedes it failed to protect kids coming to America...

Meanwhile, Tanzanian student Musa Mpulki has since returned home. Before he left, he told CNN he did not want to upset his mother, so he never told her that he had little to eat during his nine-month stay in the home of a 72-year-old man who had signs on his refrigerator that some food was only for family.
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Although his housing situation was a nightmare, Mpulki said the students at the school made him appreciate America, and he said he appreciated the State Department grant that brought him to the United States.

"I guess I like to say, 'Thank you very much the government of the United States for to bring me here to get a good experience at the school and a good education.' "

ConsumerAffairs warns of problems in People to People for-profit student travel program

People to People Uses Dead Student's Name as Recruiting Tool
By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com
May 12, 2009

The parents of a Minnesota teenager who died on a 2007 People to People trip to Japan are outraged by the organization’s latest marketing tactics: Sheryl and Allen Hill learned People to People recently used their deceased son’s name...

Tyler Hill, 16, died in a Tokyo hospital on June 29, 2007, after People to People’s delegation leaders allegedly failed to get him the medical attention he requested.

Tyler had Type 1 diabetes and complex migraine headaches — conditions his parents disclosed before their son left on his overseas journey. People to People, an organization that touts its ties to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, assured the Hills it had a solid safety record and a 24-hour response team that could handle any medical emergency.

That failed promise is at the heart of a wrongful death lawsuit...in Minnesota's Hennepin County District Court. The lawsuit alleges the organization and its delegation leaders refused to get Tyler the medical attention he requested after he and his group hiked Mount Fuji...

The postmark and address on the letter go to the for-profit Ambassadors Group, Inc., a publicly traded company (EPAX) based in Spokane, Washington...

In recent years, ConsumerAffairs.com has repeatedly exposed how People to People used misleading marketing tactics to recruit students for its expensive, overseas trips...duped their children into believing they were specially chosen for these trips, which cost an average of $5,000...

Some parents also say People to People refused to refund their money — even when they had to cancel their child’s trips for medical reasons...

Tony Licata story from Colleyville, Texas where insider, not foreign exchange student, was protected

UPDATE:

Urgent message from CSFES:
May 23, 2009

Tony Licata [see news story below] has allegedly hosted more than four exchange students.

If you are a former exchange student who was supervised or lived with Tony Licata, you are encouraged to contact Officer Kathy Manning at 817-884-1204 or email: KManning@tarrantcounty.com.

You are welcome to provide a copy to the Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students [at] Besafe@csfes.org. Requests to remain anonymous will be respected.


ORIGINAL POST:

To: United States Department of State

This is a complaint against American Field Service (AFS) for failure to report the following to the police. (See story below.)

The federal regulations are clear: Reporting requirements. Along with the annual report required by regulations set forth at § 62.15, sponsors must file with the Department of State the following information:

(1) Sponsors must immediately report to the Department any incident or allegation involving the actual or alleged sexual exploitation or abuse of an exchange student participant. Sponsors must also report such allegations as required by local or state statute or regulation. Failure to report such incidents to the Department and, as required by state law or regulation, to local law enforcement authorities shall be grounds for the summary suspension and termination of the sponsor's Exchange Visitor Program designation."

Respectfully,
Danielle Grijalva, Director
Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students
P.O. Box 6496
Oceanside, CA 92052
www.csfes.org



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Colleyville councilman accused of assaulting exchange student
By Darren Barbee
Star-Telgram

Colleyville City [Texas] Councilman Tony Licata is accused of pinning down a foreign exchange student on a bed and touching her inappropriately before she fought him off, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Licata, 57, resigned Thursday, the same day he was booked. He did not respond to email and phone messages seeking comment.

"Once we have investigated the allegation we'll have more to say," said Stephanie Luce, a Dallas attorney representing Licata. "He is a good and decent man."

The incident happened in November but wasn't reported to police until April, after the student told a counselor. After receiving an emergency report about the situation in November, American Field Service, which arranged for Licata to host the student, moved the student from Licata's home but did not contact police.

According to a Web site, Licata is chairman of the Tarrant County chapter of American Field Service (AFS).

The safety and security of students is the first priority of the service, said Marlene Baker, AFS spokeswoman.

"I can't discuss specifics with you. What I can tell you is that based on information we had at the time that we followed protocol at that time," Baker said. "The protocol included moving the student, notifying the student's parents, notifying the (U.S.) State Department and offering counseling to the student."

...Here's what happened Nov. 4, according to the arrest warrant affidavit:

About 5:30 p.m., Tony Licata called the girl into his bedroom to show her a cellphone that he had for her. They sat on the end of the bed reading the instruction book.

The girl said she was tired and started to get up. Licatta "grabbed her from behind and began hugging and rubbing her on her breast and stomach," according to the warrant.

The girl struggled and Licata threw her on the bed, got on top of her and began kissing her neck and shoulders, the warrant says. The girl continued to struggle, got free and stood in the corner of the room crying...

A counselor reported the allegations to authorities...