If you want to find a good caregiver who knows what they're doing and has a good work ethic, do not use a care agency. Hire privately by checking out caregiver websites for potential employees. Some insurances do not pay for private-pay caregivers, but if you want decent ones, hire privately. Forget about things like resumes. That will do you no good. Ask for actual references from client families that your potential hire worked for. Then actually speak to these references. It is unlikely you will find former clients to speak to because when it's elder care, the actual clients usually aren't available or alive to give a reference. Ask all potential hires you are considering to produce a criminal back round check from the police department in the town they've lived in for the last five years. If they are new in town, ask for one from the police department in the town or city they lived in before. When the time comes to negotiate the pay, be completely honest with what the job is. Don't try to gloss over how much care your loved one needs and make light of it. Most importantly of all, don't try to hide anything. For example if your loved one is incontinent and diaper dependent, say so straight away. If they have Alzheimer's/dementia and get aggressive or violent, tell your hire. Make sure the caregiver knows exactly what they will be dealing with so when they start work they are prepared and know what to expect. If your loved one needs more than a bit of help be honest about that. Then negotiate the wages with the caregiver. If you're paying decently and you're honest about how much care is needed, you will have no trouble finding a good and experienced private caregiver to fit your situation.
burnt wrote: “If you want to find a good caregiver who knows what they're doing and has a good work ethic, do not use a care agency. Hire privately by checking out caregiver”
i totally agree. we had several agencies. expensive, and non-caring.
i found new people by word of mouth. so far, they are excellent.
you never know. we’ll continue observing the new people.
we’ve had several thieves. and many un-caring/sloppy people.
An agency will usually do background checks and drug testing, but they generally cost more. Also, if a caregiver is not a good match the agency can send someone else. Agencies have liability insurance for the caregivers. Be very specific about what your loved one needs from a caregiver to get the best match.
Private hires may cost less, but it is up to you to do a background check and also check references. Its hard to do this process right when you are desperate for help, exhausted and overwhelmed. But there are enough horror stories out there to show how important it is to do these checks. Someone may say they are a CNA or certified health aide but ask to see the certificate. Many private hires are set up as a legitimate business and can also show proof of insurance. Those who just "do home care" can be very kind and capable and fill your needs exactly. But always make your payments to any caregiver properly, withhold taxes and issue a 1099-misc to them. Under the table may be cheaper by the hour but can cause huge tax and legal problems down the road! Fully interview a prospective caregiver. Ask if there are tasks they won't do. Ask if they object to a camera (like a nest cam or nanny cam) in the household. If they do object you can ask why they object. Many states have laws about hidden cameras, so if you use one fully disclose that fact.
If the caregiver will be transporting your loved one anywhere, take a picture of their driver license and insurance card.
It is not a quick or easy process to find the right caregiver. Start looking early and let them know the need is down the road a bit. Then you will be prepared when the time comes, with several options. Best of luck to you.
I've been in homecare almost 25 years. Many of those years were with three different agencies and two of the agencies I worked for were nationally known. Believe me when I say, an agency will hire just about anyone. They do not train nor do they supervise their homecare workers. They will send an aide into a care situation that they are completely unprepared to handle and offer zero support for the worker, the client, or the family. Care agencies have only one objective and that is to put a person in a home and collect the money.
Grandma nailed it, but I would add: 1. lower your standards by about 75% or you will disappointed. The quality and integrity, compassion and empathy traits become more rare with each passing day it seems. Things get so complicated, I would touch base with an elder law attorney as far as legalities and taxes (and/or a tax preparer). You should know what records to keep from the beginning so things will be easier come April As far as background checks you may want to check with your local city hall or office on aging for any ideas of whom to use (they most likely do when hiring themselves) We typically do both a BCI (state level) AND FBI which will pick up anything on a national level especially if the person you choose has been in other states for any time. Don't overlook free checks you can do with a name and possibly date of birth on line if the person has a license as an STNA, nurse, etc. Sometimes even basic stuff, like looking them up at Facebook, a google search...can be informative. And do not overlook routine reference checks...employers may hesitate to say something negative, but you can always ask "would you hire this person back again?" which is a very telling answer. Always ask for references of people who are NOT related, and when you speak to them ask how they know the person, how long, how they interacted with other older adults...
It's no about lowering your standards by 75% or you'll be disappointed. Not at all. You get what you pay for. If the agency-employee caregiver a family is using gets minimum wage or just above, with no benefits, then they should not expect better care than that will buy. If you're getting your dinner from McDonald's don't expect Delmonico steak with all the trimmings and a bottle of good claret to be served to you on china plates and sterling silver. Same applies with caregivers. People think that if insurance is paying good money to a care agency that the caregiver is making some decent wages. They're not. The insurance isn't the one doing the care for your 'loved one'. The agency isn't either. The caregiver in the home getting minimum with no benefits is. The solution is not lowering your standards and expectations on what the quality of care is supposed to be. Not at all. The answer is to raise your own standards about how much value you place on your loved one's care, then pay for it. Pay your agency help on the side, extra in cash. Believe me, no agency-employed caregiver on earth is going to refuse it. Or hire privately and pay a wage that isn't an insult. This will pretty much guarantee quality service for your loved one.
If you are going through an agency make sure they know exactly what is needed. They should do an assessment of what is needed as well. If the first caregiver does not work out request another. If you are hiring privately make sure a background check is done. You will have to make sure all the proper paperwork is done for taxes. NO "under the table" pay. The best way to find caregivers is talk to people and get names of people they have used. The last 2 caregivers I found I contacted the local Community College. They have a Nursing program and prior to entering the nursing program the students have to become Certified CNA's. I hired 2 that had just completed the program and were waiting for the nursing school to start. They both were amazing, caring people. The fact that they were able to work with 1 person rather than working in a facility I am sure was somethi8ng that they appreciated.
