For Bruce and Lori Beales, hosting Jacopo Invernizzi in their St. Charles home for the past year was like adding another child to their family.

The 17-year-old foreign exchange student from Genoa, Italy, went to St. Charles North High School with their children Ricky, 17, and Rachel, 15. And just like the Bealeses’ own children, sometimes he had to be reminded when it was his turn to do the dishes.

“About halfway through the year, we decided teenagers are pretty much the same all over the world,” said Lori, a substitute teacher for St. Charles School District 303.

At a time when the struggling economy has many families looking to cut back on spending, adding another member to the household can be seen as an unneeded expense.

Robbin Lang of Batavia is the hosting coordinator for the Northern Illinois chapter of AFS Intercultural Programs, the group that arranged Jacopo’s stay with the Beales family. Many families she has talked to about hosting a student for the coming school year have expressed concerns about the cost, she said.

“Some people have expressed a concern that it’ll be too expensive or that they won’t have enough money,” said Lang, who went to Finland as an exchange student in 1965. “That has been more of an issue this year than in the past.”

The Northern Illinois chapter stretches from the Fox Valley west to the Iowa border and the Wisconsin border south to Interstate 80. It still has eight more students to place with families for next year. About 30 students will arrive in mid-August from countries including Germany, Thailand and Costa Rica, and they must have host families arranged by July 22, Lang said.

While hosting families are responsible for providing a room and meals, the students cover many of their other expenses, Lang said. If a host family experiences a job loss or other unexpected financial hardship, AFS can reassign their student to another family, she said.

Part of the idea behind the program is for foreign students to experience what life is like for an American family, she said.

“If the family is cutting back on going out to eat or going to the movies, the student can take part in that,” Lang said.

When a friend at the Beales family’s church approached them about hosting, they had to consider the cost before agreeing to welcome a student into their home, they said.

“That was a concern,” said Bruce, a pilot for American Airlines. “But you can really spend as much or as little as you want.”

For Jacopo, spending a year in the United States was a chance to see the world outside his city and his country.

He returned Tuesday to Italy. A few days earlier he said he had come away from his experience with a new understanding of American life and a new set of relationships.

“I left my family and I found a new one,” said Jacopo, whose mother was an exchange student in Baltimore in 1976. “I left my friends, but I met new ones. ... I’m happy to have done all this.”

During his time in St. Charles, Jacopo swam and played water polo for North and played on the St. Charles High School club rugby team.

He said one of his favorite classes was U.S. government because he is fascinated with politics.

Before coming to America, he said he was interested in Barack Obama and had read his book.

“One of the things I was most excited about was living here during the election,” he said. “I could actually feel the excitement.”

Geneva resident Kathy Carey and her husband, David, also hosted a foreign exchange student through AFS this past year.

Lisa Kerl, who turned 17 in May, came from Kiel, Germany, to live with the Careys and their 13- and 11-year-old daughters.

Carey said the economy was not a major factor in their decision to host Lisa, whose interest in music, math and science aligned with those of her daughters.

Feeding one extra mouth did not substantially increase their grocery bills , she said.

“It’s less of a financial burden than if my own daughter was that age,” Carey said.

Lisa was asked to prom at Geneva High School and paid for her own dress, Carey said. If her own daughter were going to prom, Carey said she probably would have footed the bill for the gown.