http://acaregiversjournal.com/tips-for-finding-good-in-home-caregivers.html Insights and Shared Stories by Family Caregivers Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:15:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://acaregiversjournal.com/tips-for-finding-good-in-home-caregivers.html/comment-page-1#comment-77 Hattie Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:47:57 +0000 http://acaregiversjournal.com/?p=149#comment-77 Good, but it goes deeper. This is a very tricky business. You have to keep your head about you while negotiating very personal matters with someone who is after all an employee. Another big problem is the near poverty of many of the caregivers you hire. Can you afford, for instance, to provide them with medical coverage? Or will the wages you give be so low that they qualify for Medicaid? Will they be hiding income from the social services so they can continue to get benefits? Will they be undocumented workers? And so on. Using an agency relieves you of these worries. What I don't like about agencies is that they take such a large percentage of the wages of their workers. Our solution in the end was to give our workers the total amount of money that an agency would charge us. The caregiver was able to work out minimal medical coverage for herself. Her kids got Medicaid, which the state of Hawaii provides to all minors who need it. This was expensive but still cheaper than putting her in a home, and the care she got was infinitely better. Good, but it goes deeper.
This is a very tricky business. You have to keep your head about you while negotiating very personal matters with someone who is after all an employee.
Another big problem is the near poverty of many of the caregivers you hire. Can you afford, for instance, to provide them with medical coverage? Or will the wages you give be so low that they qualify for Medicaid? Will they be hiding income from the social services so they can continue to get benefits? Will they be undocumented workers? And so on. Using an agency relieves you of these worries.
What I don’t like about agencies is that they take such a large percentage of the wages of their workers.
Our solution in the end was to give our workers the total amount of money that an agency would charge us. The caregiver was able to work out minimal medical coverage for herself. Her kids got Medicaid, which the state of Hawaii provides to all minors who need it.
This was expensive but still cheaper than putting her in a home, and the care she got was infinitely better.

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