CSA: Society of Certified Senior Advisors. Any advice?

abacadacar: I'll refrain from commenting further as this is an organization which you reference and my mentioning such name goes against Aging Care rules.

It's been my experience that none of these organizations will help you if you are placing someone initially on Medicaid. I guess the facilities that take Medicaid receive so little they don't give a commission when referred.

I am enrolled in the Certified Senior Advisor course beginning in January. This is an extensive course requiring three weeks of education on working with seniors, understanding and navigating senior health insurance options, and ethics culminating in an accredited exam, which then bestows the credentialing. This could be an addition to a nursing degree or a CPA, as they cover financing care in retirement. A Place for Mom is a great organization and I have used them before but they are truly just a placement agency, like Apartment Finders. They receive their fee from the LTC residences. A CSA can assist with many different issues that come up with seniors and their caregivers. I think the key is to interview a CSA and then check their references! The certification does require a background check but that doesn't ensure quality.

The only organization that I am familiar with is Aging Life Association.
https://www.aginglifecare.org/
They provide certification for Geriatric Care Managers (GCM)

General information on GCM is found on the National Institute of Health website.

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-geriatric-care-manager

Certified Senior Advisor is a different certifucation.
https://www.csa.us/

I am not familiar with what differences there may be, only that CSA does not appear to be mention on the NIH website. You could email NIH to learn the difference.

I.suppose anyone could come up with a certification of any kind.

There are many online help sites and local organizations that can assist. A certification is not necessarily a guarantee of quality. Does the “someone” who gave you the suggestion have any relevant experience to back up their suggestion?

Suggest you do some online research and reading such as: https://www.seniorliving.org/assisted-living/ or https://www.assistedliving.org/assisted-living-near-me/

You could also contact your Local Area Agency on Aging for recommendations, or Medicare’s website: https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/ to see ratings of nursing homes. The Medicare site will let you see if the facility is a Continuing Care Retirement Community (includes assisted living).

Even if you don’t check the Medicare site before choosing an agency to help you decide, check the ratings on the site to help you assess the quality of any facility recommended by a referral agency.

My husband's family used it for my MIL. She was running out of money within a year. Her family was worried about placing her in a good SNF and how to go about it. She also was receiving Aid and Attendance. Family was given a few high quality SNFs that take Medicaid. They placed her on a wait list on 3 choices and she was accepted in a high quality one where she stayed for 5 more years. The advice was helpful as recommendations included early placement. When she needed Medicaid, she was automacically placed on the top of a long list as she was already a resident. It was well worth the expence as she could pay for this advice during the spendown.

Thanks. I've been considering contacting A Place for Mom. So did your mother end up in assisted living in Pasadena?

Never heard of them.

I had excellent luck with APlaceforMom.com. They listened to what I needed for my mother, including the option of places near her home and mine (Pasadena vs. OC), and gave me several referrals. The one they said was probably the best fit really was the best, and it all worked out very well -- and was $3,000/month less than where she was before.