A care binder is the paper record the family keeps for one arrangement. It holds the people to call, the schedule as it runs, the written plan, and the printed results of the public checks. A binder that nobody owns starts to describe a house that no longer exists. This guide sets up the ownership and the update triggers so the binder keeps pace with the arrangement.
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.
What goes in the binder
Keep each kind of paper on its own tab: the contact list, the current schedule grid, the signed written plan with any changes, the agency's written terms, and a printout of the public lookups for the agency with a note of when they were run. Keep the public lookups separate so they are easy to refresh. Nothing in the binder should be a guess.
Name one owner for each tab
Write one name on the cover of each tab. The contact list has an owner, the schedule has an owner, and the written plan has an owner. Ownership is a family decision, and the owner is the person the agency will call when a page needs a change. The agency keeps its own paper; the binder is the family's copy, and the family's owner decides what goes into it.
Set the update triggers
Write down the events that require a change to the binder. These usually include a change in the household's needs, a change in the agency's assigned aide or scheduler for the house, a change in the agency's name, office, or ownership, a request to move a visit, and a missed visit reported by anyone. Next to each trigger, write which tab it changes and who makes the change. A trigger with no owner is a trigger that will be missed.
Refresh the public lookups after a change
When the agency's name, address, or ownership changes, run the public lookups again and file the new printout behind the old one. Do not replace the old printout until you have compared the two. The comparison shows what changed and when the change appeared in the public files. For the steps, how to check a provider yourself lists the lookups in order.
Keep one copy where the helper can see it
Keep the working copy in an easy place in the house, where the aide can read the schedule and the contact list at the start of a visit. Keep a second copy with the family's tab owner. Put the binder's contents in a plain list on the front page so anyone can find the right tab without reading the whole binder.
Review it at a standing family meeting
Pick a family meeting that repeats on the same schedule. Read each tab aloud, mark what is out of date, and assign each fix to the tab owner. Close the review by writing the time of the next review on the front page of the binder.