Get the Task Limits in Writing Before You Sign: What the Aide Will and Will Not Do

Before any agency is chosen, write down the household tasks in scope, the tasks out of scope, and who settles a disputed line.

Rankings · October 29, 2026

A ranking tells you which agencies to call first. It does not tell you what the person at your door is allowed to do. That boundary lives in the paperwork, and it should be settled before anything is signed.

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.

Write the task list from the house, not from the brochure

Walk each room with the person who will be coordinating the help, and list the chores you expect: meal preparation, dishes, laundry, linens, light tidying, pet feeding, plant watering, transport to appointments, and errands. Mark each line as in scope, out of scope, or still to be decided.

Ask for the out-of-scope list in writing

Ask the agency to name the tasks its aides will not perform in a home. Ask whether lifting, hands-on personal care, and any health-related tasks are excluded, and ask where that exclusion appears in its written policy. Health questions go to the family's doctor.

Check who decides a disputed line

Ask who the family calls when a task falls outside the list.
Ask how quickly that call is returned and whether it is logged.
Ask whether the change is added to the written plan before the next visit.

Compare the lists side by side

Put each agency's written list next to the others. Two agencies can look similar on a ranking and still differ on whether meal preparation, laundry, or transport is included. Read the ranking criteria in the how we rate page so you know what the ranking does and does not measure. Keep the signed list with the household information file, where every adult in the house can find it.

The map shows where help is thin. This is where to ask for it.

Tell us the county and the hours that need covering. A locally owned team will say honestly whether it can cover them and what starting with a few hours would look like.

New Plan Care Solutions is independently owned and operated in St. Louis by Stacie Postol. Non-medical in-home support for St. Louis and St. Charles counties: personal care and daily routines, companionship, homemaking, respite for family caregivers, and day-to-day help while recovering at home. Short-term, overnight, 24-hour and live-in care with no long-term contract. Fully insured, with background-checked caregivers screened through the Family Care Safety Registry. Care visits start at $136 (a four-hour visit at $34 an hour). Every family starts with a complimentary in-home care consultation and up to 2 hours of care observation: no cost, no obligation.

The guides on this site are educational, not medical advice.