I would add that a good agency will listen to you, if you say, person fine, just not a good fit, and will try others. An agency will also "be the heavy" and communicate rules to its employees. Like no accepting gifts. I am a cpa and more than capable of handling taxes, but don't want to deal with other employee issues.
My mom originally was in Atlanta, we found agency through the social worker at the hospital. When we moved her to Florida, we found agency through talking to the social worker at the local senior center.
I'm cutting and pasting a response I just gave to someone yesterday. I realize you say you're only interested in private pay, but there is much to weight. Although you will find many on this forum who have successfully found wonderful private CGs, it has (in my opinion and experience) a very risky downside.
Private Hire Pros: - generally less expense - more control
Private Hire Cons: - may make you an employer (depending on your LO's state laws). This means paying taxes and acting like an employer (contract, etc). - you do the background check - you need to come up with a sub for when CG is sick or goes on vacation or quits abruptly - no recourse for a bad experience (abuse, theft, etc)
Agency Hire Pros: - agency does all the legwork re: background checks, affirms actual abilities of the CG, handles payroll, taxes, etc. - provides all levels of certified help (companion to RN) - provides subs - has final legal responsibility in the event there's a bad hire or incident
Agency Hire Cons: - more expensive - minimum hours required - not guaranteed to get assigned a perfect fit
My family's personal experience with a private hire was that a seemingly very lovely CG that they found on a job board at Publix wound up swindling their LO (a stroke victim) out of everything and then disappearing. To be fair, the family member who hired her only checked 1 reference and did not do a background check. She was a total predator as it was obvious she knew exactly what she was doing and how to do it based on how fast it all happened. She did NOT "seem like the type".
In my current case, I have less time than money because I'm already working full-time in and managing my own business so the trade-off is an easier decision. My ongoing experience in south FL is with Visiting Angels (6 yrs so far) and they've been awesome. I wish you much luck with whatever path you take!
My mom originally was in Atlanta, we found agency through the social worker at the hospital. When we moved her to Florida, we found agency through talking to the social worker at the local senior center.
Private Hire Pros:
- generally less expense
- more control
Private Hire Cons:
- may make you an employer (depending on your LO's state laws). This means paying taxes and acting like an employer (contract, etc).
- you do the background check
- you need to come up with a sub for when CG is sick or goes on vacation or quits abruptly
- no recourse for a bad experience (abuse, theft, etc)
Agency Hire Pros:
- agency does all the legwork re: background checks, affirms actual abilities of the CG, handles payroll, taxes, etc.
- provides all levels of certified help (companion to RN)
- provides subs
- has final legal responsibility in the event there's a bad hire or incident
Agency Hire Cons:
- more expensive
- minimum hours required
- not guaranteed to get assigned a perfect fit
My family's personal experience with a private hire was that a seemingly very lovely CG that they found on a job board at Publix wound up swindling their LO (a stroke victim) out of everything and then disappearing. To be fair, the family member who hired her only checked 1 reference and did not do a background check. She was a total predator as it was obvious she knew exactly what she was doing and how to do it based on how fast it all happened. She did NOT "seem like the type".
In my current case, I have less time than money because I'm already working full-time in and managing my own business so the trade-off is an easier decision. My ongoing experience in south FL is with Visiting Angels (6 yrs so far) and they've been awesome. I wish you much luck with whatever path you take!