Hire privately by checking out caregiver websites for potential employees. Some insurances do not pay for private-pay caregivers, but if you want decent ones, hire privately.
Forget about things like resumes. That will do you no good. Ask for actual references from client families that your potential hire worked for. Then actually speak to these references. It is unlikely you will find former clients to speak to because when it's elder care, the actual clients usually aren't available or alive to give a reference.
Ask all potential hires you are considering to produce a criminal back round check from the police department in the town they've lived in for the last five years. If they are new in town, ask for one from the police department in the town or city they lived in before.
When the time comes to negotiate the pay, be completely honest with what the job is. Don't try to gloss over how much care your loved one needs and make light of it. Most importantly of all, don't try to hide anything. For example if your loved one is incontinent and diaper dependent, say so straight away. If they have Alzheimer's/dementia and get aggressive or violent, tell your hire.
Make sure the caregiver knows exactly what they will be dealing with so when they start work they are prepared and know what to expect.
If your loved one needs more than a bit of help be honest about that. Then negotiate the wages with the caregiver. If you're paying decently and you're honest about how much care is needed, you will have no trouble finding a good and experienced private caregiver to fit your situation.
burnt wrote:
“If you want to find a good caregiver who knows what they're doing and has a good work ethic, do not use a care agency.
Hire privately by checking out caregiver”
i totally agree.
we had several agencies. expensive, and non-caring.
i found new people by word of mouth. so far, they are excellent.
you never know.
we’ll continue observing the new people.
we’ve had several thieves.
and many un-caring/sloppy people.
hug!!
Private hires may cost less, but it is up to you to do a background check and also check references.
Its hard to do this process right when you are desperate for help, exhausted and overwhelmed. But there are enough horror stories out there to show how important it is to do these checks. Someone may say they are a CNA or certified health aide but ask to see the certificate. Many private hires are set up as a legitimate business and can also show proof of insurance. Those who just "do home care" can be very kind and capable and fill your needs exactly. But always make your payments to any caregiver properly, withhold taxes and issue a 1099-misc to them. Under the table may be cheaper by the hour but can cause huge tax and legal problems down the road!
Fully interview a prospective caregiver. Ask if there are tasks they won't do. Ask if they object to a camera (like a nest cam or nanny cam) in the household. If they do object you can ask why they object. Many states have laws about hidden cameras, so if you use one fully disclose that fact.
If the caregiver will be transporting your loved one anywhere, take a picture of their driver license and insurance card.
It is not a quick or easy process to find the right caregiver. Start looking early and let them know the need is down the road a bit. Then you will be prepared when the time comes, with several options.
Best of luck to you.
I've been in homecare almost 25 years. Many of those years were with three different agencies and two of the agencies I worked for were nationally known. Believe me when I say, an agency will hire just about anyone.
They do not train nor do they supervise their homecare workers. They will send an aide into a care situation that they are completely unprepared to handle and offer zero support for the worker, the client, or the family.
Care agencies have only one objective and that is to put a person in a home and collect the money.
1. lower your standards by about 75% or you will disappointed. The quality and integrity, compassion and empathy traits become more rare with each passing day it seems.
Things get so complicated, I would touch base with an elder law attorney as far as legalities and taxes (and/or a tax preparer). You should know what records to keep from the beginning so things will be easier come April
As far as background checks you may want to check with your local city hall or office on aging for any ideas of whom to use (they most likely do when hiring themselves) We typically do both a BCI (state level) AND FBI which will pick up anything on a national level especially if the person you choose has been in other states for any time. Don't overlook free checks you can do with a name and possibly date of birth on line if the person has a license as an STNA, nurse, etc. Sometimes even basic stuff, like looking them up at Facebook, a google search...can be informative. And do not overlook routine reference checks...employers may hesitate to say something negative, but you can always ask "would you hire this person back again?" which is a very telling answer. Always ask for references of people who are NOT related, and when you speak to them ask how they know the person, how long, how they interacted with other older adults...
It's no about lowering your standards by 75% or you'll be disappointed. Not at all.
You get what you pay for. If the agency-employee caregiver a family is using gets minimum wage or just above, with no benefits, then they should not expect better care than that will buy.
If you're getting your dinner from McDonald's don't expect Delmonico steak with all the trimmings and a bottle of good claret to be served to you on china plates and sterling silver.
Same applies with caregivers. People think that if insurance is paying good money to a care agency that the caregiver is making some decent wages. They're not. The insurance isn't the one doing the care for your 'loved one'. The agency isn't either. The caregiver in the home getting minimum with no benefits is.
The solution is not lowering your standards and expectations on what the quality of care is supposed to be. Not at all. The answer is to raise your own standards about how much value you place on your loved one's care, then pay for it.
Pay your agency help on the side, extra in cash. Believe me, no agency-employed caregiver on earth is going to refuse it. Or hire privately and pay a wage that isn't an insult. This will pretty much guarantee quality service for your loved one.
If the first caregiver does not work out request another.
If you are hiring privately make sure a background check is done.
You will have to make sure all the proper paperwork is done for taxes. NO "under the table" pay.
The best way to find caregivers is talk to people and get names of people they have used. The last 2 caregivers I found I contacted the local Community College. They have a Nursing program and prior to entering the nursing program the students have to become Certified CNA's. I hired 2 that had just completed the program and were waiting for the nursing school to start. They both were amazing, caring people. The fact that they were able to work with 1 person rather than working in a facility I am sure was somethi8ng that they appreciated.