I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3998

To expand au pair exchange visitor programs to include the provision of 

in-home independent living services for adults with disabilities, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2004

Mr. COOPER (for himself and Mr. FOLEY) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To expand au pair exchange visitor programs to include 

the provision of in-home independent living services for 

adults with disabilities, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Au Pair Program Ex5 pansion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Since their inception in 1986, au pair ex9 change visitor programs have become some of the 
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1 most successful cultural exchange programs in the 

2 history of the United States. 

3 (2) Au pair exchange visitor programs welcome 

4 approximately 12,000 au pairs into the United 

5 States per year. 

6 (3) Permanently authorized in 1997, au pair 

7 exchange visitor programs historically only included 

8 a child care component for participants. 

9 (4) The success of au pair exchange visitor pro10 grams in helping to meet the child care needs of 

11 families in the United States demonstrates the pro12 grams’ capacity to fulfill a demand for in-home as13 sistance while also providing a valuable cultural ex14 perience for au pair participants. 

15 (5) Currently, there is a critical shortage of 

16 providers of in-home independent living services for 

17 adults with low or moderate levels of disability. Al18 though these adults only require moderate levels of 

19 assistance with basic activities of daily living, the 

20 shortage of providers forces many of these adults to 

21 rely unnecessarily on expensive skilled care services 

22 or to live in an institutional setting at great cost. 

23 (6) The expansion of au pair exchange visitor 

24 programs to include the provision of in-home inde25 pendent living services for adults with disabilities 
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1 would not only improve the quality of life for such 

2 adults but would expand opportunities for foreign 

3 students to participate in such programs. 

4 (7) Due to the complexities of such an expan5 sion, a pilot program using sponsors that are al6 ready designated by the Department of State to con7 duct an au pair exchange program is the appropriate 

8 way to gauge the merits of undertaking such expan9 sion on a permanent basis. 

10 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM EXPANDING AU PAIR PROGRAM 

11 TO INCLUDE IN-HOME ASSISTANCE PRO12 GRAMS FOR ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM; TERMI14 NATION.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

15 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall estab16 lish a pilot program under which sponsors designated by 

17 the Department of State to conduct an au pair exchange 

18 visitor program may place foreign nationals participating 

19 in such program in positions that require the foreign na20 tional to provide in-home independent living services to an 

21 adult with disabilities rather than child care services. Only 

22 sponsors designated by the Department of State to con23 duct an au pair exchange visitor program on the date of 

24 the enactment of this Act may participate in such pilot 
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1 program. Such pilot program shall terminate not earlier 

2 than 5 years after the date on which it is commenced. 

3 (b) REGULATIONS.—In promulgating regulations 

4 under subsection (a), the Secretary of State—

5 (1) shall define ‘‘in-home independent living 

6 services’’ to include only home support services such 

7 as—

8 (A) personal care (such as walking, bath9 ing, dressing, and assistance with eating); 

10 (B) homemaker services (shopping, meal 

11 preparation, and light housekeeping); and 

12 (C) performance of routine household 

13 chores (cleaning and yard work) and to exclude 

14 the provision of medical care or other services 

15 that are required to be delivered by licensed 

16 health professionals or under the direction of a 

17 physical or occupational therapist; 

18 (2) shall ensure that all cultural exchange and 

19 educational aspects of the existing au pair exchange 

20 visitor programs are unimpaired; 

21 (3) may include provisions expanding the age 

22 range of au pair candidates desiring to provide in23 home independent living services to adults with dis24 abilities; and 
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1 (4) shall establish standards to ensure that for2 eign nationals placed pursuant to the pilot program 

3 receive appropriate training to prepare them for 

4 their work with adults with disabilities.

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