Youth For Understanding USA Headquarters - Saginaw, Michigan

Chelsea D.

This company has a complete lack of common sense when it comes to student placement or students with issues. We had a student that was caught drinking, found out she was the one that brought the alcohol. Also found out she got the alcohol from a classmate. She was placed on probation but because she had lied to us on multiple occasions we decided she needed to finish out her year at another home. The student asked the family of the student that supplied the alcohol to her to host her for the rest of the year and the corporate staff that received the information felt as though it would be totally fine for the student to stay with this family. When we voiced our concerns about professionaism and ethics of placing a student in the home of a student that assisted her break the law (mind you the student was still living in our home waiting for placement) we were condesendingly told that it's confidential now but thanks for having her for 7 months. This company is more focused on the money rather than the well being and porltential safetyof the students that families entrust their children to with while on exchange. Do not host through them. You will find nothing but continual frustration and total lack of support. They do not care. Please YFU, spare me your canned response about being sorry about my experience....it's lip service. You do not support families so please don't insinuate that you do.

Amy B.

We hosted a student from the Netherlands. She was 17 yrs old and had already completed the equivalent of our high school and had her diploma. She had no insensitive to participate in her classes and no intellectual curiosity. She scored so poorly on her English test given by her esl teacher it was actually the worst she had a student score in 15 years. We were wondering how she scored well on her eltis test but so poorly on this test. The child had dyslexia so someone from yfu used that as an excuse to give her the answers to the test. She was made to retake the test after 3 months in America with an esl teacher helping and barely passed that time which meant she would have failed if she did not receive the answers which she admitted and thought it was funny. She had already failed two eltis tests prior. She currently is failing most her classes with the exception of the teachers just giving her grades for being present. She believes Americans are stupid and she thought school was going to be easy because we are all stupid and the Dutch are smarter and she was already done with school, her words. She’s extremely manipulative if you hold her accountable or question her if she thinks she’s in trouble she will turn red and cry and try to make people feel bad. She has bragged to my daughter and myself about her fake crying abilities and named herself as the most likely most manipulative person on a card game. She disrespects people that she has nothing to gain from and acts like we are here to be her servant and treat her to a vacation. She does nothing to help out around the house or outside and her room is so bad you can’t open the door. This was not a cultural exchange we were nothing but free babysitters for an entitled Dutch child that only cares about herself and argues if you try to give her instructions. Choose a different organization if you want a cultural experience this program accepts literally anyone willing to pay them.

Cassie S.

YFU is an amazing! I have hosted 8 different exchange students all from different countries. I recommend hosting to everyone I meet. These kids truly become a part of your family and you get to see them grow in so many ways while they are here. I love sharing our culture and I also love learning about their country and culture. One of my favorite things to do is take them to see our Great Lakes here in Michigan they love that it looks like an Ocean but no salt. Overall we just love giving these kids the best American teen experience they can have.

Cindy N.

YFU was a great support while we hosted students for 5 years. We chose the students based on our family’s interests and activities. Some years were better than others, but 10 years later we continue to communicate and share their lives. A few years ago we traveled to meet their families. Next year one of the families will travel to spend time with us and see the US for themselves. This has expanded the experience of the world for our children and many other students attending the high school.

Iris F.

Previously, I posted that I had experienced the support and family feeling of YFU for almost 25 years. That changed last year. YFU no longer supports their staff, pushing them to bug potential families to host, even when they say no. Additionally, they refused to give me time off to bond with my third student resulting in her not acclimating to my home and having to be moved. Where they used to place students and host families first, now they're more concerned with money. Horrible place to work now. Hosting experiences vary depending on your local coordinator and student. The support team is still good as long as they're given a chance and placement mgt. doesn't tie their hands.

Susan F.

Over the years I have hosted 7 exchange students from variety of countries: Finland, Japan, Okinawa, Thailand and Germany. I found the experiences invaluable for my family as well as the school system they attended. Several of these students made return visits, some even returning with their families, and I have attended the weddings of 4 of them which allowed me to travel to Finland, Japan, Okinawa & Germany. I only missed Thailand because of covid.

YFU provides exceptional support and the students are screened very well prior to being admitted into the program. The student profiles are accessible so I was able to find students with interests that would match those of my family.

As a result of opening my home, and my heart, I found friends all over the world. I cannot begin to count the number of lives that were touched and enriched because I chose to host these students... the only reason I'm not still hosting is because I'm older, retired and traveling.

Jamie M.

As a host family, we were able to connect with a wonderful student and everything went smoothly with the home visit and our student's arrival. But when we realized that our family had signed up to host for 5 months, while our student had been told she would be with us for the whole year, the support network wasn't there to help us out and reassure our student. It took a month for YFU to acknowledge the discrepancy and communication depended on me continuously reaching out to them. The exchange student and her family felt lost and frustrated and I felt like we as hosts had to step in and figure things out since YFU wasn't communicative enough. I know that they have had some turnaround in their staff, and so this may be the case where just a few students and host families fell through the cracks.

Victoria M.

This organization is about making profits. They do not vet their students properly. No mental health screening done. They sent me a girl who exhibited severe depression and anti- social traits. When I told YFU she needed help, they simply moved her to another unsuspecting host family. The second student’s mother told me that her 16 year old was capable of making decisions. Host families are no more than room and board, food and transportation. There are many American students who need support and mentoring. How about we help our own children, instead of foreign exchange students who think they are highly entitled.