Most people sign an agency agreement on the last page and read the first page twice. The terms that decide what happens on a bad day sit in the middle. Read those before the first shift.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Who is the employer
In most agency arrangements the agency hires, pays and manages the worker, and you buy the service. Ask the agency to say in writing who the employer of record is, who handles payroll taxes, and who you call when the worker and the family disagree. If the answer is vague, that is your first finding.
The cancel line
Find how much notice either side must give to end a scheduled shift and whether there is a fee. Check what happens if your parent goes into the hospital or a short-term stay. Check whether the agency can end the agreement without cause and how much notice they owe you. Compare the answers to the notice rule you wrote for your own schedule.
The replacement rule
Ask what happens when the assigned worker is sick, late or does not arrive. Ask how fast a replacement can come, whether you can refuse a replacement you do not trust, and what the agency counts as a no-show. Ask whether you pay for a shift that does not happen. Write the answers into the agreement, not just the sales call.
Insurance and bonding
Ask for the certificate of insurance itself, not a summary of it. Check the dates on it, check whose name is on it, and check whether the coverage applies in your parent's home. Ask whether the agency is bonded and whether the bond covers theft. Keep copies. Asking for the actual certificate is a normal request, and a good agency will send it without fuss.
The task list
Attach a written care plan that lists exactly what the worker does and does not do: meals, bathing help, transfers, errands, housekeeping and companionship. Medication reminders and picking up prescriptions as an errand can be written in. Handing out, dispensing, sorting or managing medicine stays with the family, the doctor and the pharmacist, and the agreement should say so in plain words. If the plan is not written down, the first disagreement will be about what the plan was.
The ending clause
Find how either side ends the agreement, what notice applies, and what happens if you leave early. Ask what happens to your parent's care plan and to any records the worker keeps in the home if the agreement ends.
Compare three the same way
Ask every agency the same questions and get every answer in writing. Put the three answers side by side on one page. The agency with the clearest cancel line and replacement rule is not always the cheapest, and that is fine. The paperwork is what you are paying for.
This is not legal advice. If a clause is unclear, ask the agency to explain it in writing. If you want a second pair of eyes, ask your parent's elder law attorney or another advisor to read it with you. Our list of public sources is on the sources page.