Same Sex Parent Placement Requests

AFS-INT recently made an AFS Network policy change related to Same Sex Parent placements which AFS-USA has welcomed and operationalized. The change allows AFS Hosting Partners to no longer recognize Same Sex Parent placements as a “special placement” meaning that a Hosting Partner can decide consent for Same Sex Parent placements is no longer required, which is what AFS-USA has done.

As a result, AFS-USA’s processes related to Same Sex Parent placement identification are changing for CORE/CBYX participants:

• For CORE/CBYX participants, AFS-USA no longer requires e-signature consent from participants and Sending Parents/Guardians when placed in a Same Sex Parent home.
  • To facilitate a positive match between a Same Sex Parent host family and participant, during the student application (in alignment with AFS-International’s standard application), AFS-USA requests participants’/parents’ openness to Same Sex Parent placement (along with the other two placements which still require supplemental consent, Double and One Member Household placements).
    • Participant/Parent openness to Same Sex Parent, One Member Household and Double placement types is listed in the participant’s Global Link/MyAFS file and can be filtered in MyAFS and Global Link search criteria to facilitate ease of identifying participants openness to these placement types.
  • For CORE/CBYX Participants/Parents who express openness to placement in a Same Sex Parent home:
    • Regional Field Specialist staff, in collaboration with local Hosting Volunteers, will continue to send requests for the participant to be placed in a Same Sex Parent home via the Supplemental Placement Request tab.
      • However, upon receipt of the request in Global Link, Hosting Operations staff, rather than requesting e-signature (which is no longer required for Same Sex Parent placements), will send a message to the Sending Partner to make them aware that the participant has been placed in a Same Sex Parent home.
        • This notification will allow for appropriate expectation-setting by the Sending Partner with the participant and Sending Parents/Guardians.
  • For CORE/CBYX Participants/Parents who do not express openness to placement in a Same Sex Parent home, these participants should continue not to be placed in Same Sex Parent homes.

• Given the legal and cultural context of some YES countries, for YES/FLEX Program participants, Sponsored Programs staff will continue with the existing processes related to requesting approval for Same Sex Parent placement.
  • A verbal consent from the participant/Sending Parents remains a requirement for YES/FLEX Program participants.
    • In addition, Sponsored Programs staff remains unable to send Same Sex Parent placement requests for participants from certain countries.
  • Same Sex Parent placement’s requests can be made for all FLEX Participants/Sending Parents along with YES Participants from the following countries:
    • Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bangladesh (case by case), Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Philippines, South Africa, Suriname, and Thailand.