A reference call tells a family something only when every caller asks the same questions in the same order. Otherwise one household's answer gets compared with another household's mood on the day it was called. Build the script before the first call and keep it unchanged through the last one.

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.

Choose which households to call

An agency's own list of references is a starting point, not a sample. Ask for one household that has finished an arrangement and one that is still active, and ask whether the agency will let the family call the household directly. A household that finished an arrangement can speak to how the agency handled the final weeks, which a household still in service cannot.

The script, in order

  1. How did the first visit go, and did the aide arrive on time?
  2. When the agency changed the aide, how did it tell you, and how far ahead?
  3. When the regular aide could not come, what did the agency send, and how did you learn who was coming?
  4. Who did you call first when something needed changing, and how long did the answer take?
  5. What did the agency ask about your household's routines, and did the aide follow them?
  6. What would you ask the agency to change?

Record answers as notes, not scores

Write each answer under the same heading for each agency, and mark each line as either what the reference said or what the family observed. Keep the notes factual: the aide arrived late on two occasions, the office returned the call the same day. Avoid adjectives about the reference's feelings. A sheet that reads as a list of events lets the family compare two agencies without relying on a memory of tone.

Read the answers against the other checks

A reference call answers how the agency performed for one household. It does not answer whether the agency's paperwork is in order or whether its office is staffed the way the family needs. Pair the reference notes with the agency's written terms, and read the methodology page, which explains how this site weighs its own criteria and where it draws its limits.

How We Rate: Methodology