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How to Evaluate Private Home Care

One option that allows for home care is private home care. You can hire a private home care provider in two ways: home care professionals hired through an agency or hiring an individual on your own. A private deal is where you are the employer for hte home care provider. You do the hiring and you provide the salary. You will need to handle any problems that arise, pay taxes and monitor the worker.

If you do your own hiring you will need to be careful about screening applicants. One way to find qualified applicants safely is to ask friends, doctors, neighbors even attorneys for recommendations.

While interviewing candidates you will want to be sure to ask for references, proof of legal work status and to be sure to run a criminal-background check (your local police station will help you with this). Don't forget to ask for state certification. Ask questions regarding experience with the tasks you will require them to do. Make sure that work hours and required tasks are agreeable. It is best to have the expected services to be performed written down so that there will not be any misunderstandings. Cover holidays and other time off as well as pay and work hours with the candidates so that you will lower the risk of any misunderstandings. List these in a written contract, which will also list all of the responsibilities of the home care worker. You will want to also list what your responsibilities are as an employer.

When interviewing candidates ask questions regarding past experience performing tasks that you will need them to do. Ask how long they have been working as a home care provider and the types of care they have provided. Don't forget to ask about habits such as smoking, especially if it may be a health hazard for anyone in your family. Ask for a work history and both employment and personal references.

Insist on a 1/2 to a full day trial to see if there is compatibility and that the service is adequate for your needs. You will need to pay for this trial service.

Make sure that you have an understanding of how to prepare your payroll and tax accounting.

If you plan on paying for your home care services through Medicaid you will need to be Medicaid-certified through the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program.

One alternative to finding your home care aid yourself is to use a home-care registry. These registries are like headhunters. They charge you a fee for finding a home care provider for you. The registry will usually send you several candidates in which to choose from.

Private home care will give you more control over who you hire but will also require more responsibility for hiring and monitoring the performance of your home care provider.