Family Matters
 
 
  An IRSF Family Advisory Board (FAB) Publication   

Hiring Caregivers: What's your advice?

Throughout my daughter Aniko's 29 years, I must have hired just about the same number of caregivers. Some lasted a day, others several years and one for more than 16 years. After making early mistakes - such as hiring a woman with experience who also had a serious drinking problem, without checking her references first - I learned a few things, such as advertising carefully in the local newspaper and on bulletin boards for exactly what we needed: "Strong, resourceful and caring person as a caregiver for a handicapped teenager with Rett Syndrome; experience in special care and/or college certificate in special care couseling preferred. Good salary and benefits provided. Fax or send CV with references to:" I always gave a fax number to avoid getting endless calls from applicants with no experience. I was surprised that by being more precise, my ads turned out better applicants, including one who had a special interest in autism and had worked with Rett girls during her studies. She stayed with us for two years. I also had bad luck with some applicants who looked great in every way, but had some personality flaws that made them difficult to deal with. Using the local college to find special care students with experience generally turned out our best caregivers because they were keen to work with my daughter and more open to supporting our home care routine. We paid between $8 and $16 an hour. The more we paid, the better quality of caregivers we got!

Other top responses from experienced parents:
  1. Advertise carefully in local papers and bulletin boards
  2. Be specific about what you need
  3. Have responses submitted by Fax to avoid calls from unqualified applicants
  4. Post notices a local colleges for students who have an interest and experience in working with children with special needs
  5. Pay a reasonable rate to improve your chances of a finding a quality caregiver
  6. Use Home Health Care agencies
  7. Stay home the first few times the Caregiver is with your child or pop in and out until you feel you can trust them
  8. For those needing a higher level of care use Nursing Agencies-typically paid for through insurance
  9. Someone that goes the extra mile, makes your child happy and makes your life easier
  10. Ask for referrals from family, friends and support groups
  11. Use a specialized Care Provider web agency such as www.care.com where you can post a very specific position to pre-screened applicants for a small monthly fee.


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