This page covers what drives the total of a home care arrangement. It does not list figures, and no figure should be taken from a directory, a forum, or a phone conversation. The total moves with a small set of choices the family controls: when the hours fall, how long each visit runs, whether a second person is in the home, and what extra jobs are added. Each of these is written in the agency's rate sheet and service agreement, and those are the files to read.

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 comes from the file and what is editorial

The rate sheet, the signed agreement, and the written schedule are file. A phone quote, a tour answer, or a salesperson's summary is editorial until it appears in one of those documents. A total read aloud on the phone is not a comparison point.

Split the schedule by time slot

Write the week as a grid of days and times. Mark each block as weekday daytime, weekday evening, overnight, weekend, or holiday. Ask each agency to price the same grid in writing. Two offers built on different grids cannot be compared, even when their totals look close.

Ask for the rules that move the total

Ask for the shortest visit the agency will book, whether a visit that runs long is billed for the extra time, whether a second aide in the home is a separate line, whether extra tasks carry their own line, and whether the rate changes when the family adds or drops a block. Write each answer and mark it editorial until it is on the rate sheet.

What does not belong in the agency total

Keep the family's own costs apart from the agency's rate sheet. The family's time, its trips to the store, and any supplies it buys are not agency lines. Keep them on the family's own list so the two totals are never mixed.

The check before signing

Lay the two rate sheets side by side. Confirm both cover the same grid. Confirm the replacement rule, the holiday rule, and the extra-task rule match. Only after that, compare the totals.

Confirm the agency is on file

A rate sheet tells you what an agency charges. It does not tell you whether the agency is registered for the work. Check the federal registrations by city to confirm the agency is on file for your area: Federal in-home care registrations by city, St. Louis metro.