Families often compare agencies by the line that states the charge for each hour, then discover a second line that changes the total. This guide covers one of those second lines: the drive time and mileage terms. It gives no amounts. Its job is to find where the paper counts travel and to write each agency's version in the same words.
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.
Find the travel terms
Search the agreement and any fee sheet for the words travel, drive, mileage, parking, toll, and transit between visits. Mark each place the word appears. If none appear, mark the travel line as absent and ask the agency to confirm in writing whether travel is included.
Separate the two kinds of travel
Travel to the first visit of the day is one question. Travel between visits, when one worker covers more than one house, is another. Some agreements count only the second. Note which kind the paper addresses.
Check the vehicle and the route
Ask whether the worker drives their own car, uses the family's car, or walks or takes transit. Each choice can change the line on the paper. Ask whether the travel line changes when the family's address sits near the edge of the agency's usual area, and whether the paper names that area at all.
Read how the time is counted
Find whether drive time is counted in full minutes, in blocks, or as a flat line. Note any minimum that applies to the travel line. A flat line can hide the time, and a block can add time the drive never took. Write down the exact wording.
Compare the same lines
Put each agency's travel terms on one sheet with the same headings: where travel appears, kind of travel covered, vehicle, area rule, and counting method. Read the sheets side by side before you read any total. Before you ask about travel, confirm that the agency is registered to serve the city of the house. The lists in Federal in-home care registrations by city, St. Louis metro can help with that check.