Getting background checks on caregivers is an important step in finding the right person for in home care for an aging loved one. Background checks on caregivers provide necessary information about prior criminal activity and certain background checks on caregivers can also uncover any complaints or legal action taken in the past against the particular caregiver. They also ensure that the caregiver you hire has received the proper education and training.
How To Do Background Checks on Caregivers
All caregivers that are allowed into your home or that of a loved one should first be checked to ensure that they have no prior criminal record or other issues that may make them unsuitable as caregivers. The easiest way to feel comfortable that background checks on caregivers have been done is to hire a reputable in-home care agency. By doing so, they will run any background checks, make sure that the caregiver is licensed and properly trained, and they will provide insurance and bonding if anything should go wrong.
There are many benefits to hiring a caregiver through an in-home care agency, since they go through the trouble of doing all background checks on caregivers before sending them to you, and also stand behind their workers. This assumes, of course, that you have hired a reputable agency in the first place.
If you prefer to hire a caregiver on your own, then you will have to go through the necessary steps of doing your own background checks on caregivers before you hire them. This should include a check into any criminal history, a check of any training or schooling, an inquisition whether any formal complaints or legal action have been taken against them, and a check of the caregiver’s references. One caution, however, is that references cannot always be completely trusted to be legitimate, so consider them wisely in the process.
Why Are Background Checks on Caregivers So Important?
When you leave your parent or other aging loved one in the care of an in-home caregiver, you want to ensure that the person you entrust their care to is honest, trustworthy and well trained. You also want to ensure that the person does not have a previous history of theft or abuse. You would never leave a young child in the care of someone you weren’t completely confident about, so you should not do so for an elderly loved one either. In many cases, the elderly are not aware of problems that might arise (such as theft) or are not in a position to let you know if they are being mistreated.
That is why background checks on caregivers are so important, because they can help to alert you to potential problems before you hire someone. This is not fool-proof protection, however, so it is still important to keep your eye on how things are going with the caregiver. If things don’t seem right, you should trust your gut instincts and replace them.
Other Considerations
There’s no doubt that it can be less expensive to hire an independent caregiver than to hire a caregiver through an in-home care agency. Agencies receive fees for the caregivers they place out because they provide a service. In addition to the agency running extensive background checks on caregivers, most agencies also hire out caregivers that are bonded and insured. By hiring one of their caregiving professionals, you are covered if an incident arises while the caregiver is working for you. They also take care of all legal and financial issues, such as taxes, payroll and insurance.
On the other hand, if you hire your own independent caregiver, you in essence become their employer. That means that in addition to running your own background checks, you need to understand any implications that might arise if the caregiver gets hurt on the job or if the caregiver hurts your loved one, damages any property, or worse. There are insurance and tax issues to consider and only you can determine if the extra work involved is worth the extra savings of not hiring a caregiver through an agency.
Another issue to consider is that if you hire an independent caregiver and it doesn’t work out, you need to start all over again and go through lots of work to find a replacement. If you opt instead to hire an in-home caregiving agency and don’t like a particular caregiver they send you, you can request another. You can also specify what your needs are so they are more likely to match you up with someone that best meets your needs. And, if at the last minute, your caregiver cannot show up due to illness or another reason, the agency can usually quickly send a replacement right over so you are not left without adequate care.
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