Before you sign, ask how the agency handles being told it has done something wrong. This is where a plain-spoken agency and a vague one separate fastest. A complaint path that exists only in a brochure protects nobody, and on this desk silence is recorded as a finding.

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 takes a complaint, and in what form?

Ask whether you can complain by phone, by email, or on a written form. Ask whether you can complain without going through the aide, since the aide is often the person the complaint is about. Get the answer in plain words.

How is it logged?

Ask whether every complaint gets a log entry and whether you receive a copy of that entry. A complaint that exists only in someone's memory has not been logged.

How long is the answer window?

Ask how long the agency takes to answer a complaint and to say what it is doing about it. Ask them to say the window out loud, then check that it appears in the written agreement. A promise made on the phone counts for nothing until it is in writing.

What closes it?

Ask whether a complaint closes when you agree the fix or when the agency decides it is finished. If the agency alone decides, ask how you would contest that decision, and to whom.

Who sits above the coordinator?

Ask whether a complaint can be escalated past the coordinator, and get the title and name of the person who receives it. A complaint path that stops at the first desk is a path with no exit.

What happens to an open complaint if you leave?

Ask whether an open complaint follows your file if you move your care to another agency. An open complaint that disappears on the way out is a finding too.

Read the answers against the paperwork.

Ask the same questions of every agency you compare, so the answers can be set side by side. Check the billing terms against the guide on reading a quote. How to read a home care quote covers the billing lines to check. For how this desk treats silence and plain answers, see How We Rate.

If the answer to any of these questions is a shrug, do not sign until it becomes a written answer.