Our Ask An Angel correspondent is Arlene Petersen, Life Care Navigation Specialist in the area of senior home care.
(Continued from Part 1 in the Jan. 30 edition of the Sun Day.)
Another other area of concern you should think about is verification of references and background checks. When I hire a caregiver, I not only conduct state required verifications, but I conduct national background checks, drug testing at the time of interview and ongoing, a DMV check, sex offender checks, and I require three verifiable work references. These are just some of the background checks we do. There are other screening steps I engage, such as fingerprinting. You have to ask yourself if you are able to thoroughly investigate every person you are considering to hire privately. Can you drug test them? Do you have the signed consent forms from the applicant that give you the permission to run the background checks? And do you have the access and means to run a comprehensive background check yourself?
A caregiver that works privately will not be bonded or insured. An employee-based agency will have their caregivers bonded and insured by the agency. One item of note, though. Be aware that there are home care agencies that contract out independent caregivers. These caregivers are not employees of the company, and again, it may be your responsibility to take care of insurance and bonding costs.
One final thing to consider when weighing the differences between a private hire and an agency hire is what will you do if your private hire gets sick or has to leave suddenly? Would you have a backup plan in place immediately or would you be left stranded? Can you accommodate an emergency situation like that or would it be detrimental?
If you simply look at cost per hour, you might be able to save a little bit by hiring privately, however if you factor in the cost of background checks, drug testing, additional homeowner’s insurance, and the hassle of having your accountant 1099 that private employee, you may not be saving anything at all. Have you factored in the aggravation and expense of starting all over again in the process if your first employee abandons the position you offered them? Your time and money in this process of selecting a private caregiver can be enormously more complicated than most people imagine.
If you have questions about the hiring process, please feel free to call me. Getting the right help is important, but doing it legally and safely is even more important.
• Have a question for our angel correspondent? You can send our angel an email to apetersen@visitingangels.com or send your question via mail to Ask An Angel, 65 Woodbury St., South Elgin, IL 60177.
