A background check is the first thing a family hopes the agency did and the last thing most families ask about. Fix that on the first call. A screening line nobody can name is not a screening line. It is a sentence on a website.

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.

Name Every Check

Ask the agency to list each screening step in writing. Ask what each one covers. Typical items include identity verification, criminal records searches in the places the person has lived, a check of the public sex offender registry, a driving record check if the caregiver will drive your parent, and written references. Ask for the list by name, not by category. 'We do background checks' tells you nothing.

Ask whether the agency runs these checks itself or uses an outside company. Either can be sound. What matters is that someone can show you the method.

Ask Who Holds the Result

Ask whether you will see the full report, a summary, or only a yes or no. Ask who keeps the file and how long it stays on record. Ask what happens when a check returns a flag. A good agency tells you what it found, what it decided, and why. A weak one says the person 'passed' and moves on.

Ask When Checks Run Again

One check at hiring is a snapshot. Ask whether screening repeats on a set schedule, and what triggers a fresh check outside that schedule. Write down the answer. Then ask the same question about any staff member who moves into your home after the first placement.

Set the Rule for a Replacement

Every agency sends a different person sometimes. Scheduling gaps, resignations, and time off all happen. Ask whether a new caregiver is screened before the first shift in your home. Ask whether you will get the name before the person arrives. Ask how you will be told when the person changes on short notice. Put the answer in your binder.

If You Hire Directly

If you hire a person yourself instead of through an agency, the screening job moves to you. You decide which checks to run, who runs them, and who sees the answers. Ask the person to sign a release before any check, and keep a copy. If that sounds like more than you can carry, that is a finding too.

What to Write Down

Put these lines on your side-by-side sheet: the checks by name, who runs them, who holds the report, what a flag does, the rerun schedule, and the replacement rule. Where the agency did not answer, write 'no answer' so the gap shows at a glance. A blank line looks like an oversight. A written 'no answer' is a finding you can act on.

  • Which screening checks run before the first shift, and what does each one cover?
  • Who runs them, and who holds the report?
  • What do you tell me when a check returns a flag?
  • How often do checks repeat, and what triggers a new one?
  • Is a replacement screened before the first shift in my home?
  • Will I know the name before the person arrives?
  • How do I raise a concern about a caregiver, and who answers?

Ask the Local Offices

Local public resources can help you check the process. The area agency on aging in your county, the county health department, and the state office that handles provider complaints, if one applies to the type of care you are buying, can each answer general questions. Ask them what complaint records exist for an agency and how a family can look them up. Ask them what they can and cannot tell you.

What the Ranking Does Not Measure

This desk ranks how plainly an agency talks about money on its website and on the first call. It does not check who is in your house. Screening is a separate question, and you have to ask it yourself. Read How We Rate before you assume a ranking covers anything else. If the agency's quote includes a screening charge, read it the way you would any add-on line, using How to Read a Home Care Quote as your guide.