Reference Calls Before You Choose: The Questions to Ask Families Already Using an Agency

An agency's own references are a starting point. The useful part is what current families say about a normal week, a difficult week, and the week the office changed hands. The questions below help a family run that call without turning it into a contest between agencies.

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.

Ask for references that match your situation

Ask for families whose schedules look like yours: a daytime block, a weekend need, or a person who lives alone. A reference who needed one weekday visit can tell you little about a seven-day plan. If the agency can only offer families with very different needs, say so in your notes and weigh the answers accordingly.

Questions for the call

Ask how the first two weeks went and whether the caregivers who arrived were the ones the agency described. Ask how the family learned about a missed visit or a late arrival, and how quickly the office responded. Ask whether anyone at the office read the notes left in the home and followed up on them. Ask what the family would check before signing again.

Listen for specifics

Specific answers are more useful than general praise. Note whether the family named a day, a schedule change, or a particular process. A reference who says the office called back the same afternoon is describing a step you can test. A reference who only says the agency is wonderful has given you a feeling, which tells you little about the next month.

Write down what each reference confirmed

Use one sheet with the same questions for every agency. Mark which answers were direct, which were secondhand, and which the family could not recall. Compare the sheets side by side and keep the gaps visible. A question that went unanswered is information too.

Know what references cannot settle

A reference can describe how an agency handled one family at one point in time. It cannot promise that the same caregiver will be available for your hours. Confirm those points in writing with the agency. Questions about a person's health go to the family's doctor, not to a reference call. For a method that puts every agency on the same criteria, see how we rate.