Expect a caregiver profile before any shift starts. Treat it as a sales sheet. The agency wrote it, and it is built to make the person look good. That does not make it useless. It means you have to read it for what it leaves out.
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.
Read every sheet against the same list
Write your list before you open the file. A profile you cannot compare line by line is a profile you cannot judge. Check each sheet for these lines:
How long the person has worked for this agency. Ask for the actual length, not a general phrase about experience in the field.
What kinds of homes the person has worked in, and whether that matches yours. A quiet house, a busy house, a house with pets, and a house where family visits often are not the same job.
Which days and start times the person can work. Read it as availability the agency states, not a promise it will keep.
What training the agency gives, and whether you can ask to see it. A line that says trained with nothing behind it is a finding.
Which languages the person speaks, if that matters in your home.
What tasks the sheet says the person will do in your house. If the sheet is silent on tasks, the agency has not told you what you are buying.
What the sheet usually leaves out
The backup. Ask who covers when this person is out, and whether that backup has a sheet of their own.
The turnover. Ask how often the person has been moved to another client, and why. Ask it plainly.
Any concerns raised about the person's work. Ask the agency directly whether any concern has been raised in writing. If the agency will not answer, write down that it did not answer. That silence is the finding.
A direct line. Ask for a way to reach the family contact without going through a general inbox. If there is none, record that.
Compare two sheets the same way
Take two sheets for the same week and lay them side by side on paper. Mark each line one sheet fills in and the other leaves blank. A blank line is not neutral. It is a question you have not asked yet. Send that question to the agency in writing and wait for the answer before you choose.
Five questions to put to the agency
Can I see the sheet for the person who would actually come to my house, not a sample?
Who is the backup when this person is out, and can I see that person's sheet too?
How many different people will be in my home in an ordinary week?
If this person leaves the agency, does my plan move to the new name, or do we start over?
Will you put the answers to these questions in writing?
If the agency will not send a sheet before a start date, record that as a finding. Do not book a shift on a name you have not read.
For how the wording on an agency's website compares with what it actually sends, read How We Rate. The sheet gets you to the next question. The next question is who answers the phone when this person cannot come.