How are the host families chosen?
We have had a year round Spanish language institute in Turrialba, Costa Rica for over 8 years and in that time we have acquired over 100 families as host students. Each host family has to pass an extensive examination process in order to be allowed to house our students. We do background checks on the families and we interview all member living in the residence. We have a 15 point inspection that each house must pass completely. On top of this we continually monitor our families to make sure that they are keeping the same high quality for each student. To insure this we have our homestay coordinator visits each household every 3 months. We ask every student staying with a family to fill out weekly evaluations on their experience. The specific host families that house our teen students pass an even more vigorous evaluation. They are only families that have been with us over five years and have passed every inspection and have receive only positive feedback from former students. We also
ASA staff personally interviews all of the families before placing students in their homes. All students fill out a Housing Questionnaire after they have been accepted, so that we can match them with a family with whom we think they will be compatible. ASA has placed students with many of these families before without any problems, so we feel confident that students will be satisfied.
The Aspire on-site directors meet and interview all of the host families before placing any students in the home. Most, if not all, families have previously hosted an API or Aspire student. We ask students to evaluate their host family experience at the end of the program. If a student has a serious concern during their stay, they should contact their Aspire on-site director immediately.
