What this guide covers. A household with a second address is a common setup. A parent may split time between a city house and a home in another part of the metro, or a family home may have a relative's house where the person stays for stretches of days. This guide is a sizing sheet for that situation. It does not rank agencies or name a provider.
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.
Step one: list each address as its own house. Write each address on its own page of the check sheet. For each one, record the street, the county, who lives there, who answers the door, where the keys or lockbox code are kept, the parking or entry route, and where supplies are stored. Do not copy the first page and change the address. Each house has its own answers.
Step two: write the stay pattern, not just the weekly total. Mark which days the person is at each address and which days are spent in transit. Count the nights as well as the days. A plan that covers the home base but leaves the second address with no visit schedule will fail on the first trip away. Editorial note: the stay pattern is the sizing input. The visit schedule follows from it, not the other way around.
Step three: check the county for each address. From the file: the federal in-home care registrations are listed by county, and the lookup shows which counties each registration is on file for. Look up the agency's registration for every county the person will be in. If one address sits outside the counties on file, the agency may not be able to cover that house in the same way, and the family should hear that in writing before the first visit. For the lookup steps, see how to check a provider yourself.
Step four: ask who travels with the plan. Ask whether the same aide serves both addresses or whether the agency assigns a different person to the second house. Ask whether a visit can be moved when the person is away, and who tells the agency about the change. Ask who signs the visit log at each address and where that log is kept. Editorial note: one aide across two houses means travel between visits, and the agency should explain how it handles that before the start date.
Step five: name the family member who holds the plan. The family member who manages the calendar should keep the stay pattern and send each change to the agency. Name that person in writing. Health questions go to the family's doctor. The aide is not the person to answer them.
The check sheet. Use this order for each address: street and county, access and keys, entry route, supply location, stay days, stay nights, agency coverage for the county, visit log keeper, and the family contact who changes the plan.
Verification questions. Ask the agency: Does your registration on file cover the county of each address? Will one aide serve both houses, or will you assign a second? Who holds the key or code at the second address? Who signs the visit log there? If the person leaves early or returns late, how is the visit changed and who is told? Write down each answer and the name of the person who gave it.