Procedures for Early Returns

 

 Approximately 3 percent of all exchange students return home early. Some leave because of homesickness, illness, or problems back home. Others are sent home because of problems that occur in the host country during the exchange. A student can be sent home for violating a district Youth Exchange program rule or for geopolitical crises or other health and safety issues that may arise during the exchange. However, a student must not be sent home solely for reporting problems, especially incidents of abuse or harassment.

 

 

 In the worst case scenario, a student can be involved in a crime during an exchange.

If a student is a witness to or victim of a crime, the decision to return early or stay should be left to the student and his or her parents. This choice is especially important for sexual assault victims, who may feel that being sent home early from the exchange is a punishment for reporting the crime. If a student elects to return home, confirm with local law enforcement that he or she isn’t needed in the host country as a witness before making travel arrangements.

 If a student is accused of a crime, local law enforcement will determine if and when the student can leave the country.

 

 Although orientation on program rules should always focus on the consequences of rule violations, breaking a rule is not always a reason to send a student home.

 

 

 Early returns should be managed delicately and always with the full knowledge of the sending club and district and the student’s parents. Whatever the cause of the early return, do not send a student home until both the hosting and sending district agree to specific travel arrangements and the student’s parents have been notified. When the sending and hosting districts disagree about an early return, district governors should be notified and assist in mediation.

 

 When faced with an early return of an inbound student, take the following steps:

 

1. Discuss the situation with the student and the Rotarian counselor. Ensure that all options to avoid the early return have been attempted or explored, including warning students when initial problem behaviors surface or mediating in difficult host family situations.

 

 2. Contact your counterpart in the sending district, and specify the exact reason(s) the student is being sent home. Copy any relevant multi-district groups on the communication.

 

3. Allow the student to contact his or her parents, or offer to contact them for the student.

 

4. Work with the sending district contact and the parents to arrange an acceptable return travel itinerary.

 

5. Help the student make departure arrangements and facilitate leave-taking from the host family and school friends.

 

6. Notify relevant government agencies about visa status.

 

7. Notify the district governor and RI in writing that a student is being sent home. Include the name of the student, sending district, date of return, and reason(s) for return. This can be done using one of the forms listed below.

 

8. Ensure that the student has arrived home safely.

 

Forms for notifying the district governor and RI that the student is being sent home: