Paying a companion for Mom. Any advice?

Yea an agency is better as I've learned the hard way. A gal quit on Mom, then tried to get unemployment! We fought her and won. She tried to say she was an independent contracter. I've heard usually the employer doesn't win but I held my ground! . Well now the employment agency is saying we ran a business and is going after my poor mom who doesn't have much $..my advice. Be careful who u hire always background check. We had a fee duzies! Just be careful. Agencies is the way to go...

I am a private paid caregiver... each time I take a new job, I work long term, I always ask if they have a 'back up'.... if not, I call around to my local caregiver friends to see if they could fill in if I got sick, ect.... then gave the family the contact number.... it is then out of my hands...I have excellent references. and supply them when I go for an interview..... I will not work for an agency as they get the money and I do the work.... it is hard to find reliable help either way you go..... one good place to call is your local hospital... they usually have a list of caregivers and also NH's have aides that pick up extra work..... but be very choosy... follow your instincts.... regardless of where you hire someone from....if it feels wrong, it is...... good luck.....

Never pay in cash. You are always safer with an agency, they background check, carry the workmen's comp and unemployment insurance and do the payroll taxes. They can also call in a sub when the caregiver can't make it to work.

I paid for an agency home health aide for my father for 5 days a week while I was "freed up" to work. The agency sent monthly bills and because you are paying the agency who gets their cut and the aide, the price I paid was $21.00/hour. They claim they can provide a substitute but if your work demands an early start time as mine did 7:30 am and the agency opens at 8:30 am or later, good luck getting the substitute aide there by 7 am if the home health aide calls off sick because her minor children are home sick. So I had to have a backup aide without an agency who would cover the 7 am to whatever time the agency sent a substitute. Many times they sent no substitute claiming their aides were all assigned. It was a nightmare when the regular aide could not come. My employers (a school system) wanted me at work on time because they could not get a substitute teacher the morning of my absence.

If you know a private companion who is recommended by friends who have used him or her, I would try them out. I would still write a check to have a record that you paid them. I started any new aide on a visit with my dad and then a short period of time 4 hours or so. I usually made the first visits on weekends where I was in and out of the home getting errands done and could observe how they worked with my father. If they liked seniors and would talk to them that was a plus, if they sat on the sofa, ignored my father and played on their cell phone--I did not have them back.

Again if you have a companion, for 1 time a week to do errands, the companion should be able to keep the elder safe, help as needed. I did not expect the substitute home health aide to bathe or do my dad's laundry etc. It was enough if they got him dressed, helped him with going to the bathroom and walked with him to make sure he was safe. I left his lunch on those days and set out his breakfast on the table before I left for work.

Good luck, but you need to engage help as often as you can to get relief. If you
burnout you are no help for your mother. This long care caregiving is all about pacing yourself and figuring out what is the best use of your time. What best helps you care for your mother and reduces the stress. Old age will win out in the end but you are making your mother's last years on the earth as comfortable as possible. It is no small thing you are doing for her. Feel proud.

I have my own business Kindred Heart Companion Services LLC, so I have to receive checks for tax purposes, but it all depends on the person that you hire to take care of mom and what they would prefer. Right now I work for myself not a big business and I have people who are ready and trustworthy, but I have to build my cliental. As far as the money issue I truly just don't trust everyone knowing that there is money laying around, and I don't know where you live, but I feel that calling a companion services would be a better choice. If you have a close friend who can help out would be better, but if not check around and see if you feel comfortable with who they send out and mom is comfortable you pay attention see how they work and take it from there. There are good people out there ask GOD for guidance and HE will send who you need...

Sometimes a domestic worker (caretaker, in this instance) prefers cash as they don't want to have to pay taxes. The only effect it might have on Medicaid would be IF you were in the "spend down" period. That's the period between your application for Medicaid and Your eligibility date. Also, if you go through an agency to find a caretaker, you will, no doubt, be writing the check to the agency. May find a more dependable person that way. Good luck - glad you will be able to get some needed time away!

I'd have thought a reputable agency would be your best bet. Apart from quality and tax issues - much more difficult to supervise yourself - if your regular relief caregiver is ill or anything like that they'll be able to send somebody else. They should be happy to set up an ad hoc arrangement that won't tie you in for longer than you want.

Keep in mind if you go through an agency, they often have a minimum amount of hours they require you to pay for. Not all of them, but many. Also, if you're willing to pay 15 per hour, understand that the agency will charge you 15ish, but will only pay the person actually coming out to sit with her 9-10 per hour Depending on where you live), plus then they have taxes coming out of that money as well. You would probably be better off finding a person with good references that works privately, since a person who gets paid 15 per hour from you, is going to be more likely to be more invested in your mom than someone who ends up getting about 8 bucks per hour through an agency. As a caregiver that has worked both ways, I would prefer not to work for an agency again, but it's sometimes difficult to find people who need me without one! Double-check her insurance as well, sometimes it will provide for someone to come out and provide companion care.

I found a cousin in my family, for $15 an hour. She will start one day a week for 5 hours, just so I can do a few errands. I will just pay her cash...her request.

#1 Background check, ask if she's aligned with Paraquad or has background checks through any of her former Campanion Care employers. Then go to BeenVerified.org (or .com) Check her out #2 Go with your gut if you don't think you're just being nervous. #3 There's only a few reasons I can think of as to why she raised her rate. One, she thought you meant full time or at least 25-30 hrs a week & now you're talking once a week, the duties are heavier than expected, like you added extensive physical theraphy or housework, or your Mom is incontenant, a biter/aggressive/violent or hyper crytical or gets up all hours of the night. Or she was told she was mobile & lifting will be involved. Or she expected to be paid in cash & now with you insisting on taxing her she feels she needs to make up the difference, or you offering an undependable schedule with dependable 24/7 availability. Employers don't understand, we have to turn down other job offers if there's even a one hour overlap. We have homes & bills & are most often single Mothers responsible for meeting all the expenses without another income coming in the house, as much as we love our work, we have to do what's best for our family.