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I know two friends who have used care.com and one who has used Carelinx.com that had good experiences, but would like more insight.
My sons and I are trying to decide whether to begin hiring caregivers privately for my husband with Parkinsons and related dementia. The VA provides caregivers through an agency, which we will continue using, but I now feel we need more hours. If we pay the agency out-of-pocket for extra hours, our savings will be depleted a lot sooner than if we hire privately. Once we begin spending out-of-pocket, it may help us qualify for VA Aid and Attendance. Is anyone aware of another similar service to connect clients with caregivers?

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Join Nextdoor.com and ask for recommendations. Nextdoor is an intranet of your actual neighbors, neighborhood and close-in community. Participants are usually non-anonymous. I usually post "Recommendations Wanted for ______" and you will get responses pretty quickly. This is assuming you're not in a really rural area.
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Reply to Geaton777
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KPWCSC Aug 26, 2024
Thanks for the suggestion, but I would consider it the same as getting referrals from strangers... especially in this day and time. Also, they would not have been checked out at all.

Care.com and Carelinx.com have already done background checks on caregivers before they allow them to post their interest. I don't know yet if they are state or national level checks so I still may need to request my own.
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The 2 BEST caregivers I hired were students that had just completed the CNA course at the local Community College.
In the State I life in it is a requirement that before a person can enter Nursing School they complete a CNA course and these 2 students were waiting to begin Nursing School. I hired them and told them that I would be able to work with them around their class schedule.
A CNA that has just completed their certification I am sure would prefer to work privately than in a facility or hospital just to get a bit more experience. It might be worth checking out your local Community college or I am sure there are plenty of "Institute Training Programs" in your area where they train and certify students then help them find jobs. You could check that out as well. (Google CNA Training Programs in your area and see what comes up)
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Reply to Grandma1954
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KPWCSC Aug 26, 2024
Your suggestion is a very good one except my husband has not been comfortable with the younger caregivers, even though I know some students have decided to go back to school later.

For others reading these posts, I was actually referred to this site: https://www.careyaya.org/ an organization that connects families with students majoring in various medical fields. However, they won't take us at all because my husband has a feeding tube even though it is not required for all of his nutrition. I even suggested that I would handle all his medicine and any feedings required. I already have to do that with caregivers from our agency because they are not allowed to do tube feedings.
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I Like Next store too and have Placed a couple ads there and got good People .
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Reply to KNance72
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I used care.com to find a caregiver for my mother. They gave me agency referrals and access to private caregivers. One of the agency referrals was particularly excellent, the others were pretty run of the mill. The private caregiver postings were helpful. The caregivers were from her area and they gave specific information as to what hours they were available in the ads.

The excellent agency was small and privately owned. The caregiver they provided for what turned out to be the last week of my Mom's life, replaced a family member that had been covering a couple of days a week and was uncomfortable with the private needs at end of life.
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Reply to OncehatedDIL
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This is very good information! Thank you, and have a good week.
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Reply to Christine44
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OncehatedDIL Aug 26, 2024
And I should have said, the caregiver the agency provided could not have been better. Mom really enjoyed her and her professionalism. We were glad to have the safety net of the agency's insurance.
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